Motivational Monday Tip of the Day – Negative Motivation
Many baseball parents get in the practice of offering rewards for players. “I will take you to dinner for every hit you get today,” is a common parent practice. Does that mean no dinner if a child gets no hits – just kidding, of course, but that is implied? A reward for kid’s performance, especially monetary ones, usually ends up a negative for a couple of reasons.
List of orders, decorations, and medals of the Russian Federation (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
- It takes kids’ focus away from where it should be
- It begins a behavior that is hard for parents to get out of
It is important that players play for the correct reasons. Fun, teamwork, improvement, and socialization is where players’ focus should be and not winning $2 from mom. Playing for parental rewards often leads to disappointment and/or negotiation that turns into negative parent/child feelings, at least sometimes.
Just as coaches should not use physical exercise as punishment for poor play, monetary, gift or food rewards for good play is a motivational technique adults should avoid
