Self determination theory

Scratching the surface of potential

The advent of technology has changed the whole face of coaching. I coach athletes for entire seasons without meeting them in person. Online coaching has given all of us access to each other, no matter where you live, we can work together. It’s absolutely incredible. I can successfully coach someone on the other side of the world through my laptop. This is extraordinarily useful for both coach and coachee. Our lives have become so busy (or rather, in the western world we have made them so busy) that having a coach you don’t need to physically see everyday is the perfect fit for individuals that want to achieve goals while time constrained. Technology upgrades allow coaches to churn through endless data points and performance metrics which if all things are going well, will trend in an upward direction. When the pandemic struck and I leaned heavily into online coaching, because my in person clinic was shut down, I was really taken by how much could be achieved online. I still feel that way and am very grateful for all the connections I have made online over the years, it is phenomenal. But sometimes, something is missing……

Autonomy, competence and relatedness. These are the three tenets of self determination theory (SDT) that are necessary for optimal human functioning. I had never heard of self determination theory before 2020. It never appeared in any of the multiple coaching courses I had attended at this point in time. I could easily have been daydreaming, the concept was coined by Edward Deci and Richard Ryan in their 1985 book and really took off in a paper published in 2000. Since coming across the theory (in a podcast I believe originally), I have been fascinated by its power when it comes to athletic performance. SDT and intrinsic motivation are areas of considerable investigation when looking at improving athletic performance. Intrinsic goal setting is categorically linked with the health and well-being of the athlete as it satisfies basic needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness (Hagger & Chatzisarantis, 2007). SDT was a focal point in a research project I developed recently and as I grow my coaching business, SDT will continue to steer the ship.

Let’s start with autonomy. How often do athletes have the final say in how their training program is developed? Not often it seems, even at the highest level, Olympic athletes have reported having little autonomy over their training plans (Preston et al., 2016). Athletes that have a sense of agency, or control, over their athletic development have shown improvements in performance and an adherence to the training plan (Kidman, L., and Lombardo, 2010) which seems to come from the athletes being able to fully ‘relate’ to the program. This requires conversations. By involving the athletes in the decision making process, we are giving them their autonomy and a sense of relatedness to their program.

Now I have to interject here, waving a white flag. I absolutely 100% know for sure that if I gave some of my athletes FULL control over their training plans, they would be injured within about 3 weeks. You have to know your athlete. Which is all the more reason to have some conversations at the beginning of the training season. What inspires them? Where is the motivation coming from? How much time do you have? What do they think would happen if they were to attempt 4 Ironmans in 3 months? Is there another way that might be more favourable for long term health and the sanity of their partner? As a coach, if I can continue to ask the right questions, the athlete will begin to figure out a path with the correct amount of resistance for themselves, leaving them with their autonomy and relatedness, setting us up for a successful training season. This is the most basic way of satisfying an athlete’s autonomy and relatedness to their development, but there are a myriad of paths offered by tapping into SDT.

The competence piece is even more exciting. Something most human beings struggle with and probably don’t realise that many people struggle with the same thing. Am I good enough? Will I be able to? I can’t do that. It’s too difficult. It’s not always enough, as a coach, just to be encouraging. Athlete’s need to feel competent. Positive psychology plays a role in an athlete’s self determination. Making an athlete aware of their signature strengths and how to leverage those strengths will bolster their competence and confidence. I can honestly say, I had ZERO clue what signature strengths were, let alone how I was going to use them for performance. Working with a positive psychology coach really opened my eyes to what my strengths and values are and through incisive questioning by my coach, I was able to make some decisions on some fairly ambitious goals. Does it mean you will always be successful, working with a coach and feeling more competent? No. In fact one of the biggest decisions I made while working with a coach, I went all in on it, and completely failed. But, it was MY decision to go for it and even though it was a slap in the face, I was proud that I went for it. You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take ~ Wayne Gretzky.

SDT has offered me an exciting edge to establishing goals when working with endurance athletes. Intrinsically motivated goals that come from deep within the athlete are the very goals that they will relate to, stick to and have fun trying to accomplish. I’m only scratching the surface of how useful SDT and positive psychology can be used to optimise athletic performance. What I see underneath is fascinating.

Feel free to contact me for more information on this style of coaching. While my day to day is working with athletes, this type of coaching is highly successful for anyone looking to improve their performance in this thing we call life.

References:

Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “What” and “Why” of Goal Pursuits: Human Needs and the Self-Determination of Behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227–268.

Hagger, M. S., & Chatzisarantis, N. L. D. (2007). Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Determination in Exercise and Sport. In Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Determination in Exercise and Sport.

Kidman, L., and Lombardo, B. J. (2010). Athlete-centred coaching. Developing decision makers 2nd edition. IPC Print Resources Worcester

Preston, C., Kerr, G., & Stirling, A. (2016). Elite Athletes’ Experience of Athlete-Centred Coaching. The Journal of Athlete-Centred Coaching, 1(01), 81–101.