Research has shown that youth who are rewarded for their efforts become aware that the source of their success is intentional effort and practice.
In fact, this mindset of athletes is associated with intrinsic motivation. In contrast, youth who are rewarded for their ability believe that the source of their success lies in predetermined and unmodifiable traits.
As a result, coaches’ instructions on commitment and persistence go a long way in fostering growth-oriented mindsets, deliberate practice and deliberate play activities, and play a really important role especially when provided after mistakes and defeats.
An example of this comes from Alex Ferguson when he states in his autobiography, “If I was confronted with a player who had performed below expectations I would say, ‘You played a horrible game,’ but I would add, ‘for a player of your ability.’ I would say this so that they would not get down on themselves when they were criticized: I would criticize, but I would counterbalance with encouragement: “Why are you doing this? You can do better” (Ferguson 2013, p. 273).
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