Factors of Decreasing Or Increasing Sport Motivation

In the following paragraphs I am going to be reviewing how motivation can impact sports performance and how different factors increase or decrease motivation.

There are two types of motivational factors; intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. One type of motivational factor is intrinsic motivation this is when someone performs in an activity without receiving an external reward. Athletes wish to increase the level of skill to get a sense of reward and accomplishment when a performer such as a 100metre sprinter will get the sense of accomplishment as they start to improve and their times will get faster. Accomplishment is when a performer successfully achieves a goal. This will boost their confidence to improve more. As a coach I would encourage the 100metre sprinter to go home and watch future competitor’s technique and how he can improve such as when they start, focusing on the technique they use. Intrinsic factors impact sporting performances as it has no external rewards such as in football when the athlete wants to improve on the skill you can verbally tell them how to improve their skills. This intrinsic way will better there knowledge in football therefore achieving their goal.

During sporting participation there are many factors that can impact motivation, the more negative factors is receiving too much extrinsic motivation this is if it is given too frequent and the participant will begin not to try anymore and lose interest in the sport as they may feel as they are not improving as no feedback is given. As a coach more feedback should be given and less praise, this will help the performer improve further. For example, if a gymnast has done a good skill, the coach will say it was done correctly but needs to have further improvement. For example, when the coach explains they need to straighten their knees. This would be critical against the gymnast which would lead them to achieve their target goal.

If a coach puts in 100% of their effort into coaching the golf performer they will get to their best potential and make the coach, feel proud. To feel more motivated for your coach as the relationship from the coach and the athlete is important, such as in Golf if you have respect for your coach and they respect you, the performer is more likely wanting to improve and achieve the best they can do. If the coach helps the athlete improve the performer will feel motivated to make them proud, in gymnastics if the gymnast comes first they will feel proud and feel that they have achieved something.

The environment impacts a person’s motivation. If it is raining then the athlete might feel down and not want to train. If it is too hot then it can become dangerous. For example when a gymnast is training in a gym that is of high level and then when they go to compete the environment is different and is not as good as their training environment, and the equipment is not as good as the training equipment. If the environment is good the gymnast’s motivation will improve and they will train/compete well with more confidence. This impacts motivation as the sporting performer will be determined to do well. So in conclusion depending on the weather and how good the training ground is will determine how well they train.

Achievement motivation is split into two sections one section is someone who likes a challenge and seeks risk (NACH) the other part is someone who avoids risk and avoids challenge (NAF) a boxer should have the motivation to do well and challenge themselves this will lead to them winning boxing matches. If a boxer has a NAF personality they are more likely to come out of boxing matches with an excuse to why they can’t compete in the boxing, this will show they are avoiding the challenge and not working to be the best and fight the best.

Coaches, teachers and instructors impact motivation. The two motivational factors are mastery climate and competitive climate; mastery climate is concentrated. Mastery climate concentrates on positive reinforcement, the coach or teacher focuses on creating a positive atmosphere for motivation. This will lead to the participants enjoying the sport at a low level, and will encourage motivation. Competitive climate is when the coach is strongly encouraging hard work and the ability to improve. In a sporting example when a gymnast is a beginner they will have the motivational factor of mastery climate, this means they will not be pushed as much as the competitive gymnasts as they have just started, and given a lot of praise this means they will feel motivated to do well. A gymnast at a high level will have the competitive motivation, this means they will be expected to do the skills well and be pushed to reach their goals. This means they will get less praise and more feedback on how to improve. This will lead to the gymnast feeling motivated and wanting to do well for the coach and to reach their goal.

Attribution theory is how sporting performers explain success or failure, this relates to motivation as attribution directly links to the type of motivation the athlete should receive. Depending on how the athlete thinks, when they do a competition they can either take self-blame for their failure or success or blame it on someone else. There are three different types of attribution is stability this is how the sporting performer explain the success or failure, for example when a performer is successful they explain how they trained hard to win and was better than the other participants. When the performer fails they blame it on them not having luck or they were not able to win against the other competitor. When a competitor wins they say “I had a better technique than my competitor” this example of this is a stable reason for success. An unstable example is “it was luck” this shows this shows how the athlete did not expect to win or do as well as they did, such as in tennis when the tennis player wins and does well, they say it was luck.

Overall, motivation in sport depends on the athlete’s personality type and what their goals are. The theories around sporting performers and how they are motivated come under the theories of being intrinsic and extrinsic.