Motivational profiling in a sports environment

Individuals’ motivations can directly influence their performance; this is especially true in the sporting world. Reversal Theory’s “Eight Motivational States” provide the foundation for the AMSP, which; “provides a great way to help athletes and coaches understand themselves and use that knowledge to achieve their best performance under pressure.” – Phil Moore, Sports Psychologist.

Phil Moore has been involved in high performance sport for 20 years as an athlete, coach and now psychologist. He worked with Olympic teams for the Sydney and Athens Games and has been using Reversal Theory in his work for the last nine years and the AMSP during the last three years. Phil uses the AMSP, a psychometric profiling tool, to help coach individuals to improve their performance and team contribution, while also improving the climate and performance of the team as a whole. 

Phil used the AMSP with a under performing, high profile national sporting team and had extraordinary results. Each member of the team took the 40 item online test, and Phil used the expert report to coach individuals helping them understand their motivations and emotions. This platform then enabled the individual athletes to recognise what was happening to them as a consequence to experiencing different situations in particular motivational states. 

The team then shared their individual insights which developed a mutual understanding for each other. Phil Moore says, “Sharing profiles makes a huge difference, because it allows team members to better understand the diversity of the team and use that as a strength, rather than allowing differences to divide us.” 

As a consequence of these interventions and developments, not only did the performance of the individuals improve but so did that of the team as a whole. The result was that the team won its first international gold medal in 10 years. 

If you would like to find out more about the AMSP and how to gain accreditation to use the tool then please contact Claire Winstanley: cwinstanley@apterinternational.com