Motivation Of Athletes

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

In order to talk about the motivation of athletes, we first define motivation. Motivation is a set of motives and an incentive to action. The motive is the reason for the action itself, which determines the need of a person.

Often the concept of "motive" is confused with determination, will, courage, decisiveness, etc. And here it is necessary to distinguish all this.

It is important to say that everything is individual. That is, it depends on the sport and on the individual psychological properties of the athlete.

In any human activity, motivation is of high importance. In sports, it is especially important, because in a short time it is necessary to achieve the best result, while also competing with other athletes.

Sport has a lot in common with the concept of "play". The motives for the game are in the game itself. The athlete experiences needs that are driven by the satisfaction and success achieved in sports.

The motives for going in for sports can be different. Basically, the following motives are distinguished:

1) the need for activity;

2) the desire to prove oneself in difficult situations, that is, to prepare oneself for life;

3) the need for self-expression, self-affirmation. It manifests itself in the desire to become better, to improve their results;

4) striving for public recognition.

It is important to note that the topic of sports motivation is very broad. Different theories, different sports activities, different authors highlight different motives. But in general, they converge in many ways.

Reasons why motivation may decrease and be lost:

For many athletes, the motive of self-affirmation and self-expression in sports is important. If, for some reason, the athlete cannot satisfy this need or it does not work out as he expected, then the motivation may decrease. It is important for an athlete to receive emotional satisfaction from training, from competition and from the result. If this does not happen, then motivation decreases. The motive for achieving success is very valuable, most athletes want to achieve success, but often athletes, without realizing themselves, are focused on avoiding failure. And from this the result suffers, the expectation and motivation is lost.

Everything is individual and you need to remember about external and internal factors. For example, motivation can be reduced if there is stress. The athlete is worried knowing that he has a competition or an important game soon. Can't control himself.

- There is no support in the team, from the coach and close people.

- Lack of intrinsic motivation or less pronounced than others.

- Lack of desire to engage in this sport. You also need to consult a specialist if there is emotional and professional burnout.

- Constant comparison of yourself with other competitors or with an athlete of your team.

- Less high emotional intelligence (it is difficult to control your emotions, not understanding how to manage them, not knowing your emotions and there is no way to give out your emotions)

- Most importantly, there is no goal. If there is no goal, there is no motive. And of course there will be no motivation. If an athlete does not know what he wants, then he will not strive to achieve any results.