Unlocking Potential: The Crucial Role of Fun in Sports Performance
Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.
Hi coach,
Within the world of sports and the pressures that come along with it, you can be forgiven for getting caught up in performance metrics and success factors.
There is one metric that most coaches tend to overlook. No, undermine would perhaps be a better word. I’ve seen and heard this. I’ve experienced it over the last couple of years. The metric that I’m talking about is. . . fun.
You’re about to roll your eyes. You’re about to tell me why fun isn’t important in the development of elite athletes or that you’re not here to entertain or amuse your athletes. You’re here to teach them, to coach them, to instil discipline. You’re about to tell me that, aren’t you?
Before you do that, allow me to explain why “fun” isn’t just a nice-to-have, but a must-have in sports, even at the elite levels.
The Power of Fun
You might think fun and elite performance are on opposite ends of the spectrum.
But Deci & Ryan (2017) beg to differ. They argue fun isn’t just a cherry on top; it’s a core ingredient for intrinsic motivation. That’s the kind of drive that keeps an athlete pushing, not because they have to, but because they want to.
It’s the type of motivation that is self-sustaining, growing stronger without you having to add fuel to its fire. It’s the kind that Steve Jobs talked about when he said
Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.
Fun in Action
Coaching is all about changing behaviours.
At its core, it is that simple. You are trying to change the behaviours of your athletes. To get them to show up on time, to get them to be on the court laced up early, to get them to be mentally ready to work hard. What is one of the easiest ways that you can get people to change behaviours?
Make things more fun.
To test this theory, Volkswagen launched the “Fun Theory” Initiative.
They turned stairs right beside an escalator into a giant piano, leading to a whopping 66% more people taking the stairs, doing so with smiles plastered on their faces.
They converted a garbage can into a “bottomless pit” in a park, which encouraged passers-by to not only throw their trash into the cans but also pick up nearby litter and chuck it away. The new garbage cans collected 41 more kg of trash compared to a normal one that was a few metres away.
Turns out that changing the environment to be more “fun” can significantly change behaviour too.
The “Seriousness” of Sports
You’re going to argue that there’s no room for fun in the cutthroat world of competitive sports.
Discipline, hard work, and focus, you’ll say, are the pillars of success. You may be right, but why can you have fun while doing that? Even the most disciplined athletes such as Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps are humans who respond to fun and engagement.
Fun and Youth Coaching
In youth sports, challenges like attendance, focus, and effort are ever-present.
But what if tweaking the environment to amplify fun could address these challenges? Think about it. If a piano staircase can make adults choose health over convenience, imagine what creatively fun practices could do for your team’s engagement and commitment.
James Clear, in Atomic Habits, highlights the principles of behaviour change. These are making behaviours easy, obvious, attractive, and satisfying. Three of these principles hinge on the environment over mindset.
It’s a powerful reminder that shaping the right environment can lead to positive behaviour changes, even in sports.
Wrapping It Up
It’s easy to get caught in the cycle of pushing for performance so hard that we strip away the joy of the sport itself.
Yet, evidence suggests fun can be a catalyst for motivation, behaviour change, and even performance improvement. So, next time you plan a practice, ask yourself, “How can I inject a bit of fun into this?”
Let’s challenge the notion that fun and seriousness can’t coexist in sports. By fostering an environment where joy is part of the equation, we might just unlock levels of performance and commitment we never thought possible.