SELF REFLECTION

Coaching Self- Reflection Task

Self-determination theory is concerned with the motivation that is behind people's choices which they make without external interference and influence. It focuses on how the behavior of individuals is self-determined and self-motivated comparing both intrinsic and extrinsic motives. Planning and coaching of the athletic team using Deci and Ryan (1985) model of (SDT) help in addressing the innate psychological needs that comprise of competence, relatedness, and autonomy. In planning, this helps in identifying the needs of the athletes and how they can be addressed in order to promote self-motivation. Competence will help in controlling the outcome and the experience. Relatedness will prepare how the athletes will interact, connect and care for each other as a group. Autonomy will help in coaching while integrating harmony in the team so that they may become independent (Deci, & Ryan, 2004).  The peer's observation plays an important role when the athletes showcase what they have learned pinpointing the areas that require some improvement. The process will help in creating deeper engagement during coaching, better conceptual learning and create a high persistence during learning.

Reflecting on using Self-determination theory

In order to build the athletes autonomy, there should be an offer of choice made to them. This includes a variety of exercise choices that can have the same results to the end. The training program should have a variety of them so that the athletes can choose what they like (Stelter, 2013). As a motivation tip, it is important to ask the athletes to choose what they like and enjoy so that the benefits of each exercise can be identified. Redefining the exercise is also important as this will explain what the exercise entails. In order to build competence to the athletes, there is positive enforcement and skill-specific feedback (Deci, & Ryan, 2004). This ensures that good and nice work is done. In order to create relatedness, there should be interactive communication and keep tabs with the athletes so that they can feel appreciated. A consistent approach will facilitate the athlete’s performance to be at their best (ÜNLÜ & DETTWEILER, 2015).

The best type of feedback to use with the athletes is the skill-specific feedback. The feedback is best used when coaching has already begun and the athletes have executed the skill. The results of the feedback helped the client in performing their skills correctly which creates a positive impact. Rather than having the skill-specific feedback incompetence having a process of questioning and reflective listening will play an important role (ÜNLÜ & DETTWEILER, 2015). In relatedness, the approach of a free day and social media will enhance the coaching process. The biggest challenge is balancing with the team commitments. In order to eliminate the barrier, proper balancing that will strike the balance to the two has to be designed so that the reliance of the teammates and their progress will be enhanced.

Planning & Coaching

The planning and coaching of the athlete’s team were effective as the team members recorded a great improvement. The athletes reached the session goals and realized the objective as there was self-motivation that made them work even better. This is because they all recorded less time to finish the same race. Most of the young athletes in the group were a bit slow in adapting the approaches as most of them were new to that kind of setting. However with time they responded well to the program (Brockbank & McGill, 2006). At first, there was a small adjustment of training time so that the athletes were not strained as a way of encouraging them not to give up. As a result of making this adjustment most of the team members found it easier which encouraged them to train even more as they were motivated by the fact that they were becoming more flexible to the exercise (Fenton,  Duda & Barrett, 2016). In order to increase the motivation levels engaging the new team with communication will help in identifying what they would prefer so that more proper adjustment could be made.

Peer Reflection Feedback

The peers said that the coaching process was smooth and most of the team members adopted well with the strategy. However, there were some challenges of the team members adapting to the system and they were less motivated. In order to improve the session as the head coach the channels of communication should be enhanced whereby their views can be listed to (Stelter, 2013). Their feedback on the aspect of safety was positive. This is because during planning the presence of the safety kit and a first aid given had been taken into account.

Overview of the Coaching Session

The interesting part of the session was seeing the athlete’s record a tremendous improvement at the end of each training session. The difficult part of the session was trying to pull up a few team members who were lagging behind as they require some extra training. In order to improve the whole session, I would make some extra classes for the team so that they can practice and perfect what they have been coached (Brockbank & McGill, 2006). This means that as a coach I have to make some more sacrifices. In order to make it more interesting as a coach, I will have to observe the Deci and Ryan model of self-determination more so that I can enhance motivation more and address the psychological needs of the athlete's team in the coaching sessions (Deci  & Ryan, 2004).

Reference

Brockbank, A., & McGill, I. (2006). Facilitating reflective learning through mentoring and coaching. London: Kogan Page

Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Determination in Human Behavior. Boston, MA: Springer US

Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2004). Handbook of self-determination research. Rochester, NY: Univ. of Rochester Press.

Fenton, S. M., Duda, J. L., & Barrett, T. (2016). Optimising physical activity engagement during youth sport: a self-determination theory approach. Journal Of Sports Sciences, 34(19), 1874-1884. doi:10.1080/02640414.2016.1142104

Stelter, R. (2013). A guide to third generation coaching: Narrative-collaborative theory and practice. Dordrecht: Springer.

ÜNLÜ, A., & DETTWEILER, U. (2015). MOTIVATION INTERNALIZATION AND SIMPLEX STRUCTURE IN SELF-DETERMINATION THEORY. Psychological Reports, 117(3), 675-691. doi:10.2466/14.PR0.117c25z1