Welcome

Welcome to the April issue of my newsletter.

Check out the summary below for a quick insight on what this issue looks at, and scroll through to find out more.

Enjoy!

At a glance

• A study of 724 young athletes found that coaches who encourage independence foster life skills like teamwork and leadership, with a strong coach-athlete relationship acting as a key mediator.

• A study of 72 student-athletes revealed that autonomy-supportive coaching enhances psychological well-being and engagement, while controlling coaching increases burnout and physiological stress, posing risks to athletes' mental and physical health.

• How can an understanding of SDT reframe your understanding of motivational as a whole and your role as a coach? My blog post answers this very question.

• 3 MORE practical ways for embedding SDT into your coaching practice today!

• I'll be posting 2x per (most) weeks on the podcast, increasing focus on motivational psychology via solo episodes alongside my guest ones

In the (Journal) News

Article 1:

Freire, G. L. M., Nascimento Junior, J. R. A. do, Cronin, L. D., Gomes Costa, N. L., & Fiorese, L. (2025). The coach-athlete relationship as a mediator of the relationships between coach-autonomy support and athlete’s life skills development. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/17479541241308650

This study looked at how young athletes develop life skills through sport. It combined two theories - Self-Determination Theory and the 3C's model - to explore how coaches influence this process. The researchers surveyed 724 young athletes from Brazil (aged around 14) to measure their views on their coach’s support for autonomy, their relationship with their coach, and their development of life skills like teamwork, leadership, and decision-making. The results showed that when coaches support athlete independence, it helps improve life skills, but this happens indirectly through a strong and positive coach-athlete relationship. In short, coaches can help athletes develop important life skills by both encouraging autonomy and building good relationships with them.

Article 2:

Jauvin, F., Massaro, S., Coulombe, P., Brouillette, J., & Forest, J. (2025). “Beating as one”: the effect of coaches’ behaviors on athletes’ psychobiological wellbeing through the lens of self-determination theory. Motivation and Emotion, 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-025-10120-6

This study examined how athletes’ perceptions of their coaches’ behaviours affected their mental and physical well-being through self-determination theory. Tracking 72 student-athletes over two weeks, the researchers found that autonomy-supportive coaching (e.g., offering choice and valuing input) increased psychological need satisfaction, boosting engagement and preventing burnout, while controlling coaching (e.g., applying pressure and being overly directive) led to need frustration and higher burnout. Controlling coaching also heightened acute stress responses over time, suggesting potential harm to athletes' physiological health. These findings reinforce the importance of autonomy-supportive coaching in promoting athletes’ motivation, resilience, and overall well-being.

⭐Have you got SDT based sport coaching research coming out, and want it featured in a future issue of the newsletter? Let me know!

Motivational science DECODE

Rethinking motivation in sports coaching through SDT

As coaches, we often see ourselves as the spark igniting an athlete’s drive - shouting from the sidelines, pushing them to excel. But through the lens of SDT, a macro theory of motivational psychology, our role shifts. It’s not about being the motivator; it’s about crafting an environment where athletes ignite their own fire. This subtle flip - from motivator to facilitator - empowers athletes to tap into internal drivers, which research across domains shows are the strongest predictors of sustained success.

Motivation isn’t just about quantity (i.e., how much an athlete has) but about quality and type. Forget saying an athlete is “demotivated.” Every athlete is motivated; it’s the nature of that motivation that matters. SDT frames motivation on a spectrum, from intrinsic to extrinsic to amotivational, each tied to distinct experiences and outcomes. High-quality, self-determined motivation - like intrinsic (pure joy in the task) or integrated regulation (sport as part of identity) - fuels adaptive outcomes: persistence, performance, teamwork. Lower-quality, non-self-determined types - like external regulation (rewards or avoiding punishment) or amotivation (passively going through the motions) - often lead to maladaptive results, especially over time.

Consider an athlete thrilled by the game itself (intrinsic), or one who trains because it defines them (integrated), or they see the behaviour as instrumental to a goal (e.g., going to gym may not be fun but physical preparation creates better performances). Contrast that with one grinding through guilt (introjected) or chasing a trophy (external). Amotivation, meanwhile, reflects disconnection - neither forced nor inspired. An athlete’s main drivers - those dominant reasons for action - shape their motivational orientation. When self-determined drivers prevail, they align closer to autonomy and growth; when external or coercive, they drift away.

This orientation hinges on satisfying three psychological needs: autonomy (control over actions), competence (mastery), and relatedness (belonging). A coach fostering these creates a space where intrinsic motivation thrives. An athlete choosing their path feels autonomous; improving skills builds competence; bonding with teammates satisfies relatedness. Frustrate these needs - through control, criticism, or isolation - and motivation skews external, risking burnout or disengagement. Long-term, environments nurturing these needs cultivate self-driven athletes, while those thwarting them breed reliance on fleeting external jolts.

Coaches, your task is to design practices and cultures that nudge athletes toward internalising their “why.” Short-term external boosts work, but SDT shows lasting success comes from self-determination.

🤔 Reflect: are you empowering athletes to own their motivation?

🎙️You can hear me chat more about this specific topic on the podcast. Check it out below!

My research updates from “the field”

A quick one here.

I'm plodding away at preparing a manuscript for a study I done on influences on the coach-created motivational environment of parent-coaches in a grassroots youth football setting, using creative non-fiction to bring the parent-coaches' and their kids' experiences alive.

I'm also gearing up to start working on an outreach project with the International Network of Street Papers, an inspiring initiative that supports individuals who have experienced homelessness by providing opportunities to develop journalistic skills and contribute to widely published street papers. I'll be offering advice on workshop design and evaluating outcomes through a motivational psychology lens.

But right now, I'm working on developing LOTS of solo and guest episodes for the podcast that focus around motivational theory and its application. So expect to see more of these topics in coming weeks and months alongside more diverse episodes too.

Coach hacks for higher quality motivation

Some easy to use practical methods for embedding SDT into your next coaching session!

1. Reverse Coaching Days

   Description: Organise a session where your athletes take charge as coaches for a day. You step back, and they plan and run a practice - drills, tactics, and all - while you observe or assist as needed.

   Why It Works: This gives athletes autonomy by putting them in your shoes, a role reversal you wouldn’t usually offer, signaling the importance of them taking ownership of their own development, as they only have you for so many hours of the week. It boosts competence as they deepen their grasp of the sport’s demands and builds relatedness through teamwork in planning and leading together.

   Best Fit: Mid-season to shake things up or during a lighter training week.

   Time Requirements: Moderate - 45-60 minutes, plus prep time they handle beforehand.

   Challenges & Solutions:

   - Challenge: Some athletes might lack confidence to lead.

   - Solution: Pair them up or give them a basic session outline to adapt (e.g., “warm-up, two drills, cool-down”).

   Actionable Tip: Let athletes pick a focus (e.g., “attack speed” or “defensive positioning”), then guide them to build a 30-minute session. Debrief afterwards: “What surprised you? What would you tweak next time?”

2. Athlete-Designed Performance Metrics

   Description: Challenge your athletes to create personalised performance metrics that go beyond standard stats (e.g., a “decision-making under pressure” score or a “creative play” tally).

   Why It Works: This supports competence by deepening athletes’ self-awareness and autonomy by letting them define success on their terms - something you rarely relinquish.

   Best Fit: Early in the season or during individual check-ins.

   Time Requirements: Moderate - 30-45 minutes to brainstorm and set up metrics, with brief monthly reviews.

   Challenges & Solutions:

   - Challenge: Athletes might set vague or unrealistic metrics.

   - Solution: Provide examples (e.g., “track successful passes in tight spaces”) and guide them toward measurable, meaningful ideas.

   Actionable Tip: Ask each athlete to pick one skill they want to master, then design a way to quantify it (e.g., a defender might track “interceptions per game”). Review and adjust these metrics together monthly.

3. Collaborative Tactic Design Workshops

   Description: Organise workshops where athletes work in small groups to design new team tactics or set-pieces, which you then test and refine together.

   Why It Works: This builds relatedness through teamwork and strengthens competence as athletes gain a deeper understanding of strategy by creating it themselves - flipping the usual coach-led dynamic.

   Best Fit: Pre-season or tactical training phases.

   Time Requirements: Moderate to high - 45-60 minutes per workshop.

   Challenges & Solutions:

   - Challenge: Strong personalities might dominate the discussion.

   - Solution: Use small, rotating groups and ensure each athlete leads at least once.

   Actionable Tip: Split your team into groups of 3-4 and task them with designing a new play (e.g., a counter-attack or defensive shift). Have each group pitch their idea, then vote on one to implement in practice. Celebrate the creators when it works!

There’s more to coaching than motivation! Wider learning from the Labours of Sport Coaching podcast

Recent episodes to check out:

• International coaching leadership, with Chris Duncan

• Autonomy supportive coaching 101

• Critiquing the constraints led approach, with Dave Collins

• Coaching as a science, with John Lyle

Upcoming episodes to look forward to:

• Competence supportive coaching 101

• Psychosocial profiling by positions in football, with Daði Rafnsson

• Relatedness supportive coaching 101

• Every coach has a story, with Tony Bryson

That’s a wrap! But before you leave

Please comment or get in touch with me with any feedback or ideas for making this newsletter better in its early stages - it’s a working progress, after all! And share the newsletter with any researchers, students, coaches, and coach developers you believe would find it useful! Because it’s here for the long term!

Here’s a shareable link to copy: Subscribe | Labours of Sport Coaching - The Self-Determined Coach

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Support the Labours of Sport Coaching mission: https://labours-of-sport.captivate.fm/support

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See you next month!