Looking for in depth course/book/lecture on teaching athletes a sense of drive, desire to win, desire to improve, motivation, competitive effort, etc. (for 7th-12th grade ages)
The title says most of it. I want to better understand very in depth things along the lines of:
- How a coach can teach athletes that EFFORT will have payoffs
- How a coach can teach the joy of improving your skills
- How a coach can teach athletes a desire to do well (the process) AND to win (the outcome)
- How a coach can teach athletes that they have an impact on how the game can go, it's not just up to luck or what their opponent does. We have some control/influence here.
- The psychology of competitiveness (it's a complex thing; competitiveness can exist in ways that are healthy and unhealthy; it can come down to comparing yourself to others or just to your past self; how much are people born with it vs it's in their genes; etc)
- How age can make an impact on the psychology of all this - middle schoolers will struggle more than high schoolers, but how can I work with that?
- What I'm NOT looking for is just a motivational talk/book that's directed at the reader/listener - I want something that explains HOW a coach can TEACH these skills/mindsets, and goes in depth.
- Also NOT looking for things like brushing off mistakes, having grit in tough circumstances, etc.
- Ultimately just teaching a desire to do well and improve when the athletes just seem casual and/or lazy.
Articles are too short to really cover the info I'm hoping to take in. Books, lectures, online courses, or other long form content are what I'm hoping for. But I'll take whatever I can get!
If you want to go a bit more in depth on my situation:
I coach volleyball - middle and high school. I just finished an 8th grade club volleyball season. Many players on the team gave off this vibe of just wanting to play the game, kind of recreationally. Some examples of the vibe they gave off:
- not really caring about making themselves better
- not showing much focus when being taught a new thing (talking, eyes wandering etc)
- not focusing on the point of the drill (improve footwork or other technique) and just passing/hitting the ball and clearly being bored with it
- Being bored with slower-paced, skill-development activities
- emotions in games seemed rather fun/chill, not intense or focused etc
- lots of just socializing, "here to hang out with my pals" type energy
- constantly forgetting things they've been told and needing reminders (whether it's technique, team expectations, how the drill works etc)
A lot of that is perhaps typical of that age, but that's partly my point. They haven't necessarily been taught the right mindset, and part of my job is to teach that to them. There are definitely players at that age that do have those competitive mentalities!