Player Development Plans: 3 Questions That Create Intrinsic Motivation

Player Development Plans

Most of us have given the speech. Put in the work. You have so much potential. Then we sit back and wait for our athletes to figure it out. It’s a familiar pattern, and it rarely moves anyone. If you want real buy-in from your athletes, they need to know you’re invested in them and will help them get better. That means we have to stop lecturing and start coaching.

Coaching starts with asking the right questions and using a clear framework, so athletes can name three things for themselves. First, where they want to go. Second, where they are right now. Third, what they need to do to close the gap between the two. When you write those three things down together with the athlete, something shifts. The goal is theirs, so the motivation is theirs too, and they leave with a clear plan and real commitments.

The plan isn’t the finish line, though. You also need to coach them on those commitments. Research on what are called implementation intentions shows that when people are coached to spell out what they will do, when they will do it, and where they will do it, they are three to four times more likely to follow through. “I’ll work on my shooting” turns into a commitment with a time and a place attached.

Player development isn’t just telling people what to do. It’s coaching them to find their own motivation and then giving them a clear path from where they are to where they want to be. To get our player development plan templates, the frameworks, and an implementation intention worksheet you can use with your athletes, join us inside TOC Coach. Membership also includes a 60-minute one-on-one call with an executive coach to work through your most pressing leadership and culture challenges.

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