Praising Effort Over Performance

Praising your athletes for wins is easy. On the surface they scored more points or goals than their opponents, they shot the lowest score in the field, or they earned the fastest time. However, the outcome might not be as important as the effort put into that performance or their preparation getting there.

What if we switched this mentality to praising effort rather than performance or the wins and losses? In a 2021 study by Papich, Bloom, and Dohme (2021), the researchers found that athletes who receive praise for effort rather than performance outcomes performed better overall. This makes me think it might be more beneficial to help our athletes get lost in the process rather than being worried about the scoreboard or where they place at the end of a tournament round or race or match. In my experience, when coaches and athletes are both on the same page with goals and what it takes to get there, we are all more capable of thinking more about the steps toward those goals rather than getting to those goals overnight.

From a golf perspective, it can be a little easier to praise effort because our athletes are less likely to actually win consecutive tournaments. So, we tend to praise Top 10 or 20 finishes, number of birdies earned, or grinding out a “good” bogey. I would think more dynamic sports that play teams head-to-head might have more difficulty with this. Comment your thoughts below and let’s get the ideas flowing!

References

Papich, M., Bloom, G. A., & Dohme, L. C. (2021). Managing parental involvement within competitive youth tennis coach-athlete relationships. Journal of Exercise, Movement, and Sport (SCAPPS refereed abstracts repository), 52(1).