A Tip for Coaches Who Give Athletes Pep Talks that Don’t Work
The first thing coaches must realize about pep talks is that they are 100% mental. So, if a coach gives an athlete a pep talk that doesn’t work, this means that coach is failing to develop an athlete’s mental skills.
Let’s say an athlete on the team is having trouble with their mental toughness. The athlete knows this, their teammates know this, and the coach knows this. Basically, it’s no secret that the athlete has a problem with mental toughness. So, what does the coach do?
Well, many coaches will give the athlete a pep talk about the importance of mental toughness. During this pep talk, these coaches will emphasize the importance of mental toughness and will tell the athlete they must toughen up and push themselves harder. They may add on a motivational story about another athlete’s mental toughness struggle or connect a personal story. Then, these coaches will end by saying the only thing holding the athlete back from being one of the best is their mental toughness.
Finally, these coaches will try different variations of this same type of pep talk repeatedly throughout the season, but nothing in the athlete changes. The athlete’s mental toughness issue persists.
A Mental Skills Training Process Must Follow a Pep Talk
The mistake coaches make when they give pep talks that don’t work is that pep talks don’t actually do anything to help with a solution. Pep talks typically just point out the problem and encourage the athlete to change. However, telling an athlete to change with a pep talk does nothing to help them change. In fact, it might make the problem worse as the coach’s pep talk just ingrains the problem more in an athlete’s mind.
Therefore, coaches must follow pep talks with a mental skills training process to execute the “how” of changing. In this example, the coach may start by teaching the athlete the six attributes that break down mental toughness. Then the coach may help the athlete set some goals related to each of those six attributes, and break those goals down into a measurable progression. To close the loop, the coach may end by working with the athlete to establish habits and routines to execute the progression towards their mental toughness goals.
Coaches Must Approach the Mental Side of Sports with a Process
Approaching the mental side of sports with a process like this is intuitive for a coach with experience. Mainly because experienced coaches have already made the mistake of using pep talks that don’t work. Experienced coaches know that athletes don’t choose to struggle mentally and would change if they knew how. So, telling them to change without telling them how just adds insult to injury.
Simply stated, if an athlete knows the “how” of something to help them win they will do it. If an athlete only knows the “what” and not the “how” it will just make them frustrated. The frustration is compounded when it’s a mental issue. Coaches must take the time to both know the “how” and know how to teach the “how” if they truly want to help an athlete with the mental side of sports.