The Journey- Reducing Fear of Failure in Youth Football

Category: Sports Performance | Specialism: Sports Coaching | Sport: Soccer

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Everyone whether a player, coach or spectator likes to win but there is too much emphasis in youth football on the outcome of matches. People are concerned with beating opponents, winning the game, the league and scoring better goals. Yes, this is the ultimate end point of any sporting event but to get there if you concentrate on the processes of getting better (For example doing the right things – passing correctly, being in the right place tactically) then more times than not the victory will come. In youth football ‘Wining at all costs’ is to often the main priority and this is transferred for the most part subconsciously to young athletes by significant others (parents, coaches, relatives). They concentrate on the end product (destination) instead of the journey to get there. This creates a culture where failure is feared but humans are more successful when they learn from their failures/mistakes, this is how humans learn from past experience. If the journey was concentrated on, the getting better side of things, then fear of failure would reduce and players/athletes would be able play their natural game without thinking about the need to win. Playing without fear and concentrating on the journey will inevitably lead to a successful outcome. Players should not be afraid of failing. Everyone fails but it is those that recover quickest that are most successful. These significant others play an important role in developing the climate/culture. What constitutes success and failure in you club? Personal improvement or winning? This will influence the players’ goals, how they portray themselves in training and matches and their attitude to failing. There are many ways that a significant other could reduce fear of failure.

1. Training and games should be seen as learning environments where players can concentrate on mastering the skills needed. Ajax is a great example they do something similar in their youth system; everything is about getting better players. Use drills where the players can compare against themselves previously and that reduce opportunity for players to compare against each other.
2. Promote where possible the journey. For example What is the first question a parent asks their child when they pick them up from the game?...’Did you win?’ This immediately increases in the athletes mind the outcome of the game and feelings of fear if the team did not win. Perhaps a better question would be ‘How did you play?’ This makes them think about their performance and their journey as opposed to the end destination.
3. Reward the journey not the destination. Things like effort and the right techniques should be rewarded. This will encourage them to try things and have no fear of failure.
4. Never criticise mistakes as players will soon become afraid to try things for fear of the criticism they will get.

Tags: fear of failure, motivation, motivational climate, process goals, significant others, soccer coaching, soccer training, www.soccertactics.com

Posted Fri Mar 14 2008 2:26 AM by DavidH | Permalink | Comments(1) Share this article:

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I quite like to think of training with the destination in mind, then competing for fun. This means that repetitive, mundane work like technical drills are less likely to be seen as boring. Indeed, they can be seen as small steps that fulfill a purpose. However, one can never overestimate the importance of process goals. Even when training with the destination in mind, it is the process that will get you there. Without it, the destination mind simply be an abstract notion, something that young sports people simply can't connect with. Process and short-term goals help to bridge that gap. When talking about the destination, it is also important not just to say "I want to be an Olympic Champion", but to understand what that will really look and feel like (even taste, smell and hear like) in order to better understand what the steps on the journey (the process) will be like and to help make that connection. I've seen a lot of talented athletes that are pretty advanced but still don't really understand the thing that they are aiming at (i.e. elite performance). In other words, if handled appropriately, engaging with both the destination and the journey makes for a richer experience.