Applying Harter's Competence Motivation Theory Analysis

Motivation in sports is why people do what they do. It is also the direction and intensity of one’s effort and determination to achieve. The more motivated one is, the more likely one is to succeed.

Every elite athlete has psychological training and uses the process of goal setting in order to enhance their performance. Goal setting is used to enhance concentration, build self confidence and to manage time and other resources. (Tony M 1995, page 259)

Motivation is defined as the process that initiates, guides, and maintains goal-oriented behaviors. For an athlete, motivation can be the difference between waking up at 5:00 a.m. to go for a mile run versus sleeping in. It could be the difference between putting in an extra set of reps in the weight room versus going to the mall with friends. It could be putting in extra time at practice versus going on a date. Motivation is necessary to augment ability. It’s extremely important because one will face tests from fatigue, pain, boredom and outside desires that will challenge the athlete’s focus on becoming the best they can be. Motivation is the center of success, it can be thought of as a tree with the other factors being branches that stem from motivation. It will effect the mental aspects of game preparation, the physical aspects of nutrition, conditioning and sleep. Finally, it will affect the coaching side in terms of training. Some athletes can get through high school and college off size and athleticism.

This study focused on the importance of leadership among the athletes themselves, their peer leaders. “The results showed that the majority of team task (65%), social (57%), and external (79%) leaders occupied a formal position on their team.” (Loughead, Hardy, & Eys, 2006, p. 142). These leadership functions have different behavioral characteristics provided to the team members. The task leader helps to focus the team on the goal at hand and helps with decision making within the team. This may be the player on the team who calls the plays, the team captain. The research indicated that it was important for team members to elect their captains and other leaders. The social leader brings cohesiveness and harmony to the team. He encourages and rallies the players to get together and get involved. The final leadership function, external leaders help promote the team in the community and help organize fund raising. In addition, leadership within the team, through peers and other group members was a factor in the overall success of the team. They help foster communication between the coaching staff and the athletes. In addition, “it was hypothesized the longer athletes were members of a team, the more likely they would be identified as a

Following motivation comes confidence, confidence in ability, confidence in rehabilitation, confidence in family and friends

There are over 450,000 athletes competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) level across 24 different sports in the United States (NCAA, 2012). What psychological qualities separate the successful student athlete from the non-successful student athlete (i.e., a student athlete who completes their eligibility and graduates, or gets drafted into the professional level)? We know sport psychology and mental performance training can assist athletes in achieving peak performance by teaching confidence, goal setting, imagery, mental toughness, how to deal with pressure, relaxation, positive self-talk and more (Shemake, 2014). This study aims to identify if certain student athletes posses some of these characteristics without

Studies have shown that coaches should have an enhanced empathetic understanding of how to manage individual and team developments when it comes to undertaking sport and social resolutions. Athletes need to be able to deal with their doubts of disappointment and accomplishments. This should be explained to the athletes because not being able to manage their uncertainties when it comes to their performance can have consequences in multiple domains of their life (quote 2). There are numerous ways to appraise our coaching techniques and be effective with the quality service we provide and it is important to be able to develop and sustain our athlete’s performance in a distinct tailored manor because as coaches and for the clients we mentor it

Common intervention procedures that have been applied include, but are not limited to, positive reinforcement, praise, error correction, goal- setting, performance feedback, public posting, modelling, and self- monitoring (Luiselli, Woods, & Reed, 2011; Martin, 2015; Smith, Smoll, & Curtis, 1979). These methods of ABA, singly or in combination, have been proven to be effective behavior change procedures among athletes of varying ages, different skill levels, and across a variety of sports (Smith, Smoll, & Curtis, 1979; Martin, 2015). Upon implementing these intervention procedures to young elite athletes, behaviorists must consider the operant relations associated with skill and performance, as well establishing appropriate measurement tools to assess behavior change

During practice there were several behaviors analyzed that served to find if the coach was using the correct strategies to improve the performance of the players. First, the coach began practice by informing the team that someone will be taking video of their practice to analyze areas of improvement. Additionally, he required every player to record themselves practice at home and email those recordings to him, so that each player could be evaluated individually. Later, he gave the team general technical instructions on what the session for the day would consist of and soon every player began to take their assigned positions for practice. During practice, the most frequent behaviors consisted of specific positive reinforcement (41%), general technical instructions (22%), and general positive reinforcement (22%). Regarding specific positive reinforcement, the coach would mention the name of the player and the area that he was performing well on. For instance, he would say “Alex, great job on communication!” or “Liam, awesome job on recovering the ball!” This way the players had a clear idea of the areas that they were doing well on rather than just hearing “good job!” I also observed that when the players would receive appraisal their energy increased and as a result they became more engaged in practice. The players who did not receive as much appraisal seemed frustrated and confused throughout practice and as such their performance suddenly decreased. Although, general positive reinforcement

Meyers (1991) has shown that an increase to fitness levels in athletes is important to enhance their self-esteem and interpersonal behaviours. Physical practice is important not only for mere practice, but having a clear functioning mind toward the sport, adhering to exercise programs in an endeavour to improve athletic performance, both physically and mentally (Meyers, 1991). Researchers are finding it necessary to modify their approach towards athlete behaviour to enhance performance in the field of sport (Mendoza & Wichman, 1978). Studies also found that mental rehearsal was as effective as physical practice in improving performance, however physical practice gave athletes the benefits of enjoyment and motivation towards sport (Mendoza & Wichman, 1978).

Most athletes always have a crowd cheering for them in the stands with banners and noise makers. This helps gives them self-confidence.

In this study there were 40 participants. Out of the participants, 17 were male athletes, and 23 were female athletes from different collegiate divisions. The participants ages were 18 and 22. All of the athletes had sustained sports injuries and were required to undergo at least one week of sports rehabilitation. All subjects volunteered and were aware that the study was being performed. The readiness of an athlete to feel capable of returning to their sport relies solely on their rehabilitation process. The athletic trainer of the injured athlete would provide them with a packet which contained four questionnaires. The first four were the Task and Ego Orientation in sports(TEOSQ), social support(SSQ), Sources of Sport

There are hundreds of coaching styles, some are successful and others are not. These different styles include different psychology and thinking behind decisions and contrasting philosophies and strategies. In this literature review, only three main coaching styles were analyzed. Many different styles exist, some of which are very effective. Studying countless more coaches could help one broaden one’s knowledge on more coaching styles. There are countless lessons to be learned from coaches, both inside and outside of basketball. An effective coach has not only perfected his psychology, philosophy, and strategy of the game but has also learned how to make an impact on the athletes he has the privilege to

Football is a very dangerous, physical, high contact sport, whether it be at the high school level, collegiate, or professional. Injuries are common among football athletes whether it may be concussions, breaks, fractures, or tears. The scenario explained below demonstrates how injuries have the ability to affect an athlete’s self-confidence through Bandura’s Theory of Self-Efficacy. This example surrounds a two sport high school athlete in football and baseball.

Most athletes uses self-talk, and self-talk affects the performance ( Hardy, Hall, & Hardy, 2004), and in a recent meta-analysis of self-talk interventions Hatzigeorgiadis, Zourbanos, Galanis, and Theodorakis confirmed self-talk as an effective strategy for enhancing task performance in sport. The athlete performs better with a good self-talk, in particular athlete is probably idiosyncratic and contextualized, in other words, what is good this athlete in this situation might not be good in a different situation or for someone else. Self-talk is used within interventions (e.g., Thelwell & Greenlees, 2003). Self-talk is one of the most influential skills that an athlete can use to increase their self-efficacy (Vargas-Tonsing, Myers, &