 Self-Efficacy |
In last week’s article, it was discussed that one aspect of a fighter’s desire to compete is based on internal and external rewards, or motivators. There are several other components involved in competition and training, not the least of which is a person’s feelings of self-efficacy or self-confidence. If we believe we will be successful at something in life, we are more likely to participate. For those of you who teach, consider when you first began teaching. You were probably nervous, felt unsure of yourself, and didn’t know if you were up to the task you had agreed to complete. Whether you covered this up by being very aggressive, or acting nonchalant, or if your nerves were out there for everybody to see, the base feeling was that you were not confident. Think about how you feel now when you teach. It’s a non-issue, it’s easy, it’s fun, it’s a paycheck; of course, good instructors will take time to think about and plan their classes, but that’s not about confidence. It’s the same thing when fighters fight in an organized event for the first time- they aren’t sure they’re ready. Self efficacy is defined as a judgment about one’s capability to perform a task at an advanced level, with certainty, repeatedly over time. It relates to your perception of your ability to perform specific skills and abilities, or take advantage of opportunities. But self-efficacy doesn’t make you sit on your butt because you think, “I’ve got this,” like Rocky in Rocky III. Athletes with higher self-efficacy try harder, persist longer, feel less nervous, and choose greater challenges. True overconfidence, the kind that makes you not train, eat right, or take your opponent seriously, is so rare that some sports psychologists don’t even think it should be a concern. Often, people with the biggest bravado, those who do the most trash-talking, do not have true feelings of self-efficacy. High self-efficacy can overcome very significant motivation killers. Think about how long it really takes to become an NFL player, never mind winning a shot at the Super Bowl, or how many hours in the gym it takes to get a fight in the UFC. While our “sport” is arguably a lot smaller than others, think of all the people who train in kickboxing, jiu-jitsu, and MMA. Think of the odds of one of those people becoming a professional fighter…not good, right? But spending time envisioning yourself as successful (as a result of high self-efficacy) is sometimes just what you need to remain motivated. If Chuck Liddell, at the beginning of his career, sat down and thought about the odds of him becoming the successful fighter we know today, and considered every step it would take, he probably would have put on his headphones, gone home, and started studying for a career in architecture. But by keeping his focus on the belief that he could do it, this carried him forward into the manifestation of that very belief. High self-efficacy is key to sustainability, which is the type of motivation that allows you to stick with something long-term. The other important factors that tie into sustainability are task-mastery orientation and ego orientation. People with task mastery orientation take pride in their improvement over past performances, like runners who are trying to beat their old times. Many of us who train but do not compete are sustained by task mastery orientation; we think about how silly we felt when we first started training, and compare it to now when perhaps our striking is clean and strong, or our jiu-jitsu is beginning to flow. Or, those of us who were out of shape think about being winded after two minutes of jumping rope, whereas now we can do five. People with ego orientation are focused on demonstrating their superiority over others and are motivated by social comparison. Many fighters fall into this category; think of Ken Shamrock as a good example. I think this is also the “ego” that everybody dreads when they enter a MMA gym for the first time. When a sport situation doesn’t match an athlete’s orientation, his/her interest wanes. Your orientation is probably the reason you are interested in the sports you are interested in, in part, and also will likely dictate whether you like to train alone, with other people watching, whether your goal is to compete or not, or whether or not you jealously guard your informal position as demonstrator in class. But every sport has aspects that appeal to both types of orientations; the trick is finding out what aspects will appeal to your orientation as an athlete. Examples of ego orientation are replete in MMA; think of every time someone calls the person with the belt out. But there are also examples of task mastery orientation; think about when commentators remark that a certain fighter has been working to improve his ground, stand-up, etc. So, how can this help you? 1. Consider which aspects of your training you feel effective at, and identify them. Is it a given to you that you’ve got a great left hand? That’s a feeling of self-efficacy. Identify those aspects of your training that you don’t feel you are as good at, and make a plan to improve them, whether it’s supplemental training, working the Bas Rutten tapes, conditioning, etc. Now: stop telling yourself that you suck at these things. Stop making a face or inwardly groaning each time your instructor/trainer announces that you will be working on them. Instead, turn it around into an opportunity to improve in these areas. By avoiding them and not wanting to do them, you won’t get better, and you’ll continue to avoid and not want to do them! 2. Determine whether your tendency is to task mastery or ego motivation. Are you always comparing yourself to someone in class? Do you hear yourself telling friends you could “take” Georges St. Pierre? (Right). Then you are ego oriented. Do you think about how far you’ve come? Is it rewarding to hear your instructor say you’ve improved? Do you often think about “then” and “now?” You are task mastery oriented. 3. Identify ways to facilitate your orientation in your training. If you are ego-oriented, you’ll be happy with people watching, on the busiest nights at the gym; maybe you could even select someone as an “opponent,” someone to become better than. If you are task-mastery oriented, start keeping a training diary. Have someone film you and analyze your solid areas, and your areas of desired improvement. Track your development. |
Motivation |
Motivation. It’s what makes disciplined fighters like Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz excel in their cardio, technique, and skill. Motivation is what gets you to the gym on rainy, snowy days, and it’s what makes you do one more round, one more combination, one more rep when you feel as if you are at failure. As important as it is, motivation is one of the hardest things to grasp and maintain in any sport; we’ve all heard stories of fighters and other athletes who seemed to be unshakable but somewhere along the line lost their spirit. I’m not going to name any names, but a couple Brazilian fighters come to mind. Why are some of the most readily available motivators, like prize money or belts, ineffective long term? The most successful fighters not only have good physical genetics- strength, size, good reflexes, and so on, but also good mental genetics, such as high pain tolerance, natural inclination toward aggressiveness, initiative, attraction to challenges, and inner determination. Towards the end of a fight, fatigue, thirst, and pain begin to override these natural tendencies, and a fighter’s system can work to put the goals of rest, hydration, and healing above those of winning, competitive drive, and fighting well. As you can see, environment has a strong impact on motivation; however, we can all identify situations in which we ignored our biological drives and acted contrary to them- like when we wake up at 5 a.m. to work out, or delay eating because we have work to do. Humans have free will, and regardless of the influences surrounding us, we choose our actions, interpretations, focus, and attitude. Essentially, sports psychology recognizes two types of motivation, intrinsic and extrinsic. § Intrinsic motivation comes from inside the athlete- when he fights or trains because doing so is inherently pleasurable, because it is based on the enjoyment of competition, excitement, or improvement. § Extrinsic motivation comes from outside the athlete and includes things such as belts, money, and fame. It’s important to realize that neither type of motivation is superior to the other; they complement each other, and most athletes fight because of a combination of both. Interestingly enough, however, research has demonstrated that athletes who are motivated intrinsically lose some of their enthusiasm when extrinsic incentives are added. Which is weird, right? Because most of us who train started out training because it interested us; then, those of us who were talented, had the time, and enjoyed it decided to try taking it to the next level by maybe doing a charity fight, a local tournament, or perhaps by becoming an instructor. The research has shown that when athletes view their training or competing as external to themselves (i.e. when they believe that a sponsor or manager is calling the shots), they feel a lessened sense of determination (remember, we said earlier that all good athletes have inner determination), and their will to train and compete drops off. But didn’t we just say that extrinsic motivation was not inferior to intrinsic? Yes. It’s just appropriate for different things. For example, anybody who’s ever tried to make weight (hell, anybody who’s ever been on a diet) knows that it’s not fun. And there are other aspects to training that aren’t fun, that we wouldn’t do purely for the pleasure of it (in my case, this includes sprawling drills). But, we realize these things are a part of the sport; if we want to be in better condition, we might need to change our diet to include more protein and less ice cream, or we might have to do wind sprints or plyometrics. For unpleasant modes of training, research has demonstrated that extrinsic rewards increase motivation. How does this apply to me, and how can this help me improve my training? § Take a few moments to identify why you train or fight. Many of us have automatic answers we give people like, “to keep in shape,” or “because I love it.” Think about why you love it; think back to your best moments in training or competition- why were they your best? What did they give you? Think physically, mentally, and emotionally. Was it the adrenaline high? Or was it a feeling of success after you finally mastered how to execute a perfect triangle? § Now, consider what you don’t like about it. The runs on off days? Focus mitt work? Think about what you can add as an incentive to improve your outlook on these things. If you’re not trying to cut weight, allow yourself some of your favorite food on the days you do your least-liked activity. By countering something negative with a primary positive reinforcer, like food, you send your brain a powerful message about motivation. An extrinsic motivator can also be something like keeping track of, let’s say, how long it takes you to do 20 jump squats, 20 squat thrusts, and 20 squat thrust jumps. Seeing your improvement in black and white is highly motivating. One thing to note- your extrinsic reinforcer should be something you can give yourself that day; i.e. don’t save up your “positives” to buy that rash guard you’ve been wanting. The key between pairing the negative and positive to improve motivation is immediacy. Jennifer Predolin has a Master’s Degree in Psychology, and is currently in her third year of doctoral training.  |
