Increasing efficacy on the road to success
Self-efficacy is defined as the degree in which a personal believes they can perform a certain task or change a behavior. In sport, the higher an athlete’s SE, the more likely they believe they will gain a skill, achieve a specific level, or make a team and so forth.
If you are raising or coaching an athlete that is even at the basic level of sport you may have already realized that there is a bit of psychology involved when it comes to discussing and supporting them in their game of play. Although you do not need to memorize your psych 101 notes, as a parent or coach it is helpful to have a clear understanding of how to meet an athlete where they are on the path towards their goals, to ensure steady progress. We have found a simple way to do this, based freely off the transtheoretical model of behavior change; understanding this can provide you with a bit more insight on increasing the self-efficacy of your developing athlete:
It may be help to first review the 5 Stages of Behavior Change:
Precontemplation
Contemplation
Preparation
Action
Maintenance
Then, liken these stages to a real time challenge in sport from an athlete’s standpoint, by noting what they are saying or reviewing reports of what is taking place in practice:
Precontemplation: I’m fine – I don’t need a fix
Contemplation: I didn’t realize there is/was an issue
Preparation: Maybe a few things could help; I’ll could try some changes/tools
Action: It helped, I’ll practice, it’s working
Maintenance: I’ve got it, even if I hit a glitch – I’ve got a game plan
Within the above-mentioned stages, you can then apply various strategies that are not only motivating, but also encourage autonomy.
Here are a few suggested strategies per stage:
When an athlete is still in the precontemplation stage there is no need to push, because at this point, they are unaware of the value that making a change will hold. Therefore, it is helpful to find out what they value and discuss how their values could coincide with reaching specific goals. Once an athlete realizes that what they value could be enhanced by moving along a more formed path towards their goal, they will become increasingly motivated. Vision boards are helpful during both the contemplation and preparation stages. As their vision of goals begin to become clearer, an athlete will need personally meaningful encouragement (affirmations) to take the final leaps into action as well as reach the stage of maintenance.
During the maintenance stage athletes do not need constant encouragement, yet they do need recognition. This is where check-ins are of great value: parents and coaches can acknowledge progress – you’ve come a long way; how does it feel?! Coaches can also encourage teammates to be mindful of their teammates progress and express awareness with something as simple as saying “you’re doing awesome!”
Looking at the behavior changes that are necessary to reach a goal as a process, instead of taking a knee-jerk fast fix approach “just do it” allows for stable progress and avoids rollercoaster training as we mention in this article HERE. Needless to say, an athlete can gain valuable insight on themselves with in the behavior-change process and hopefully apply this to obstacles that arise later in sport, or even life after sport.
