In this piece of coursework I will be looking at the role of motivation and its effects on sporting performance. Motivation means the driving force which makes us want to do something.
Introduction
In this piece of coursework I will be looking at the role of motivation and its effects on sporting performance. Motivation means the driving force which makes us want to do something. Without motivation there is no reason for sports performers to want to learn new skills.
Motivation has been defined as:
"...the internal state which tends to direct a person's behaviour towards a goal" (Kent 1994)
"...having two aspects: it is what drives us to do things ... and it makes us do particular things" (Woods 1998)
"...the drive to strive" (Biddell 1984)
Motivation has 5 components which are :
Types of Motivation
There are two types of motivation Extrinsic and Intrinsic. Extrinsic is affected by external factors such as money, trophies and rewards. An example is winning gold in the Olympics.
Figure 1-an example of extrinsic motivation, Kelly Holmes winning gold at the 2004 Olympics
Extrinsic motivation has been defined as:
"The desire or push to perform a certain behaviour based on the potential external rewards that may be received as a result." (http://allpsych.com/dictionary/dictionary2.html)
Intrinsic motivation is by internal factors such as enjoyment and beating our personal best. An example of intrinsic is when playing football in the park for enjoyment.
Figure 2 - an example of intrinsic motivation is Kids playing football in the park.
Intrinsic motivation has been define as:
"The motivation or desire to do something based on the enjoyment of the behaviour itself rather than relying on or requiring external reinforcement." http://allpsych.com/dictionary/dictionary2.html
Table 1 - shows the differences between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation
Extrinsic
Intrinsic
Take part for money
For enjoyment
Win rewards
Beat personal records
Win cup and trophies
To keep fit
Participation for Fame
To perform well
To socialise
Relationship between Intrinsic and Extrinsic
I feel that there is a relationship between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Because some one who is extrinsically motivated will be also intrinsically motivated or there will not take part in that sport or will not find enjoyment in taking part. Also an elite performer who earns £50,000 a week will still need to be intrinsically motivated because they have to beat personal records and aim to be the best at that sport or activity.
Figure 3 - shows David Beckham just before taking a free kick
Simply an elite performer who has reached to the top such Ronaldo Luis Nazário de Lima who scored the most goals in the world cup and was the player of the tournament for the FIFA world cup 1998 may carry on for simply the enjoyment.
Figure 4 - shows Ronaldo scoring all his 15 goals at the FIFA World Cup.
When there are no further badges or trophies to be obtain a performer may carry on for the love of the sport and pressure from others to carry on.
Figure 5 - shows Zidane lift the Fifa World Cup
On the other hand some performers who have reached the top retire, this has got mainly to do with boxers.
Coaches try to ensure levels of motivation are maintained by motivating the team or player intrinsically and extrinsically.
Factors that influence levels of motivation
There are number of situational factors that affect levels of motivation such as teachers, coach style, availability, quality of facilities, recourses and types of activity. Teachers influence levels of motivation by making the sport enjoyable and this will make ...
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Figure 5 - shows Zidane lift the Fifa World Cup
On the other hand some performers who have reached the top retire, this has got mainly to do with boxers.
Coaches try to ensure levels of motivation are maintained by motivating the team or player intrinsically and extrinsically.
Factors that influence levels of motivation
There are number of situational factors that affect levels of motivation such as teachers, coach style, availability, quality of facilities, recourses and types of activity. Teachers influence levels of motivation by making the sport enjoyable and this will make students participate and the students will be motivated by having fun.
"Teacher's background, experience and level of teaching skills influence many aspects of their teaching, including their expectation for student behaviour and learning skills" (Kulinna, Silverman and Keating, 2000)
For example students learn more when teachers hold high expectations for students and focus their motivation on the instructional process. Coaches style influence levels of motivation by making the athlete adopt the particular style, for instance a coach might use command style and the performer might not like and the motivation will decrease on the other if the coach uses other enjoyable style such problem solving and guided discovery the performer would be willing to participate and their motivation will be high. Quality of facilities will influence level of participation because if the facility is low not much people would want to participate, if the quality of the facility is how performers would want to participate and would feel satisfied in taking part, being satisfied would increase ones motivation.
Goal Setting
Goal setting also known as target setting is when a performer sets them self a target and achieves it. Goal setting helps to reduce the level of anxiety about performance especially in young novice performers.
"Goal Setting involves setting specific, measurable and time targeted objectives."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goal_setting)
Goal setting is often used to increase a performer's level of motivation because it helps the performer to be focused and this increases the performer's motivation. For example if some one sets himself a target to score a hat trick the person will be motivated to score a hat trick. Goal setting using SMARTER acronym can be seen below in figure 6.
Goal setting are different from elite and beginners. Beginners in sport try their best to avoid failure for instance if someone started playing tennis they will try their best not to lose. This is different from elite athletes because they will try their best to achieve or there will not be were they are now, a good example is Tim Henman a professional tennis player if he had not tried his best to achieve he would not have been a professional.
Effects on Motivation on Performance via Training
The more motivated an athlete is the harder the harder they will train therefore a better performance. A good example is Wayne Rooney, he fractured his metatarsal bone in his right foot 6 weeks before the world cup, and doctors were saying that it is impossible for him to participate in the world cup because they estimated that he would need six weeks to heal and would not be fit to play. But Rooney was motivated to play in his first world cup so he trained hard so that he would be able to play and finally he played in the second round of the world cup against Ecuador and played the full 90 minutes.
Figure 7 - shows Rooney in pain after a collision with Paulo Ferreira.
If athletes are motivated they are most like to strive for the best training along with quantity. FITT embodies the basic principle of fitness training. How often, how hard, for how long and what type of training is appropriate.
The acronym FITT stands for:
Over training is a long period of intense training with poor and/or little recovery. If the performer over trains, they could suffer an increased resting heart rate, rapid unexplained weight loss, prolonged loss of appetite, excessive muscle fatigue or soreness and many others.
Figure 8 - shows Calzaghe training
Effects on Motivation on Performance via Arousal.
Arousal is the intensity of our motivation. It can affect the performer negatively and positively. Raising arousal level can also cause a state of readiness to perform, this is a positive aspect and can enhance performance. Also high arousal can cause us to worry and become anxious, this is a negative aspect if it not controlled.
Arousal has been defined as:
"being a general mixture of both the physiological of activity that a performer experiences, these levels vary on a continuum from deep sleep to intense excitement"
(Sport & PE - Wesson et al)
They are two types of theories to help explain the relationship between arousal and sporting performance. These are the Drive and Inverted U theory.
Drive Theory
The drive theory was established by Clarke Hull in 1943. He suggested that arousal level and performance level are linear, therefore as arousal level increases so does performance level. This is seen in sports like rugby the more aroused the player is the higher the performance level. A beginner who is in the early stages of learning will perform worse when in front of an audience. Whereas an able performer who is performing a skill they have learnt well will improve when in front of an audience.
Figure 9 - shows a graph of the drive theory, showing arousal level against performance
The drive theory was then adapted by Spence and Spence in 1968 and they did not alter the theory but came up with formula which explains the theory. The formula is :
Inverted U theory
The inverted u theory was first established by Yerkes and Dodson in 1908 and is a popular theory amongst sports psychologists. The theory suggests that as the level of arousal increases, so does the level of performance until an optimum point is reached where any higher levels of arousal will lead to a decline in performance and the performer can also suffer from anxiety, shown in the figure below. It also suggests that different activities, skill levels and personalities require different arousal level to achieve the optimum performance.
Figure 10 - shows the inverted U theory, showing arousal level against performance.
Activities
Gross motor activity such as boxing, weight lifting and rugby require a high level of arousal for optimum performance because the performer expends so much dynamic strength. Fine motor activity such as snooker, archery and darts require a low level of arousal for optimum performance because the performer has to control their emotions.
Personality
An extrovert would require high level of arousal for optimum performance. On the other hand an introvert would require low level of arousal for optimum performance.
Skill level
If the performer is highly skilled, many movements are controlled by motor programmes, this means that many of their actions need little conscious attention and therefore they can cope with high level of arousal. On the other hand if a performer has low skill levels will need to attend to many details related to movement and consequently will need to consciously process much more information, if the arousal level is even moderate, a novice may loose concentration, so therefore a low level of arousal is likely to produce optimum performance.
Under Arousal
Under arousal is when the performer is laid back, not concerned and inactive the reason for this is that the performer is not motivated. Also the performer will have lack of concentration and therefore there will make wrong decisions
Figure 11 - shows an under aroused Prince Nasem against Barrera
Over Arousal
Over arousal is when the performer is stressed and causing the performer to get angry
and act violently. When the performer is over aroused the performer makes quick decisions which are poor and erratic.
Figure 12 - shows Rooney stamp Calvalho
Figure 13 - shows Rooney receive a red card
Conclusion
There are two types of motivation Intrinsic and Extrinsic. The most powerful form of motivation is intrinsic. Most motivation in sports is a mixture of intrinsic and extrinsic, however it is intrinsic motivation that will keep us interested in sport when extrinsic rewards are no longer there. A beginner is likely to have a lower level of dominant response than an experienced performer. Goal setting can help to increase motivation levels and also this will help to reduce anxiety level. The more motivated a performer is the harder they will train and therefore this would mean a better performance. The intensity of our motivation is called arousal. The link between arousal and performance can be explained by using two theories the drive theory and inverted u theory. The inverted u theory suggests that our best performances comes when we are moderately aroused, if our arousal level is low (under aroused) we may feel bored and this will lead to us performing badly, this mostly happens when upper league division play against lower division leagues. Activities that require performers to be under aroused are sports like darts, snooker and archery. However if our arousal level gets too high (over aroused) this creates tension which causes our performance to become less effective. Activities that require performers to be over aroused are sports like rugby and weight lifting. The drive theory suggests that arousal level and performance level is linear, therefore the higher the level of arousal the better the performance. However, this was adapted in terms of how well a dominant response is learnt, this would vary according to the ability of the performer novice/elite. Best performers are ones that can combine maximum levels of motivation with appropriate methods of training and natural physical ability. Our best performances are only possible when, with the help of our coach, we match our motivational level to our personality and achieve the right level of arousal.
Bibliography
F Galligan, C Maskery, J Spence, D Howe, T Barry, A Ruston, D Crawford, Advanced PE for Edexcel, 2000
D Kirk, D Penney, R Limerick, T Gorely, C Maynard, A-Level Physical Education-The Reflective Performer, 2002
J HoneyBourne, M Hill, H Moors, Advanced PE & Sports (Third Edition), 2000
P Beashel, A Sibson, John Taylor, Sport Examined, 2004
K Wesson, N Wiggins-James, G Thompson, S Hartigan, Sport and PE - A Complete Guide to Advanced Level Study (Third Edition), 2005
T Chandler, Sport and Physical Education - The Key Concepts, 2002
http://www.sportsbilly.co.uk/index.php?f=data_main_page&a=3
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arousal
http://www.mindtools.com/page6.html
http://news.bbc.com/sportacademy/hi/sa/in_the_gym/features/newsid_2172000/2172208.stm
