"Those who are enamored of practice without science are like a pilot who goes into a ship without a rudder or compass and never has any certainty of where he is going (Leonardo Da Vinci)." As a football coach, I am enamored of practice, but practice is a physical matter. Mentally, I must know how to motivate my players to make them know where we are going. Motivation is awareness of what can influence the motivational level in people, and more importantly, it is how to put this knowledge into work (Carron, 1984, p.2).

There are many types of motivational concepts. As a human being, we can assimilate just a certain amount of information, and it will be difficult to remember all these different types of motivational concepts (Carron, 1984, p.4). Every person is different, and one can be motivated with different types of motivational systems. So, how much motivation do we have or can we use on the practice field? How can we handle different types of people? The right answer is experience. I believe that we learn by experience. Maybe, some coaches have special abilities, and they know and sense what is important to motivate young athletes (Carron, 1984, p.4).

According to Barrell and Waters (1980), motivation can be easily applied by following some simple motivational factors. This motivational system can be applied for the majority of the players that we have on the team. To be more specific, we can define motivation as a series of things or "tendencies to make an effort to fulfill a goal (Barrell & Waters, 1980, p. 4)." It is very important that to motivate the team, we need a team goal.

As Wilson (1996) pointed out, a football coach has to be goal oriented in everything he does for the team. This will give motivational values to the team. When the goal is established, it must be realistic and the players must be able to follow through with it. Another helpful tip is to keep questioning yourself and your colleagues; "What can be done to achieve team success?" When answers are coming out, write them down so you do not forget them.

Start with the goals which are more realistic and climb up to the harder ones as each goal becomes reachable. Remember to be focused in your objectives, and deliver your objective to the player in an understanding way. You must be simple and specific in your explanations. Do not leave any doubt in the players. Goals will give the players the desire and intensity to achieve their same goal, thus, a team is born.

In addition, Wilson (1996) believed that a coach must follow some basic guidelines to better motivate his players. For example, giving eye contact, when giving directions to the players, relates to a sign of honesty by the coach. A football coach must be sure of himself, and he does not have to yell unnecessarily. Normally, yelling is a fact of coaching inexperience that will be adjusted over time. Also, a coach must be careful about humor between himself and the players. Too much humor can ruin relationships especially if humor is used sarcastically.

According to Wilson (1996), personality is an important factor to establish relationships with your players. Simply, be yourself and do not copy other coaches' personalities. You cannot use a Vince Lombardi personality to motivate your team because you are not Vince Lombardi. Remember to believe in yourself, and by being yourself is the best way to deliver the right message to your players. "Motivation can be ranting and raving. Motivation can be an inspirational story. Motivation can be a pat on the back or a knowing nod. It all depends on the situation and, ultimately, the personality of the coach (Wilson, 1996, p. 65)."

Motivation can also be a simple belief that you and your coaches psychological fix in the players mentalities. An example can be coaches Haege and Rogone's (1996) motivational story at Bemidji State where they changed their teams six loosing seasons with a simple motivational story. Stories can be used as motivational tools, but most of them are not very realistic and sometimes you can loose your players confidence by telling them something that cannot be achievable.

But, according to Barrell & Waters (1980), there are two distinct types of motivation, 'need or desire'. The first is the 'sense of necessity' which focuses on avoiding negative consequences, and the second is the 'power by attraction' which focuses on positive goals. Both motivational instincts are powerful. Some people are driven by the 'need' rather than the 'desire', and viceversa.

Barrell & Waters (1980) developed six motivational factors to motivate people and athletes. Although these six motivational factors are largely independent, they can interact with each other and influence one another.

The first factor is 'Awareness of need or desire.' The greater the need or desire the higher the motivation will be (Barrell & Waters, 1980, p. 4). At this point, in coaching a sports team, the coach has to give a goal to the players in a way that the players feel the need or desire to achieve this goal. It is important that the goal is broad so that all the players will feel the need and desire to achieve it. For example, if I coach a football team, my goal will be achieving success every time we step onto the football field. It could be in practice as well as in game time. This aspect of knowing the goal can be related to arousal when the goal is experienced (Barrell & Waters, 1980, p. 4). The players must be aware of their need or desire. In other words, the greater the players' need or desire, the greater the players' arousal.

Because players do not behave and do not think in the same way, consciously they tend to take different routes to achieve their goal (Barrell & Waters, 1980, p. 5). As a good coach, we should be able to see and understand different motivational behaviors because it does not matter the way in which a player drives to achieve the team goal. The important idea in this concept is that the player is going in the right direction. For example, if the players' main goal is to improve leg power, maybe some players will stay after practice and work on power running. Other players may work out at the gym the next day. Others will use plyometrics in order to get their legs more powerful. It does not matter what way the players use, but it is very important that they are motivated to achieve the same goal.

The need or desire to achieve something is the most fundamental of all the aspects in motivating people (Barrell & Waters, 1980, p. 5). In order to have a need or desire stay alive, it is important that the coach makes the goal reachable and beneficial to the players.

The second factor of Barrel and Waters (1980) ideals is 'perception of availability'. If the team goal is not functional and accessible, it will be insignificant for the players. In other words, it is important that the goal is simple and achievable by the players. Moreover, it will be better if this goal is in a multi-stage aspect. For example, if the goal is to achieve success in playing football, a player could achieve success in every practice. But he still does not achieve the goal completely because he knows that he can improve himself all the time.

The goal should be special in its availability (Barrell & Waters, 1980, p. 5). The players should see that the need or desire has an unusual performance to achieve. It is the coach's job to make the team's goal special. Players have to value and know exactly what the goal means to the team which will motivate themselves in achieving it. The coach has to emphasize the goal all the time by making it achievable as well as wanted by all the players.

The coach has to understand that availability could be more achievable for some players than others. He has to draw a line which he places all the players at the same level. For example, achieving success in practice is the goal. If an athlete is almost perfect in every practice, as a good coach, I have to reinforce motivational achievement just when perfection is fulfilled. On the other hand, if a player is not physically good enough to achieve perfection, I will reinforce his goal availability every time he improves his highest level of performance although he does not achieve perfection. "Availability becomes a positive motivational force whenever the person believes the wanted item [in this case the goal] is obtainable from a source that can be reached (Barrell & Waters, 1980, p. 6)."

The perception to achieve the goal exerts the highest influence in motivating people (Barrell & Waters, 1980, p. 6). When players can see that they can achieve their need or desire, at this point, motivation is at its peak. This is the level of arousal where the players have to be in order to be successful. For example, the coach has to make his players in a position where they can achieve their goals each time they perform. This way players will perform at their best because motivation is in its high level.

More importantly, the outcome in each execution will affect how strongly players will be motivated in the next performance (Barrell & Waters, 1980, p. 6). To benefit from this point, the coach has to be positive in his observations. For example, if a player misses his performance, the coach should explain not what he did wrong, but just what he should have done to perform perfectly which gives him another chance. This will still keep the player in a level of motivational arousal because next time, he will have another chance to achieve the goal.

The third factor is 'response to the goal.' A player cannot be actively motivated if in the process and effort to achieve one's goal is perceived in a negative way (Barrell & Waters, 1980, p. 6). Motivation can be lost if the effort needed is seen as too demanding. This demotivational response can be felt physically as well as mentally by the players (Barrell & Waters, 1980, p. 6). To prevent this response, the coach has to keep the practice time, as well as the game time, grateful for the players. For example, motivation is very high, if playing is considered pleasurable for the players. Coaches as well as players should enjoy the sport that they practice. If this enjoyment is lost, changes have to be made, or motivation will be lost.

This task is quite difficult because pleasure in practice or game can be seen differently by the players. How one feels during play and practice time is very much a function of the individual and the situation (Barrell & Waters, 1980, p. 6). For example, in football, players can achieve pleasure doing different drills and playing different positions. An aggressive player may like tackling and physical contact. On the other hand, a less aggressive player may like techniques like how not to be tackled by the aggressive player. The coach should be able to distinguish player's attitudes to put them in a position where they can attain pleasure in what they do.

Furthermore, the coach has to make the team's environment attractive. For example, he has to make frequent changes in practice time to be able to keep the interest of the players alive, for the players should be excited to play. The coach has to positively induce his players to come to practice, so they will be motivated to work out.

The forth factor is 'feasibility of a goal.' An important element in players' motivation is the level of confidence that the player knows how to get, and will be able to get, so that the efforts expended will result in fulfilling one's goal (Barrell & Waters, 1980, p. 6). In a football team all the player's should have the opportunity to succeed. "The higher the level of confidence, the higher the motivation is likely to be (Barrell & Waters, 1980, p. 6)." A big problem on a football team is that some players will be excluded from the starting lines. It is important that the coach makes these players understand that because they do not play, it does not mean that they cannot achieve their goal and be a part of the team. In addition, a good coach should play them anyway during each game. He could play them in special teams or after the first quarter of the game. I believe that a team is a players' machine that works together. For the same principle, motivation to achieve the team's goal should be shared in all the players as well.

The fifth factor is 'alternative means'. Motivation can be overcome if there is an alternative mean to achieve the goal (Barrell & Waters, 1980, p. 7). For example, motivation will be suppressed if a player knows that he will play anyway, also, if he did not practice during the week. As a consequence, this player will lose his motivational drive because he did not get any personal effort to achieve his goal. Also, the other players will lose their motivational drive because they see that although they are working hard to accomplish their goal, someone else is getting it without any personal work. It is very important to not use any alternative means to achieve the team's goal because it could eliminate motivational drive toward the team's success.

The last factor is 'risk assessment.' Worrying about something normally establishes a distinct step in contemplating a goal (Barrell & Waters, 1980, p. 7). The risk of failure or serious disappointment could be thought of as an entirely unacceptable position to achieve the team goal, and motivation will be lost in this process. For example, if a motivated player from a junior team is moved to a varsity team which may not be accepted by the oldest players could place him in a distressed setting on the team. The player could lose his interest and consequently his motivation to achieve the team goal. It is very important for a coach to understand when a player is under stress. Communication with the players is very important. The coach should help make the player feel more comfortable being on the team setting.

The coach should make the distressed situation easier and obtainable for the special player, so the player can attain tranquility in what he is doing. As the player becomes more safe and less worried, the coach will improve the situation until it will reach normality. This way the player will not lose his motivational drive to achieve the goal of the team.

In short, to motivate your team, the coach must have a team philosophy which will give the team a goal to achieve. The goal should be a need or desire for the players. Also, the goal should be available and achievable by the players. This way the players will be confident in the team goal. You must have equal expectations for achieving the goal. No one should have an easy alternative or means to attain the team goal. Finally, all the risks involved in not achieving the goal should be eliminated, so to withdraw the feeling of failure in new and less talented players.

In conclusion, I believe that in football, motivation is the drive to achieve team success. According to Carron (1984), motivation is not a single, simple concept (p. 3), but with taking into consideration some few important factors, we could be able to control motivation in a team sport. For most of the people, football is seen as a physical sport, but, in my opinion, it is more mentally played, especially when the game is close. Motivation is what drives the team to achieving success when the game is getting hard. As Napoleon said, "There are only two powers in the world, the sword and the spirit. In the long run the sword will always be conquered by the spirit." Although Napoleon did not know football, I am sure that he would have been a good motivator in this game of powers.

E-mail: Giorgio Volpi