'performers that are instrinsically motivated are more likely to continue participating than those who are not and extrinsic motivation is of benefit at first and can drive individuals to participate and work hard initially, but in the long run it is not enough on its own'
(pg56)
Biddel is saying that in the long run instrinsic motivation is more important in motivating yourself than extrinsic motivation. Ask any successful performer in whatever sport they play what helps them perform successfully they will say motivation and if you ask any person who is successful, in whatever he or she is doing, what motivates him/her the likely the answer will be "goals". Goal setting is very important to motivation and success. It is very important to be playing what you are playing for a reason. If you are playing the sport because that's what your peers are doing or thats what your parents want to do, you may find it difficult to motivate yourself. Yes it is possible to succeed with someone else providing the motivation for you, for example 'if you play the sport i'll give you money' , but in the end motivation that comes from within really makes the difference, an athletes motivation usually predicts their attendance to that particular sport for example an instrically motivated swimmer (Ian thorpe) swims very hard and some of his events must be very tiring and demanding, so what motivates him to continually perform in all his races? It is because he gains personal enjoyment, Elite performers who are millionaires still contribute to their sports but not for the money so they must be intrinsically motivated. Ian Thorpe is a good example of this, Even though he knew he wasn't going to win the backstroke at the commonwealth games he still participated because he wanted to prove to himself that he could do it …
"If I put everything into it, I can't lose. I mightn't win in terms of gold medals, but I will win my own personal battle. And that's what it's all about."
Ability also plays a big factor in being able to perform successfully competitively, it is a natural skill or talent. Ability is the genetic make up of an athlete, which we inherit from our parents. For example a stereotypical view would be that if are of average height, strong, co-ordinated and have a majority of fast twitch muscle fibres, then you have the natural ability to be a good sprinter. Ability is often seen as the building blocks for sport. Without the basic ability we are born with we will never be able to develope our skill fully. Ability can be split up into specific abilities such as hand/eye co-ordination, flexibility, speed and strength. With out these specific abilities it would not be possible to learn or progress certain skills such as a free-kick in Football, a serve in Tennis or a golf swing. You can develope these skills but without the built-in ability you can never be an elite proformer. Even if you have developed your abilities in racket games, team games or even individual sports to the best your able to, without motivation to actually get out there and play the sport this ability would be useless.
To show this we will look at examples from an individual sport, a team sport and a racket sport. In a individual sport when an athlete is paticipating in the 100m Sprint at any level the difference in time between first second and third is nearly always seconds or even mili-seconds apart. This shows that the ability of the runners involved are practically the same and gaining those few extra mili-seconds could count on how motivated you really are to want to win that race.
Again in a racket sport like tennis the difference between the ability levels can vary a bit more, but if to players of around the same ability are playing against each other motivation will play a big part because i fone is more motivated he will want to win more therfor will try strive to play well and try harder than his opponent. Tim Henman is a good tennis player but he gets a lot of unwanted media attention however he carries on playing tennis because he enjoys it he is intrinsically motivated. Although most sports people proceed with their sport for intrinsic reasons, they must be extrinsically motivated because they must have started out for the money but when they make more and more they become intrinsically motivated because they don't need the money anymore, but they still carry on because they enjoy it. He has a high level of ability and motivation but often gets beat by better players becasue they have a higher level of ability not motivation.
''In terms of motivation it depends on the circumstances, and in this case [after the Australian Open] Great Britain has a World Group Davis Cup match against Sweden in a couple of weeks which is hugely important, and is something that I’m very much looking forward to, so motivation isn’t an issue."
Henman shows here that he plays the game because he enjoys it and that when it actually comes to a match he isnt worried about motivation becasue he can be no more motivated then he is.
The last example we will look at will be a team sport. In team sports motivation can be a big problem because if only a few of the team are motivated the whole team will suffer because they wont perform as well as they can do. Say in football, 2 teams in the same league are playing against each other and being in the same league means their ability will be around the same, but if one team isnt at a motivation level as high as the other team it will never win. Of course if one team has a much higher level of ability than the other team that team is going to win but this hardly ever happens because leagues and rules have been set up in every sport so that when people or teams do play each other in any sport they will have around the same level of ability. So when these teams do play motivation plays a big part in deciding who the winner is.
Certainly, you need some ability, skill and technique in a successful copetitive performance but without motivation you wont get far. The facilities , people, equipment and your ability may well be there for you to play your sport but if there is no motivation present you will not want to participate. Of course if there is no ability present but a lot of motivation you will only be able to play to a certain level and would not be able to progress in your sport but you would still play. But without the motivation you might not even want to progress if you have the ability or even play the game at all. Interest is an important motivator for a performer and so is the desire to improve and when you link these two together you get success. Often success is an pursuit which leads to more interest and a greater desire to progress in your sport, creating an upward spiral towards a goal you have established. So motivation is at the basis in performing because you may have the ability and talent but without the motivation to actually progress and perform you will not perform well so yes motivation is more important than ability in a successful performance.
Luke hornsley