Motivation can influence our decisions, our learning and our performance. We would not be able to perform to our best level if we were in a negative psychological state of mind, some say mind over matter, but it has been proven in most activities this is not the case. Motivation is basically the drive to strive. Motivation can help people pull of the toughest of skills to a successful level and we can be motivated in many different ways. These ways can be intrinsic or extrinsic. Intrinsic motivations are those that come from within the performer themselves. They are factors such as personal satisfaction or enjoyment. It ahs been suggested that performers who are in intrinsically motivated are more likely to continue participating than those who are not.
Extrinsic motivators are factors from outside the performer. They give the individual an extrinsic reward such as money, trophies or recognition. It has also been suggested that extrinsic motivation is of benefit at first and can drive individuals to work hard and participate initially, but in the long term extrinsic motivation is not enough on its own. There must also be elements of intrinsic motivation. An example of this can be often seen in sport i.e. football. If football players were solely motivated by money many of them would not play well after receiving their high wages. It can also be seen in boxers who do not train as hard once they have reached their goals and are set for life. The need to be motivated and eager is often taken for granted.
Whilst on my sports leadership course, in which I have been teaching 12/13 year old girls how to play football, I have seen both lack of ability and lack of motivation and vice versa. It is clear to me that one can be used when the other is not present. Many of the girls I have taught have lacked in technique skill and sometimes speed, all are specifications of ability. It has been possible to my understanding for these girls to still take part to a standard of play that is suitable for them to be an asset to their team.
Motivation wasn’t exactly top of the bill when I first took the class as many of the girls didn’t really like football, but I found its important to not do too much too fast and that positive feedback is essential. If they hear they have done something good it makes them want to achieve more from the lesson and with this their abilities can improve as they now have the desire to succeed. Motivation is the drive within them and with that drive they have the will to want to learn and want to be able to up the standard of play. Motivation can also open new doors as they are more willing to listen and take in information, even some of the best performers need to listen to advice but many feel with them being so much better than others there is no need to up their game any more. I improved the girls movement ability by getting the girls into a circle and one girl in the middle. The girl in the middle had to get the ball of the others while the others on the outer circle passed it to each other. With the middle girl chasing down the passes I instructed it would be easier to pass round the middle girl if they spread out and moved into spaces. I then took this practice into a game situation and the effect was quite dramatic.
Motivation was improved when I gave rewards to the best groups, as they now had a desire to win, after a while the need for rewards was little as the girls were now enjoying the sport much more and were keen to excel.
Simple practices like these can help an overall game. When I used to play tennis I started off not being able to control the ball at speed. Then I was taught to not hit the ball as hard as I could over the net but to pick a spot and aim for that spot. I practiced repeatedly hitting a ball against a wall. I would aim for the same spot and every time I got it at that spot ten times I would move back 5 paces. This gave me better accuracy and hand/eye co-ordination when I went into a game situation.
To choose which is more important in a successful performance out of ability and motivation is difficult of not impossible. Both are needed to achieve a high standard of performance but I don’t feel that one is of greater need than the other. Without motivation we wouldn’t have the drive to want to succeed and without the basic abilities we wouldn’t really have the motivation.
By Carl Jones
Word count: 1028
Bibliography: Advanced PE for edexcel.
