Coaching, Motivation, and Cultural Norms: Rethinking the Power of Words

 Kia Ora koutou,

This is Hiro.

Today’s topic is “Coaching, Motivation, and Cultural Norms: Rethinking the Power of Words.”
I’d like to talk about the power of a coach’s words and how these words can affect their athletes.

 

Contents

-         Motivation

-          Understanding the Coach and Understanding the Athlete

-          Positive (Gain) vs. Negative (Loss) Framing of Motivation

-          In Actual Coaching Practice

-          Understanding the Athlete’s Cultural Background

-          Norms and Motivation in Running Culture

-          New Norms and Stress

-          Practical Takeaways for Coaches

-          Conclusion

 

 

Motivation

Motivation is the most important factor for us to engage in sports. Without motivation, it is impossible to even take the first step toward training, let alone compete in a race.

That is why we are constantly trying to raise our motivation from within ourselves or transform external stimuli into motivation for participating in sports.

In fact, there are many different forms of motivation. For example, many people experience motivation like “I’ll go exercise to stay healthy!” On the other hand, there is also the unique motivation of an athlete, like a boxer trying to go for a run to lose the last 100 grams before a weigh-in.

These forms of motivation are deeply connected to the desire for what we want to become, which exists within our will. And within this will, there are unconsciously positive and negative decisions.

Especially when motivation is triggered by external stimuli, one or the other side tends to be strongly activated.

In this article, I will explain positive and negative motivation that arise from a coach’s intervention in a sports coaching setting.

If you are currently coaching, I hope this will encourage you to reflect on how you motivate athletes and how they interpret those stimuli.

If you are an athlete who is currently self-coaching, I hope it will help you analyse where your daily training motivation is coming from, especially as your mental state changes from day to day.

 

Understanding the Coach and Understanding the Athlete

First of all, what we must remember is that every athlete is different.

When you use the same words to motivate Athlete A and Athlete B, their impressions and responses will never be exactly the same. Even if they interpret the words in a similar way, there will still be subtle differences.

This is especially important for athletes who come from different countries, regions, communities, or groups. Their thoughts and interpretations are shaped by different social norms, customs, and rules, so words can have very different meanings for them. Coaches need to be aware of this.

 

Positive (Gain) vs. Negative (Loss) Framing of Motivation

In principle, coaches should try to foster positive (gain-frame) motivation in athletes.

That is because athletes who act based on positive motivation tend to become more autonomous, make their own decisions, and continue to work toward their goals while evaluating themselves appropriately over the long term.

So, how does positive (gain-frame) or negative (loss-frame) motivation arise from a coach’s interventions?

Gain Frame — Positive Motivation: Autonomy and Support

• “If you go for this 30km run today, you’ll be able to pick up the pace in those last 5km of the marathon!”
• “With this new training method, you could improve the speed endurance you’ve struggled with. Doesn’t that sound exciting?”

→ These phrases stimulate inner motivation such as fun, hope, and expectation. Although short-term results may be difficult, they encourage the athlete to make voluntary, autonomous choices in the long term. Athletes also feel they are receiving devoted support from the coach, strengthening the coach-athlete relationship.

Loss Frame — Negative Motivation: Control and Implicit Pressure

• “If you don’t do this workout, you won’t get results in your next race.”
• “If you don’t push through this tough week, there’s no way you’ll beat your rivals.”

→ These words create motivation through emotions like fear, anxiety, and urgency that emerge from social comparisons. In the short term, they can powerfully push athletes toward the behaviours a coach wants them to choose. However, they generate stress from outside, making long-term maintenance difficult, and tend to suppress autonomy.

 

 

How does your coach stimulate your motivation?

In Actual Coaching Practice

Even though Gain framing is said to be effective, in real coaching settings, Loss framing is still often seen. Perhaps many of you have experienced this.

• Humans tend to act to avoid losses more strongly than to gain rewards.
• Coaches often prioritize control over supporting athletes’ autonomy.

These effects can strongly guide many people in the short term, especially when moving from a small group to a large group, or delivering instructions from a teacher to many learners. That is why in team sports, loss-framed language is often used to move many athletes at once.

Such psychological mechanisms can work not only in coach-athlete relationships but also in self-coaching situations where an athlete is trying to avoid short-term losses.

For example:

• “If I don’t run another 10km today, my weekly total won’t hit 100km.” (The fear of losing the 100km status/satisfaction)
• “My leg hurts, but this workout can only be done today, so I must do it.” (The fear of missing the benefit of a single session, ignoring the body’s signals)

 

 

Understanding the Athlete’s Cultural Background

The balance between Gain / Loss framed approaches depends greatly on the background of both the coach and the athlete, including their country, cultural norms, and past experiences.

For example, in Japan, education and social rules often emphasize Loss-framed motivation. Many people tend to act based on avoiding failure or shame.

In training, you might hear:

• “If you take a day off, it takes three days to catch up.”

Almost every Japanese person has heard this phrase, not only in sports but also in studying or at work.

This creates motivation through fear of failing, being scolded, or falling behind others.

Even if you think “I’ve never used negative language like that,” if you look back, you may recall saying things like this to your child when disciplining them:

• “If you throw trash here, you’ll be punished by heaven.”
  → Implying that society does not tolerate such behaviour
• “If you make a mistake, that scary teacher will yell at you.”
  → Embarrassment in front of everyone creates fear

These are loss-framed motivational tools using shame and fear of social disapproval, common in Japanese society.

I can’t say this loudly, but when I was a teacher, I used the loss-framed motivational tools with children and young athletes myself. That is because within a common cultural norm, they work very strongly to regulate and control behaviour.

 

Which do you use, Gain or Loss framing as a coach?

 

Norms and Motivation in Running Culture

These experiences with Gain / Loss frame motivation shape each person’s internal and external motivational balance.

To illustrate the difference, let’s compare Japanese and New Zealand runners when skipping a group session. (Of course, everyone has a different background, so you might think it is not me! Please see this just as an example. Also at the Japanese training, we have to run with the team every day.)

• Japanese: feelings of guilt, shame, apologetic → Externally focused: “What will others think?”
• New Zealanders: feelings of laziness, slackness → Internally focused: “How do I feel about my own situation?”

As you can see, the same words or attitudes can be interpreted differently depending on the athlete’s cultural background, changing both motivation and stress levels.

Coaches can build better relationships not just by providing training plans, but by giving individualized encouragement and using different approaches for each athlete.

Even if you have a phrase that “always worked” in the past, it may lose effectiveness depending on the athlete’s culture or generation. If you have an athlete who does not respond well, do not give up, start by learning about that athlete’s background.

If you ignore this, your coaching might fall into these traps:

 

 

New Norms and Stress

Continuing to use loss-framed language can build group norms, making everyone interpret the coach’s words in the same way.

This is especially useful when building a strong team, so many coaches rely on it. But for individuals, it can create deep internal stress, such as:

• Reduced personal identity
• More external motivation
• Overimitation (blindly copying others)

This style of coaching was common up until the 1990s, but in recent years, the focus has shifted toward building athletes’ autonomy.

 

 

Practical Takeaways for Coaches

If you are in a coaching role, try reflecting on these five points concerning your coaching style and experience. You may discover even more ways to support your athletes’ abilities and encourage them to take new steps toward their goals.

#1: Check your motivational phrases
“Do they encourage growth or guilt?”

If the athlete think… “I’m keen!”→ This is great motivation. 

If the athlete think…”I have to do this…”→This is poor motivation.

#2: Ask about athletes’ cultural, group, or community backgrounds
“What norms shaped them?”

“Why do you compete?”

#3: Use gain framing whenever possible
“Put fun, joy, or excitement at the front of your message.”

→The choice is supposed to be exciting!

#4:  Reflect on whether your team norms support or suppress personal identity
“Keep reflecting on your approach with each athlete.”
→ For shy or quiet athletes, a reflective journal can be a great communication tool.

#5: Integrate culturally grounded perspectives to protect athlete well-being
“Keep updating your perspective as a coach.”
→ Having multiple perspectives helps you grow, just like your athletes.

 

 

Conclusion

Today I wrote about “Coaching, Motivation, and Cultural Norms: Rethinking the Power of Words. ”The words of coaches and educators have a powerful influence on athletes and children. Even if they behave as you intended, it is important to pay attention to the motivation behind those actions. Even if you believe your instructions have a positive impact, the athlete may actually feel they are motivated by stress or a sense of control. 

To prevent or fix these mismatches, coaches should make an effort to understand each athlete’s cultural background and growth process. Simply memorizing sports science or imposing your own experience is not the job of a coach that we can search and know for those things on the internet these days. A true coach’s job is to stimulate athletes’ autonomy and competence, supporting them so they can grow independently.

 To do this, coaches must continue facing athletes every day while keeping the desire to grow and improve themselves, even more than the athletes they train.