The motivational factors of a performer are linked to socialising, aggression, excellence, independence, power, stress and success. There are two ways to motivate a performer, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. There is a debate weather or not external reward undermine or enhance intrinsic motives. The desire to win could be both intrinsic and extrinsic as a performer could be striving for success to gain a sense of satisfaction or to achieve recognition, e.g. A footballer may be motivated by financial rewards, but once they reach there financial rewards they still continue to train hard as there is something inside of them that tells them they should keep training. A boxer may reach that particular financial reward and still continue to box, not because of financial reasons but because they want to do it for themselves. A top tennis player just needs to win one tournament professionally and they will be set financially for the rest of there life, but they still continue playing.
When coaches or teachers evaluate, motivation levels of arousal have to be considered, as arousal levels depend upon the amount of motivation a performer has.
Wesson et al, (2000) describes arousal as, “…a general mixture of both physiological and psychological levels of activity that a performer experiences….”
High arousal can cause a performer to become worried or anxious which is negative if not controlled. Also raising arousal levels can also give the performer a feeling of readiness to perform. When arousal levels are increased, readiness and expectation increases as well, but if the arousal levels get to high a performer may loose concentration by being over aroused, which will result in decreased performance. There are two ways that we can measure this relationship between performance levels and arousal. The drive theory and inverted U theory.
The drive theory was developed by Hull in 1943. The drive theory is that when arousal levels increase so does performance. However this theory does no take into consideration beginners, as if a beginner is aroused this will result actually result in decreased performance levels rather than an increase in performance fro the athlete. The relationship between arousal level and performance can be illustrated more clearly on Hull’s Drive theory graph.
High
Performance
Quality Moderate
Low
Low Moderate High
Arousal Level
The other method of measuring performance is the inverted U theory. This theory was put forward by Yerkes and Dodson in 1908. According to this theory, as the arousal level of the athlete increases, so does the level of performance, but only to a certain point. After the point were performance is at it’s highest then, if the arousal level increases anymore it will result in decreased performance levels. This theory is better demonstrated on a graph.
At this point over arousal begins,
Resulting in decreased in performance.
High
Quality of
Performance Moderate
Low
Low Moderate High
Arousal Level
According to this graph as the arousal level of the athlete increases, so does the athlete’s performance. Once arousal gets to high then the performance of the athlete begins to decrease at that particular point, (as shown on the graph with the arrow). Example’s of athlete’s that have under achieved due to over arousal are, Goran Isinisivich 2001 Qatar Open, Linford Christie Olympic Final and South Africa vs. Australia Test Series 2002.
Arousal is achieved by motivating an athlete. In order to arouse or motivate the athlete a coach can find out what their reason is for participating. Feedback from the athlete can be used, e.g. if a tennis player is motivated by praise, then set up drills where he can work hard and be praised for completing the task. Or in football if the team is more motivated by competition, the coach can make the training more emphasised upon competition. In swimming if the swimmer gets bored of swimming lengths, then a reward can be introduced in order to increase performance.
The type of motivation a coach uses depends primarily upon the task. The more complex a task is the more likely there is a need for intrinsic motivation. E.g. when training gets more difficult no matter what reward is available, the time spent on the task may not seem worthwhile for the reward. Therefore internal motivation is required, as the performer must use their own determination to complete the task and keep going. If there is a simple task to complete, it can be done better with extrinsic motivation as the task may be boring or repetitive, but if there is a reward offered this will overcome boredom. Tasks that the performers do not want to complete may be done with the use of extrinsic rewards. E.g. Andre Agassi did not like running for fitness, but he’s coach would tell him it will help his fitness on the court greatly, so he would have a better chance of winning upcoming tournament. Tiger Woods did not like a tiring drill his coach gave him, but his coach said it will help him win a Masters Tournament. Kicth Christy coach of the South African Rugby team made the players attend aerobics’ classes to improve their fitness for the World Cup, which contributed in them winning the 1995 world cup.
Regular use of extrinsic reward may also undermine intrinsic motivation as sport is usually viewed as fun and play. When rewards are included play can switch to work, as the performer is not continuing for enjoyment, but only for the reward or payment. E.g. Boxers rarely continue training when they are retired, as there careers where only a way for them to earn a living. In tennis once a well-known performer has retired they continue to play even when they have earned enough money in there life time e.g. John McEnroe. They continue playing out of enjoyment. Some football teams seem to continue playing just for rewards, such as Man United who pay their players to perform well. If their performance decreases too much then a player can be benched. This pressurises the athletes to perform, creating a job like situation for the players.
I believe that there is no best method of motivation a coach or teacher can use on a performer. This is because when you start a particular sport, you do it for fun, but gradually as you get better rewards begin to be offered. Thus resulting in the performers motivation coming more from extrinsic than intrinsic motivation. If the performer wins a competition it will have a positive affect on them intrinsically as well as extrinsically, as the performer will fell good about the reward as much as he feels good about how much effort was concerned in obtaining the reward. There has to be a balance, as if it is to extrinsically motivated their will be no enjoyment competing in the sport, therefore the performer will get bored and quit.
