The Main Aspects Of Intrinsic Motivation For An Athlete

One type of motivation left out of Coach Carters' repertoire is intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is the desire to learn and perform well that comes from within an individual. This is a shame because intrinsic motivation has been proven to be the most successful type of motivation when it comes to keeping a commitment. Although intrinsic motivation does come from within an individual, eg; the desire to win a trophy for a grandfather, it can still be inspired by a coach.

Applying Harter’s Competence Motivation theory may effectively manifest situation-specific self-confidence in athletes. This theory is centered on the concept that an athlete with feelings of personal competence will also foster feelings of motivation and desire for mastery. This theory is based on the idea that all individuals are innately motivated to be proficient in all capacities of human achievement (not just athletics). This reinforcement combination will eventually lead to successful task performance much the same way high levels of self-efficacy do.

This interpretive process is loosely carried forward in relation to the previous studies of physiology, sociology and psychology. Take for example psychology when looking at key issues and research methods. The general explorative path a psychologist would investigate in a study of injury and rehabilitation covers, motivation, confidence, intensity, focus and emotions which are regarded to have the most influence on a performers well-being (Cashmore, 2002). These five psychological divisions derive from Taylors (2001) performance pyramid, are categorised in ascending order from general training influences to immediate competitive performance impact. At the pyramids base lays motivation, simply put without motivation you have no desire to train, to rehabilitate, to reach previous goals. Motivation ensures athletes have positive mind-sets allowing necessary time to refocus, re-energise and start again.

Summary of an Article: A Qualitative Analysis of the Types of Goals Athletes Set in Training and Competition

The study shows that athletes recognize more facilitators than obstacles to their participation in sports. Apart from doctor and policy recommendations for the recreational participants, both recreational and elite participants identify influence by the same factors. Participants engage in physical activities to improve their general quality of life and well-being.
 The level of importance participants give to each influence differs depending on whether they are recreational or elite athletes. Recreational athletes are mostly (80%) influenced by intrapersonal factors and extrinsically motivated to engage in physical activity, while the elite athletes are mostly (70%) influenced by interpersonal factors and intrinsically motivated to participate in sports. The participants who were following doctor recommendations or institutional policy were all recreational athletes. This this group of participants act as a sub-set of recreational participants/athletes and are extrinsically motivated.

Intrinsic motivation is doing an activity for the satisfaction it gives you (Deci and Richard). It comes from doing things that are important to you or that are part of something bigger. It comes from doing important work and doing work that produces tangible results. In an experiment by Dan Ariely, participants were asked to build Lego robots for a sum of money. Each robot they built they received decreasingly less compensation and after every robot was built the robot was placed under the

According to researchers, “sport commitment is defined as a psychological construct representing the desire and resolve to continue sport participation” (Iñigo, Podlog, and Hall). Through recent studies this state of mind that young athletes develop reflects to a motivational force for continued involvement, and consequently, signifies an important psychological underpinning of persistence (Iñigo, Podlog, and Hall). This skill young athletes are learning has a massive long-term impact on the child’s life. If someone is not committed to something the chances of them reaching their goals are minuscule. Luckily for young athletes they learn this skill early in life. Being committed to sports can teach young children life skills. Commitment to sports also teaches children the value of teamwork. When one is committed to their team, teammates, and also to the sport their playing is a vital for overall success. Some successful individuals who learned commitment at a young age are successful today such as, Vince Lombardi (Hall of fame football coach), Michael Jordan (arguably the best basketball player of all time). There are many more individuals out there, but these two helps show young kids what commitment to winning and excellence gets individuals. The lessons these young athletes are learning can be transferred into long life skills that agree with business, relationships, and also social matters.

There are many people that struggle to motivate their athlete such as coaches, mentors, parents and managers. The athlete struggles to find energy, and persist at the task of life and work. Most times people are moved by external factors that are known as rewards, grades, evaluations or even opinions the athlete fear others might have on them. People can be motivated within themselves by interest, curiosity, care or abiding values. Intrinsic motivation doesn’t necessarily need externally reward or support but can sustain passion creativity and

The dedication, time and hard work that olympic athletes put into their sport is mind blowing to many people. They dedicate much of their life to train for the Olympics. Somehow they do not give up or call it a day when they are struggling or having an awful day. They step up to the challenges in their life head on. Each athlete has their own method to stay motivated. Some try to mirror their role models, celebrate the little victories, or make goals. Others have a phrase they repeat, or they find himself in a sport and use it for motivation. Every athlete has their own way of staying focused and dedicated in the positive and negative times.

The term motivation is critical in improving someone’s health and wellbeing because motivation is the reason why someone would take part in sports or exercise. There are many models of motivation and behavioural change but we will focus on one called Trans-theoretical model. The model’s main focus is to explain the processes that might lead a person to exercise. The TM has five stages that a person goes through.

the area that has me confused the most is my intrinsic motivation and outcome expectation. My intrinsic motivation has me place in the high 80th percentile while my outcome expectation is mid 40th percentile. its seems even though i am motivated to engage in physcial activity for the fun of it and because I believe it 's good. while at the same time I dont expect alot of results

Research done by Lemyre, Treasure, and Roberts, (2006) looked at forty-four elite swimmers to study the relationship between self-determined motivation and burnout. The study was done to observe the effects of positive and negative motivation on swimmers throughout a season and whether the changes in motivation made the swimmers more susceptible to burnout. The reach showed that athletes with negative motivation trends showed greater signs of burnout than athletes with positive motivation trends (Lemyre, Treasure, & Roberts, 2006).

Considering Eddie’s self-efficacy, a young motivated and persistent boy pursuing Olympic games could achieve much better results if he had supports from both parents. In addition, the main criticism he was constantly receiving from his coach was that Eddie did not take competition serious enough to get a medal in Olympics but rather just getting the admission to those games was his utmost goal to practice. The intrinsic motivation that exists in Eddie’s character can be admired and only lack of seriousness made him not fully satisfied his coach. Other elements of motivations were also present and could be discussed in this essay but the constraint of page limitation has stopped me to further discuss the motivation

Sport and Physical Exercise is used worldwide for many reasons. For example: to keep people fit, to help avoid illnesses and ultimately to develop peoples ability. For me, however, it is more than this, as I love watching people commit to sports, no matter what the age, ability or background. People in this time period play sports mainly for the mass wealth that they may earn, but I strongly believe that young people who want to be athletes should push themselves to do it due to the fact that they are passionate or have a natural ability in a particular sport.

“Beyond the elementary definition of motivation, there is little agreement on the precise meaning of a concept that is absolutely central to sport psychology” (Cashmore, p. 175). I’ll be honest. I’m fascinated by the study of motivation and I often reflect wondering why I do the things I do today and what drove me in the past to do what I did. I figured that if I could discover what drove me then, perhaps I could establish a more efficient and productive path to my future and also help others do the same.