How Motivational Interviewing Techniques Actually Boost Athlete Performance [Coach's Guide]
- Dr Paul McCarthy
- 9 hours ago
- 11 min read
Motivational interviewing techniques have reshaped the scene of athlete development. These techniques create pathways to better performance that traditional coaching methods often miss. The approach emerged from therapeutic counseling and addiction treatment in the early 1990s . These evidence-based communication strategies have achieved soaring wins in sports settings. The focus moves from problem-solving to positive behavioral change.
Coaches who use coercion, threats, or fear to motivate athletes see mixed results. Their methods might work briefly but often fail completely . Structured motivational approaches have showed measurable improvements in athlete motivation. Research shows that motivational strategies increased intrinsic motivation scores from 3.38 to 3.58. Athletes' perceived competence rose notably from 3.01 to 3.41 . Motivational interviewing techniques help athletes find their own drive to improve, rather than just following orders.
This piece explores motivational interviewing techniques tailored for the coaching environment. You'll learn about building trust and bringing out internal motivation while avoiding common communication pitfalls. These practical motivational interviewing skills and techniques can enhance your coaching immediately. The techniques are the foundations of a strong coaching toolkit, ready to complement your existing methods.
What is Motivational Interviewing and Why It Matters in Coaching
Motivational interviewing (MI) marks a transformation from traditional coaching approaches. MI emerged from addictions counseling in the 1980s and has grown into a flexible communication framework. Coaches in disciplines of all types now use it with impressive results.
Understanding the goal of motivational interviewing techniques
MI is "both a treatment philosophy and a set of strategies to help people increase their own internal drive to change" [1]. Rather than using external motivation, MI builds on the idea that real change comes from within. The main goal is to improve an athlete's intrinsic motivation. This happens when athletes work through their uncertainty - that state where they know they need to change but struggle to commit [1].
MI combines several key elements that work together:
A relational component (the MI spirit)
A technical component (microskills that mobilize the relational component)
Four processes (engage, focus, evoke, plan)
Sensitivity to the language of behavior change [2]
The "spirit of MI" rests on four essential traits that shape its philosophical base:
Collaboration — reinforcing the client-centered nature of change
Acceptance — appreciating the athlete with respect, empathy, and positive regard
Compassion — genuinely acting in the athlete's best interest
Evocation — drawing out the athlete's own motivations instead of imposing solutions [1]
Coaches create an environment where athletes find their own reasons to change. The coach-athlete relationship grows stronger, and research links this directly to better rehabilitation outcomes [3].
How MI is different from traditional coaching methods
Traditional coaching typically uses a directive, expert-driven approach. The coach spots problems and prescribes solutions. MI takes a different path by creating a partnership that respects athlete autonomy. This shows up clearly in handling resistance. Traditional methods might see resistance as poor effort, but MI sees it as uncertainty that needs to be explored [3].
MI's technical foundation builds on four core skills known as OARS:
Open-ended questions that need thoughtful, detailed responses
Affirmations that showcase an athlete's strengths and efforts
Reflective listening that builds understanding and shows empathy
Summarizing that blends information and prepares for next steps [4]
MI moves through four distinct stages: building trust, identifying meaningful goals, drawing out motivation, and creating actionable steps [4]. This well-laid-out progression lets coaches meet athletes at their readiness level.
The real-world impact stands out. Coaches who use MI see athletes as "ambivalent" rather than "non-adherent." This changes the entire coaching relationship [3]. MI also encourages shared decision-making between coach and athlete, creating a comprehensive approach to development [3].
MI recognizes that advice needs internal "buy-in" from the athlete to work, no matter how sound it might be [5]. One coach put it well: "We buy into messages that we feel we have come to ourselves more than we do from those messages delivered to us" [5].
Sports contexts embrace this approach because it addresses a basic truth. Even the most knowledgeable coach needs their athletes' internal commitment to achieve consistent results. MI creates lasting paths to athletic excellence by focusing on relationships and internal motivation instead of external compliance.
The 5 Core Processes of Motivational Interviewing
The structured approach to behavior change forms the backbone of motivational interviewing. The model started with four processes, but practitioners now recognize a fifth essential component that completes the path from the original conversation to sustained transformation.
1. Engaging: Building trust and rapport
All other processes build upon engagement as their foundation. Coaches create a climate of compassion, acceptance, partnership, and strength during this first phase. This relational component employs active listening and empathic communication to create genuine connection with athletes.
The unique aspect of this process is that engagement doesn't just start things off—it stays present throughout the intervention [6]. A psychologist emphasized, "I use a lot of MI with athletes, but one thing I always, always use is the spirit. To me, that's the most critical component" [7].
2. Focusing: Identifying the right goals
The focusing process starts after building rapport. Athletes share their complete spectrum of concerns, expectations, and desires to create a shared agenda [8].
Coaches gain great insights through collaborative agenda setting: "By agenda setting, we're essentially asking them 'what's most important for you right now?', and they're then giving us that feedback which is really valuable" [6]. This approach values the athlete's autonomy and will give a personally meaningful set of goals.
3. Evoking: Drawing out athlete motivation
Motivational interviewing techniques center around evoking. This process employs innovative skills like "softening sustain talk" and "cultivating change talk" to boost intrinsic motivation in ambivalent athletes [8].
Coaches listen carefully to the athlete's language about behavior change. They provoke and reinforce change talk—athlete language that favors positive change. They also carefully frame their responses to sustain talk (language against change) to avoid reinforcing resistance [9].
4. Planning: Turning talk into action
The planning process begins once motivation reaches sufficient levels. Coaches use collaborative goal-setting skills to help athletes create concrete action plans [10]. Planning works as "the bridge to change" where coaches "negotiate the change plan, listen from the athlete, provide with permission, and find out how well that lands" [11].
SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based) action plans and commitment statements strengthen the athlete's intention [8].
5. Maintenance: Supporting long-term change
Maintenance has become essential for lasting change, though it wasn't part of the original model. This fifth process recognizes that "planning is fine, but we know that things can go wrong once we start to take action" [11].
Athletes learn to handle inevitable setbacks through proactive problem-solving in the maintenance phase. An expert noted, "We know that relapse is inevitable. We know that setbacks are often and we often talk about how the athlete will deal with setbacks when they occur" [11]. This realistic approach to sustainability ended up determining whether short-term progress becomes permanent transformation.
The processes flow naturally rather than following a rigid, linear path. A psychologist explained: "It's not a step-by-step process" [9]. Coaches adapt their approach, sometimes revisiting earlier processes based on each athlete's unique path toward change.
8 Motivational Interviewing Techniques That Boost Athlete Performance
Motivational interviewing techniques can revolutionize coach-athlete conversations. These proven strategies help boost athlete motivation and performance.
1. Open-ended questions
Open-ended questions are the life-blood of motivational interviewing. Athletes need to give more than simple yes/no responses. Questions make them think deeply and explore their thoughts. Starting questions with "what," "how," "at the time," or "where" pushes athletes to think about their situations. A better approach would be asking "What parts of the training plan worked best for you?" instead of "Did you follow the training plan?" Athletes process information better this way. They review options and create their own solutions.
2. Reflective listening
Coaches who restate what athletes say show understanding and encourage deeper discussions. This builds empathy and helps athletes process their thoughts about performance. You can repeat key phrases ("You're frustrated with your progress"), use different words ("Your back pain varies"), or capture emotions ("Having back pain ruins a lot for you"). Athletes feel understood when you reflect their words back to them.
3. Affirmations
Real affirmations showcase athletes' strengths, positive qualities, and efforts. These go beyond simple praise by recognizing lasting internal qualities. A psychologist explained that affirmations are "something specific that you're observing that's positive about an internal quality they have" [9]. Good affirmations focus on process: "You showed great determination in that drill" works better than "Good job." Research proves that affirmations build confidence, reduce stress, improve well-being, and boost motivation [12].
4. Summarizing
Regular summaries strengthen what's been discussed and show you're listening actively. Unlike reflections that capture one or two points, summaries include multiple conversation elements. They work like quick reviews that highlight key points and ensure mutual understanding. Athletes spot patterns in their thinking and behavior through these summaries.
5. Elicit-Provide-Elicit (EPE)
EPE framework lets coaches share expertise without creating resistance. Start by asking about the athlete's knowledge: "What do you know about recovery nutrition?" Next, share information after getting permission: "Would you like to hear about some recovery strategies that might help?" Last, ask for their thoughts: "What might work for you?" Athletes buy into this collaborative approach more than one-sided instructions.
6. Agenda mapping
Agenda mapping sets priorities when athletes need to improve multiple areas. Athletes decide what matters most instead of coaches making assumptions. Creating a "bubble sheet" with different focus areas works well. Ask them: "Of these options, what stands out as a place you'd like to focus on first?" Athletes maintain their independence while getting clear direction.
7. Scaling questions
Scaling questions reveal motivation levels and opportunities for change. Ask athletes to rate importance ("On a scale from 0-10, how important is off-season training to you?") then follow up with "Why did you say [that number] instead of [a lower number]?" Athletes share their motivation and reasons for change through these questions.
8. Change talk reinforcement
Pay special attention to change talk—when athletes express desire for positive change. Listen for statements showing desire ("I want to improve"), ability ("I could try that approach"), reasons ("This would help my performance"), or need ("I should work on this"). When these come up, dig deeper: "You mentioned wanting to improve your endurance. Tell me more about how that would help you."
Avoiding Common Communication Traps in Coaching
Great coaches can unintentionally hold back their athlete development despite having excellent motivational interviewing skills. Athletes suffer when coaches fall into common communication traps. We need to spot these pitfalls to make our coaching conversations work better.
The praise trap
Empty praise hurts athlete development and coaches don't realize it. Research shows that real competence builds confidence, not meaningless compliments [1]. Athletes become afraid of failure instead of pursuing mastery when coaches praise results rather than effort [13]. Good praise should be:
Something truly deserved
About the journey, not just the end result
Connected to the athlete's inner strengths
"If the praise isn't earned, don't say anything," says Wade Gilbert, PhD [1]. This approach naturally builds real confidence through skill development rather than empty words.
The fixing trap
The "righting reflex" makes us want to fix other people's problems, but this backfires when coaching [14]. Coaches who jump in with solutions create resistance. Athletes feel inferior and stop taking responsibility [14]. Athletes actually come up with their own solutions when coaches step back and give them space.
The expert trap
Athletes shut down when coaches lecture them about their thoughts and actions while playing the "expert" role [15]. This approach kills athlete independence and works against the shared spirit that motivational interviewing techniques need [16]. Athletes must solve their performance challenges themselves [17].
The question-answer trap
Coaching sessions lose their value when they turn into an endless loop of coach questions and athlete answers [15]. These surface-level exchanges block any chance of real growth. Athletes need to ask themselves deeper questions to make meaningful changes [17].
How to Use Motivational Interviewing Techniques in Real Coaching Scenarios
Sports coaches can become more effective by knowing the right time and place to utilize motivational interviewing techniques. The specific situation determines which approach will help athletes develop best.
Acute situations: halftime talks, in-game feedback
A motivational conversation can take just 30 seconds but make a powerful difference. Coaches need quick communication during intense moments like halftime or between plays. The best approach is to start with a thoughtful question instead of giving instructions right away: "What were you thinking here, what was the plan?" [18]. A similar approach works when you talk to a struggling pitcher on the mound - understand first, advise later. Athletes usually remember the last thing they hear, so make your most important point count [19].
Chronic situations: long-term training plans
MI offers a structure for shared planning that leads to lasting behavioral changes. The E-P-E format works exceptionally well during injury recovery or technique development. This method asks about existing knowledge first, provides information with permission, and then asks for feedback [5]. Athletes respond better to this approach than being told what to do about recovery or training adjustments.
Motivational interviewing techniques examples in sport
Here's a real-life example: A psychologist handled a team meeting about player-coach conflict by "spending 90% of it reflecting back to them" with statements like "you don't feel the coach is listening to you" [5]. This approach created "involvement like I haven't seen" [5]. Another example shows up in handling injury concerns. Instead of rushing to push medical treatment, it helps to acknowledge the athlete's valid worries about eligibility and career implications [5].
Conclusion
Motivational interviewing techniques represent a radical alteration for coaches who want to maximize their athlete's potential. This piece shows how evidence-based communication strategies create pathways to performance excellence that traditional coaching methods don't deal very well with.
Coaches who become skilled at these techniques revolutionize their athlete relationships and go beyond simple instruction to genuine collaboration. They create environments where athletes find their own motivation to improve instead of imposing solutions. A basic truth emerges - athletes need internal buy-in to produce consistent results, even with sound advice.
The five core processes - engaging, focusing, evoking, planning, and maintenance - create a flexible framework that works in any coaching scenario. These eight specific techniques are a great way to get practical tools you can use right away in training sessions, team meetings, or one-on-one conversations.
The biggest problem lies in avoiding common communication traps that can undermine athlete development. False praise, premature problem-solving, excessive lecturing, and repetitive questioning reduce coach-athlete interactions' impact.
Of course, motivational interviewing takes practice and patience. In spite of that, the benefits make the effort worthwhile. Athletes who feel heard, understood, and enabled naturally show greater commitment, resilience, and performance improvements. Sustainable change comes from within.
Coaches who welcome these techniques build stronger relationships with athletes. They see less resistance and more consistent implementation of training programs. Your coaching expertise combined with motivational interviewing skills builds a powerful foundation to achieve athletic excellence.
When you meet a struggling athlete, set aside your "righting reflex." Ask an open-ended question, offer thoughtful reflection, or use scaling questions to explore their view. This approach might feel strange at first, but you'll find that athletes have many solutions - they just need the right conversation to uncover them.
Key Takeaways
These evidence-based motivational interviewing techniques help coaches build stronger athlete relationships and drive sustainable performance improvements through collaborative communication rather than directive instruction.
• Replace directive coaching with collaborative partnership - Use open-ended questions and reflective listening to help athletes discover their own motivation instead of imposing external solutions.
• Master the 5 core processes - Engage (build trust), Focus (identify goals), Evoke (draw out motivation), Plan (create action steps), and Maintain (support long-term change).
• Apply 8 specific techniques immediately - Use open-ended questions, reflective listening, genuine affirmations, summarizing, EPE framework, agenda mapping, scaling questions, and change talk reinforcement.
• Avoid common communication traps - Skip false praise, resist the urge to immediately fix problems, avoid lecturing as the expert, and prevent repetitive question-answer cycles.
• Adapt techniques to context - Use brief 30-second conversations for acute situations like halftime talks, and longer collaborative planning sessions for chronic issues like injury recovery.
The fundamental shift from "telling athletes what to do" to "helping athletes discover why they want to change" creates the internal buy-in necessary for consistent behavioral improvements and athletic excellence.
References
[1] - https://moveunitedsport.org/truesport-respectful-communication-why-the-way-you-praise-matters/[2] - http://shura.shu.ac.uk/16282/1/Mack Exploring the Understanding and Application of Motivational Interviewing.pdf[3] - https://blogs.bmj.com/bjsm/?p=10430[4] - https://ahdb.org.uk/news/motivational-interviewing[5] - https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/13928/3/Practitioners' use of motivational interviewing in sport A qualitative enquiry.pdf[6] - https://repository.essex.ac.uk/28957/3/Mack et al TSP Oct 2020.pdf[7] - https://jvavolleyball.org/coaching-mental-performance-motivational-interviewing-techniques-for-resistant-athletes/[8] - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0033062023000099[9] - https://shura.shu.ac.uk/27466/4/Mack-Practitioners'UseMotivational(AM).pdf[10] - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36842453/[11] - https://www.fasttalklabs.com/fast-talk/the-power-of-motivational-interviewing-with-dr-jeff-breckon/[12] - https://nfhca.org/how-do-positive-affirmations-promote-athlete-mental-health/[13] - https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sinan-osman-b291a6168_the-risk-vs-reward-trap-why-i-coach-athletes-activity-7356960712499306498-MPzv[14] - https://www.aspenpsychologyservices.co.uk/blog/the-righting-reflex-its-dangers-and-how-we-can-avoid-it[15] - https://cdpsdocs.state.co.us/epic/epicwebsite/resources/mi_communities_of_practice/misc_mi/mi_traps.pdf[16] - https://www.miccsi.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Key-Concepts-of-MIOARS-Quick-Guide.pdf[17] - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7371850/[18] - https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/13928/3/Practitioners' use of motivational interviewing in sport A qualitative enquiry.pdf[19] - https://essemy.com.au/motivational-interviewing-in-sport/