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MOTIVATING ATHLETES.
Term Paper ID:29445
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Essay Subject:
Factors associated with motivation.... More...
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8 Pages / 1800 Words
6 sources, 10 Citations,
APA Format
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Paper Abstract:
Factors associated with motivation. Purpose of performance improvement and high quality performance. Examines differences in research motivation in relation to athletic performance. Need achievement model; intrinsic motivation. Goal theory model; outcome goals set by athletes. Impact of motivational climate created by coaches, schools, organizations. Influence of coaching behaviors.
Paper Introduction:
MOTIVATING ATHLETES: LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
How can coaches motivate athletes to perform to the best of their ability? The review of literature presented here attempts to answer this question by examining salient research. All studies examined are analyzed in terms of how they defined motivation, their research questions, sample subjects, data collection/analysis methods, findings, and conclusions. The review ends with a summary of research findings and an application of these to motivating athletes to perform at their personal best.
Research on Motivation
Even a cursory review of the literature on motivation in relation to athletic performance indicates that researchers define and me
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MOTIVATING ATHLETES: LITERATURE REVIEW Introduction How can coaches motivate athletes to perform to the best of theirability? Coach attributes listed as highly motivational were support andcaring. 5. Summary and Conclusions This paper examined several studies on motivation in an effort tobetter understand the factors that make for a motivated athlete. They engage in positive self-talk concerning their performance. R. Thesewere: (physical training, mental preparation, goal setting, technicalskills, competition strategies, personal rapport and negative personalrapport. There is one more point that needs to be made regarding motivationalclimate. Another portion of the existing research on athletic motivation doesnot address the athlete's personal motivational levels, so much as thegeneral motivational climate created by the athletes' coaches, schoolsand/or organizations. Based on background criteria,runners were assigned to one of four comparison groups. In her study, Breheny (2 2) examinedthe need achievement motivation levels of 292 individuals who wererecruited from exercise and sports clubs in Virginia in order to determinewhether those with higher need achievement motivation performed at higherlevels. Pensgaard and Roberts (2 2) state that existingresearch has shown that motivational climate can influence the performanceof almost all athletes regardless of their personal levels of motivation.In an effort to obtain a deeper understanding of the influence ofmotivational climate and its affects on athletic performance, Pensgaard andRoberts conducted in-depth interviews with seven elite athletes. Research on Motivation Even a cursory review of the literature on motivation in relation toathletic performance indicates that researchers define and measure it invery different ways. What they found was that when the environment is set up soathletes or student athletes can master a given sport or activity (amastery motivational climate) both motivation and performance is high.However, it was noted that additional studies are needed to determine thepersonal and situational variables that can moderate the impact of suchrelationships. 6. In addition, at both times, measures were also collected ofcoaches' appraisal and athletes' self-reported performance in soccer.Findings showed that the stronger the players' task orientation, thegreater their performance over the season (as appraised by the coach).However, the highest levels of performance were found for those who playerswho set task goals for themselves and also held strong beliefs that soccersuccess stems for hard work and having supportive parents. Using a sample of228 athletes from 15 different sports, they looked for the various coachingattributes that seemed to influence players motivation and performance bydecreasing or increasing their anxiety levels. In their study, Van-Yperen and Duda (1999) examined the goalorientations of 75 elite Dutch soccer players. M. Outcome goals are those where athletes focus oncomparing their performance against the performance of others andconcentrate mostly on defeating them. Journal of Sports Science, 17(8), 643-665.Pensgaard, A. They are provided with a positive motivational climate in whichcoaches are supportive and caring and the environment is specificallytailored for them to master a given sport or activity. In still other studies of athletic motivation, the definitionsresearchers use are more behavioral in nature. They belief that hard work leads to success. It was further found that competitionstrategies were a significant predictor for total anxiety, concentrationdisruption, and worry. Based on these findings, Breheny (2 2) concluded that theneed for achievement had direct and meaningful relevance for marathonrunning and that higher levels of this need resulted in higher levels ofperformance. (1999). Athletes were required to complete questionnaires askingthem questions about their motivational state and about the ways in whichthey talked to themselves about their performance. Exploring self-talk and affective states in sport. Another way in which many researchers define motivation is in termsof goals. According to the researchers, severalcorrelations were observed between athletes self-talk and their levels ofmotivation (emotional arousal). J. Other behaviors were not found to be significant.Based on these findings, it was concluded that negative rapport betweencoach and athlete is an important contributor to athlete anxiety. Specifically, it was found that negativeself-talk may indeed motivate some athletes. First, it can beconcluded that researchers and theorists are not agreed as to the precisedefinition of motivation. All studies examined are analyzedin terms of how they defined motivation, their research questions, samplesubjects, data collection/analysis methods, findings, and conclusions. According to the author, the need achievement model ofmotivation holds that athletes perform best when they are intrinsicallymotivated; that is when, they have an internal and personal need to achieveat a high standard of performance as opposed to external needs such as theneed for a high salary or status. The review of literature presented here attempts to answer thisquestion by examining salient research. Given the importance of coaching to motivation, Baker, Cote and Hawes(2 ) took a more in-depth look at this relationship. This suggests that amore comprehensive model of motivation is needed before an in-depthunderstanding of it is attained. In this regard, an athlete is likely to perform wellwhen: 1. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine, Science, and Sports, 12(1), 54-59.Van-Yperen N.W. In addition, thebehavior of coaches can reduce performance anxiety if the rapport with theathlete is good. & Roberts, G. All athletes were requiredto complete the Sport Anxiety Scale (SAS) and the Coaching Behavior Scalefor Sport (CBS-S). Thus, it is likely that thesecoaching behaviors also influence athletic motivation. Some characterize it as a desire to achieve whileothers view it as a function of the type of kind of goals an athlete sitsfor him- or herself. (1999).Goal orientations, beliefs about success, and performance improvement among young elite Dutch soccer players. Breheny (2 2), forexample, looked at motivation in marathon running using the needachievement model. Ntoumanis and Biddle (1999) conducted a meta-analysis of over4,484 studies of motivational climate in sport, and school physicaleducation and exercise. She also concluded that intrinsic need motivation wasresponsible for the highest performance levels. Measures were collected both at the onset and at the conclusion ofthe season so that comparisons could be made using a longitudinal designformat. & Biddle, S. Thereview ends with a summary of research findings and an application of theseto motivating athletes to perform at their personal best. 2. They have relational support, e.g., supportive parents. 4. However, in general, positiveself-talk was associated with higher levels of motivation than negativeself-talk. It was concludedthat goal orientation does explain at least part of athletic motivation andthat certain beliefs about success may explain another portion. Motives for running a marathon: The contribution of achievement motivation Dissertation Abstracts International - B, 62/12, 5954.Hardy, J., Hall, C. All subjects in the study completed a demographic questionnaire andthree achievement motivation measures. In addition, High Volumerunners reported greater intrinsic motivation for running that FitnessLevel runners. Analyses performed on collected data showed that runners, regardlessof level of involvement in the sport, demonstrated greater mastery andcompetitiveness needs than sedentary individuals. (2 2). Each behavior was examined in relation to four forms of sportanxiety (total anxiety, somatic anxiety, concentration disruption andworry. What is interesting is that at least somesupport for all of these varying views has been found. To test the forgoing hypothesis, the authors used a sample of 9 highschool athletes. Still others understand it as a reinforcement effectderived from learning mechanisms. In addition, athletes had to complete the Perception of SuccessQuestionnaire (POSQ) and Perception of Motivational Climate Questionnaire(PMCQ). They compare their current performance levels with pastperformance levels in order to judge the quality and do not much focus onconcentrating on competing with and defeating others. Journal of Sports Science, 19(7), 469-475.Ntoumanis, N. Journal of Science, Medicine and Sport, 3(2), 11 -119.Breheny, K. SedentaryIndividuals, Fitness Level Runners, High Volume Recreational Runners, andHigh Volume Marathon Runners. They have a personal need to achieve at a high standard ofperformance and are not engaging in sport merely for the external rewards. A review of motivational climate in physical activity. 3. For example, a substantial body of the literaturedefines motivation in terms of need achievement. Elite athletes' experiences of the motivational climate: The coach matters. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine, Science and Sports, 9(6), 358-364. Based onthe review, several conclusions can be formulated. M. Task goals are set when athletescompare their current performance with past performances and judge thequality of this performance by this comparison. Their research question was:Do performance levels differ as a function of different goal orientations?Players completed a standardized measure of goal orientation as well as ameasure of their perceptions of the determinants of success in soccer. & Hawes, R. C. According to Baker, Cote and Hawes (2 ) analyses of collected dataindicated that negative personal rapport was a significant predictor of allmeasured forms of sport anxiety. (2 ). Inaddition, behaviors that the coach demonstrates relative to competition canbe influential in reducing athlete anxiety. It should be noted here that the POSQ was based on a definition ofpersonal motivation which held that athletes are motivated at differinglevels depending upon whether they attribute their success to internalfactors (e.g., ability, effort) or to external factors (difficulty of task,luck) with internal attributions said to be responsible for higher levelsof athletic performance. In this regard, Van-Yperen and Duda (1999) state that this model,termed the Goal Theory Model of Motivation, postulates that performancemotivation is directly related to the type of goals athletes set: outcomegoals or task goals. (2 2). ReferencesBaker, J., Cote, J. The purpose was to examine the performance as wellas cognitive and affective responses of players as a result of motivationalenvironments. For example, Hardy, Hall andAlexander (2 ) defined motivation as an emotional arousal state producingdesired behavior, e.g., high quality athletic performance. & Alexander, M. R. & Duda, J.L. In particular, the authors looked at the predictiveability of athletes' perceived frequency of seven coaching behaviors. Nonetheless, it can be concluded research does show that certainfactors are associated with the kind of motivation that makes for highquality performance. (2 1). The relationship between coaching behaviors and sport anxiety in athletes. Findings showed that those athletes who perceivedthemselves as working in a climate where motivation was optimally enhanceddirectly attributed the primary effects of the climate to their coaches,and this was true regardless of differences in their personal levels ofmotivation. Measures were collectedboth before and after practice. Based onbehavioral models, the authors hypothesized that the ways in which athletestalked to themselves about their performance (negative or positive self-talk) operated as a reinforcer of motivation levels, both low and highmotivation.
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