Soccer Motivation - How To Motivate Soccer Players (Part 1)

I got a lot of emails recently from soccer coaches and parents asking me to write something about soccer motivation and how to motivate their players or kids. The essential key to motivating soccer players is to help them to motivate themselves.

First, you need to set the example. This means that you need to use the "Golden Rule" and speak to them the way that you wish them to speak to you and the way you hope they speak to themselves.

Using positive reinforcement will go a long way to helping players feel good enough about themselves and their soccer game to want to strive for more. How? It is really very simple. Focus on the positive things and do not focus on the negative things.

We live in a rat race society and we tend to compare ourselves to others much of the time. Children go through school constantly being compared to others and then move to their post-secondary education looking to be the best so they can receive scholarships and awards.

Soccer parents and coaches need to know that their kids or players want to please them and they want to do well. They often focus on what they did wrong or what they did not do. In the end they can feel very frustrated, angry, and can even feel like a failure and this attitude can be carried onto the soccer field.

Using positive reinforcement means focusing on the positive or what went right. There is no need to look at what a player did not do properly. You may ask, how do you help a player correct poor soccer techniques or improve their soccer game without looking at what they did improperly. (continues... )

(ckick here to read - "Part 2 - How To Motivate Soccer Players - Part 2")

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