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Pygmalion Effect in Grassroots

The Pygmalion Effect is one of the most important aspects to take care when, as coaches, we are working in youth develoment. In every one of the stages of formative football, the objective of every coach is (or should be) that his players learn as much as possible, having fun practicing the sport, with the goal that in the future they are prepared to compete when they reach the high performance stage.

Many times, we wonder why some players learn more easily and quickly, and others not so much. The truth is that this depends on many factors, but after several years of observation and research of different case studies, it has been possible to identify some controllable parameters.

Why when we take charge of a football team as coaches, those players who from the beginning believe that they will learn more, or somebody have told us that they are “good players”, end up learning more, and those we think do not have so much talent, or somebody have not talked to us very well about them, end up having a much slower process?

The expectations we put on them, have a lot to say. And to explain its influence on the learning process of the player, and how we can manage it as coaches, we go to the Pygmalion Effect.

El efecto Pigmalión

The Pygmalion Effect has as its main axis expectations, which are created on a person, a group of people, situations, etc. These expectations, which one can have about these concepts, end up determining the final result, in the case that concerns us, the greater or lesser learning of the players.

Therefore, the expectations that the coach has and transmit to their players will directly influence their learning and performance. Consequently, it will be appropriate to encourage and transmit high expectations to the players, because the confidence, predisposition and performance of the group will be increased automatically.

For this, as coaches we must control:

  • The language used, tone of voice, connotation of words, etc. at the time of addressing a player.
  • Non-verbal language: gestures, faces, etc.
  • The individualized time we invest in each of the players.
  • The illusion and motivation that we are able to transmit to you.
  • The search for individual and common objectives for each of them.
  • Use and promotion of values ​​such as respect, ambition, teamwork, etc.
  • And most importantly: Believe ourselves that we can help improve the player, whoever he is!

 

Efecto Pigmalión

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