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role of motivation in sport
role of motivation in sport
role of motivation in sport
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The Importance of Motivation and Ability in a Successful Competitive Performance
In this essay I will investigate whether motivation is more important
than ability in team games, racket sports and individual activities.
By looking at sources on the Internet, in text books and sports
papers; as well as adding graphic examples, I should hopefully be able
to answer this question.
Before I begin however, I must build up a series of definitions in
order to help explain the question. The Edexcel Advanced PE book
describes motivation as the 'Drive to Strive', while Kent describes it
as 'the internal state which tends to direct a person's behaviour
towards a goal'. The English Dictionary describes ability as 'A
natural or acquired skill or talent' or 'someone's natural aptitude or
acquired proficiency.' Therefore this question asks if, under
competitive pressure, a side or person with a lower level of skill or
talent than their opponent can win if their mental drive is higher.
There are many examples that argue this case. Firstly there are the
team games. In this instance it would seem that ability is more
important than motivation, with the best football teams finishing at
the top of their leagues, while the ones with less ability coming
last. Similarly in the Athens Olympics, the British coxless fours had
the best ability and won. However there are still many instances when
motivation has beaten ability. Again in Athens, the American 4 x 100m
relay team were beaten by the better motivation of the British team.
While in football, this year's FA Cup witnessed Burnley beating
Liverpool. Their motivation outdoing the ability of the Premiership
side.
Meanwhile in racquet sports upsets of ability are even more common.
This could be that in a team, there is more chance that someone will
be highly motivated and this, in turn, can motivate the rest of the
team. However, in racquet sports the person has to bring the
motivation from within and if the crowd is against them this can be
very difficult.
Every elite athlete makes it look easy. Splashing through the water or striding gracefully down the track making it look effortless. Some people assume they are “naturals,” that their perfect DNA sequence is what has brought them to this level. Others argue that hard work and drive is what has made the difference, separating the elite from the average. These thoughts are the ones that give rise to the age-old nature vs. nurture debate. Countless hours of studies and research has concluded: it’s both. High performance sports consultant Ross Tucker puts it this way, “The science of success is about the coming together of dozens, perhaps hundreds of factors” (1). The relationship of such factors, including genetics, types and lengths of training, and environment are interlaced in such a tightly woven web that it has proven to be extremely difficult to discern exactly how much effect each one has.
What is excellence? Is it perfection, a goal, a feeling, a gift? To some athletes, it is an everyday challenge that comes easy; to others it might not be so easy. Whether it holds a psychological meaning or it’s just another goal to set, it shows a persons attitude and dedication towards a sport. To what extremes will people actually go to reach excellence? Some athletes strive so hard that they will try almost anything to reach their peak of excellence, the extremes that some go through to reach that peak may be either a safe or dangerous road to travel.
The variables that affect performance can be mostly classified into three major domains: motor active, affective, and cognitive. Some variables are internal, while others are external. The externalities, or outside factors that affect a performance, vary from situation to situation; nonetheless, they need to be dealt with in some way, so that the show can go on. The motor active domain is the one that is involved with the physical aspect of a performance; in tennis that refers to practicing all the shots that exist; synchronizing the bending of knees with having the right angle for a swing and hitting the ball a certain way (e.g: with topspin, flat, slice); as well as doing conditioning exercises to increase physical strength and endurance. The affective domain is the one involved with the emotional, mental, and spiritual aspect of a performance. In tennis, the way a player prepares himself in those areas depends solely on his style. I usually use self-talk and tell myself that I’m going to play great and going to have fun; I also take my mind off of tennis completely by doing something productive like homework for example so that I don’t think too much about the match to exhaust my mind, but I’m also doing something that requires my mind to focus on one thing. In fact, I’m writing this paper right now when I have a match in 5 hours. The cognitive domain is the one involved with the neurobiological aspect of a performance, or the changes that occur in the body as a result of the other variables. In order to deal with this domain, the player needs to deal with the variable that causes the change in the body. For example, if in a match I start feeling very tense and start sweating from being nervous, I might find out that instead of using positive self-talk, I was letting my mind worry about the people that are watching me rather than stay focused on playing. Biochemically, my brain is sending signals to cells that prompt them to make me feel tense and nervous. In order to reverse that, I’d have to convince myself that there is no real reason for feeling nervous and that there is no point in worrying about whoever is watching me. It’s all about perception in the end.
It’s difficult to say whether motivation is produced by the mind rather than acquired through experience, our genes are what primarily affect our intellect, while being deprived of observing external factors can contribute adversely towards a person’s developmental progression and their primary outlook on their performance. Motivation is essential for success in sports, it is why people strive to become better athletes. The direction and intensity of one’s efforts reflects on their determination to achieve their goals. The more motivated you are, the higher the likeliness you have to succ...
I saw in his eyes sheer delight and the joy of accomplishment. He had successfully faced a pitcher older and bigger and had fought off pitch after pitch before knocking a single into left field. His base hit drove in a run, continued an inning and fueled a rally which brought the team a victory from what looked like a certain defeat. He was willing to be taught and was willing to try. Success was secondary to the life skills he was mastering. Character traits will certainly be developed as one participates in team sports, but to attain positive character traits will require deliberate efforts by parents, adults, teammates and even leaders of the organization itself.
It may seem like all you need to succeed in sports is physical power, but there is another aspect that holds just as much, if not more importance. Mental strength can be just as important as physical strength when it comes to an athletes winning (or losing) streak. Success in sports does not only require physical power, it also requires mental strength,and along with that goes determination and self-control.If someone cannot tap into their mind, they may find that sports are more difficult than they imagined.
Confidence can be defined as the positive feeling that you can achieve a certain goal. Confidence is not hoping for something to happen it is the something that u expect to happen. Self confidence is when a person believes he/she can achieve a certain goal on his/herself. A self confident athlete will show enthusiasm and be positive even if things do not go according to plan. For example, a confident team captain will not bring negative thoughts into the team players head when they are losing.
The Importance of Motivation vs. Ability in a Competitive Performance In order to be able to learn and perform any skill, especially in sport, we must have the abilities required. Knapp (1963) defined the term "separate" ability as "our innate physical attributes that determine our potential for a given sport. " The "Motivation" If we are not in a positive psychological state, we will. make mistakes in performance and will not learn to perform at our best.
physical advantage to compete at the highest level. This is where the psychology of sports
athletes are physically talented and train hard. But what separates the good athletes from the best is simply their mental strength (Gregoire 1). Someone could be the most talented at...
It is amazing to watch how most athletes perform at their peak and continue to produce and set record-breaking performances. What drives them to these high levels of motivation and productivity? They may come from various influences and source of motivation and these similar sources can also energize certain individuals affect behavior and arouse their drive.
Why are mental skills so important to performance and why are they often neglected by coaches and athletes? Yogi Berra has been quoted as saying, "sport is 90% mental and 50% physical." You can question his mathematical savvy, but if you're an athlete, coach or fan, you can't question his wisdom. (Hacker, 2000) Many athletes understand that while developing oneself to their physical potential is a critical element in performance potential, it is often a deficit in our psychological game rather than errors in our physical performance that keep us from performing at optimum levels in practice, games or matches. Spud McKenzie, the Budweiser poster puppy, suggested that it is important to say when, but also emphasized the critical element of knowing “when to say when”. It is often the successful athlete has recognized what needed to be done and the unsuccessful athlete was unable to do so. As a consequence, it is not the physical talents or abilities that separate athletes and teams, or successful versus less successful performance, rather, the psychological dimension that most frequently explains a given sport outcome or individual performance. For this reason games are played. Prior to each contest, judgment could be made with regard to which team or individual is the “more highly skilled”. If games were decided on who is the most physically gifted and/or talented individuals or teams, it would prove to be an exercise in futility to compete. As a result, whether you are an athlete or a coach, mastering the mental game of sport will allow you to achieve a level of success as a competitor than you could otherwise not achieve by focusing exclusively on the physical side of sport.
Motivate the motivation, simple words that can mean some much to an athlete, but what is motivation really? In the games and sports, psychological and physiological factors play an important role in determining the performance level (Grange & Kerr, 2010; Schilling & Hyashi, 2001). Motivation also plays an important role in determining the performance level an athlete, but plays a role in the psychological and physiological factors as well. Motivation is more than a behavior or idea, it is an impact on how we interact with others, how we process defeat, feel, and how we play. Motivation will not only help an athlete get the starting position or gain an award but more importantly, help an athlete reach their potential. Motivation like most things
medals. An example of this could be a player who is offered a lot of
Sport and exercise psychology is a mandatory aspect of the sport science discipline. This discipline contributes to the various professional practices associated with physical activities such as - teaching of physical education, recreation and health promotion, and kinesiology related professions - because it plays a mental role for the participants. Sport and exercise psychologists view physical activity in several different ways: physical activity as a tool for health, physical activity as a tool for human potential, and physical activity as a tool for social change. This aspect of psychology may be the most important aspect of physical activity, because of the contributions of exercise and sport psychology to health, human potential, and social change.