Motivation is defined as the driving force to achieve goals.
If you’re really lucky, you’ll have a player who acts like a spark plug and keeps the team on top, but don’t forget that even an All-Star player only becomes a teammate if the going gets tough. In fact, it can hurt a team in certain circumstances if players resent the spark plug.
With that said, let’s go to Brass Tacks, team motivation starts and ends with the Trainer. Period. Your team will take on your personality and mindset, so be as prepared to teach attitude as you are to instruct hitting.
Spring training is more than just learning physical skills, although it is 90% of that, but it should also start teaching mental and emotional toughness. Knowing your players is extremely important from all aspects. Watch the reaction of the players as they go through their drills. Some players get angry when they fail, some get embarrassed, some take it as a learning experience and go about their business. You should make a mental note of how each player reacts so that you can motivate them individually at some point in the season.
ADVICE
You don’t want to raise your voice or raise your fist to motivate a player who is already so anxious that he’s bouncing off the walls of the bench. This is when an arm around your shoulder and a more gentle monotonous instruction is required.
“Okay, Johnny, listen. I don’t need a home run. Just make contact. It’s okay.”
Let’s see what we just did. We calm Johnny down a bit with the soft voice. We let him know we didn’t expect him to try to outdo himself with a home run. We gave him specific instructions, make contact. Then he restated everything with an acknowledgment question that he has to answer.
A player who has shown passive or emotional feelings, anger, when he fails at something requires a different approach.
“Okay, Johnny, this is no different than what you do every practice. In fact, I throw faster in batting practice than this pitcher. Now go get them.”
What did we achieve? Our voice has more of an authoritative tone, which means we know what we’re talking about and trust that you’re up to the task. We remind him that he has already hit pitched baseballs faster than he is about to hit. A final word of encouragement and a directive to do something.
Leading a team and motivating it is naturally something different than an individual because it deals with several styles of motivation at the same time. This is where it is imperative to make the players a team, they are treated as a team and they will respond as a team.
98% of the time he went to the pitching mound, the entire infield got to the mound. The first thing I did was ask everyone to take a deep breath to relax a bit, but mainly to give their minds time to settle down and prepare to listen.
No matter what the reason for the situation, mistakes, walks or hits, I made sure they understood that we couldn’t change the situation we were in, we could only react to it. He would then give them specific instructions and remind them that as a “team” they could get out of this bind.
The conversation can go like this.
“Okay, everybody take a deep breath. (Wait) Ok, we got into this situation as a team and we’re going to get out of it as a team. I want everyone to go in 4 steps. Ground ball… hits the plate. Flying ball… .help each other.” Looking at my pitcher “We just need strikes.” Looking at my receiver “Good target now.”
When he left the field he would always yell at the outfielders and indicate with his fingers how many outs there were. That not only brought them back into focus, but also reinforced the “team” feeling.
There are hundreds of different situations that require different methods of motivation and thousands of books, videos, and other material with advice on how to manage motivation. Reading or listening to these materials can only help you improve your understanding of how to motivate, but do you really have the time?
The important thing is that you are aware that motivation is a necessary skill to successfully coach a baseball team and it is your responsibility as a coach to set the tone for the team.
Everyone has their own style and mine might sound pretty weird or unrealistic to you, and that’s okay. It worked for me, but another way may work much better for you.
I close this segment with this comment:
“How a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the best group of individual stars in the world, but if they don’t play together, the club won’t be worth a penny.” Babe Ruth