Explain the role of motivation in enhancing a sports performance

Motivation is an internal state that tends to direct or arouse the system towards a goal.

In order for a performer to play a sport they need to have motivation, a want to succeed a goal. If they had no motivation they would not compete and would just give up without really trying to accomplish it. Motivation comes in two categories,Intrinsic motivation, which come from the inside a want to achieve something, to develop competence or mastery, or just to have fun and enjoyment.Extrinsic motivation, which motivate you to perform for rewards for example, money trophies or praise.

Research shows that we are more likely to persevere, work harder and produce higher quality work when we are motivated to do the task intrinsically as we do the task because we want to do it, not because someone is going to give us something to do it. Extrinsically motivating an intrinsically motivated person by giving them a reward may have the effect of undermining their performance. Resulting in extrinsic motivation replacing intrinsic motivation resulting in the performer not putting as much effort as they used too. It can have the effect of making play into work.

Also if the reward is taken away they may loose interest in the sport.To perform the best an performer should be motivated to do a sport intrinsically as this way they will be more dedicated to it and will therefore learn to perform quicker than a performer who is extrinsically motivated. Coaches can best help an performer not by undermining there performance with intrinsic motivation, but by helping them set their personal goals to encourage their enjoyment and want to improve.Intensity (arousal)It is beneficial for a sports person to become aroused when competing.

However the amount the person is aroused effects their performance. Early theory's such as the 'drive theory' said that the more aroused a performer got the better their performance as they care more about the outcome and are more psyched up about the event. This is true only until a certain point, which the 'inverted u theory' explained, it said when you get over aroused your performance decreases as you loose control and try too hard.The inverted u theory is shown below.

It shows that if a performer has low arousal levels then they will have low performance levels, as they will not psyched up and won't really care about the outcome of the performance. The higher the arousal levels the higher the performance levels. Until you are optimally aroused, after this point the more aroused you get the more you performance deteriorates.This theory alters between performers at different levels because an elite performer will perform better under more arousal because they have confidence in their abilities and are used to playing under the pressure of big events. They also have spare attention capacity to deal with excessive arousal. However beginners need all their attention to be focused upon the skill and cant cope with over arousal.

This is illustrated below by performer B. Performer A is a beginner and has less confidence in their abilities wont perform as well under large arousal levels which may cause them to make mistakes and get worried.The drive theory also alters between different sports as sports that require precise controlled movements or complex skills like golf or shooting would have an optimum arousal level much lower than Sports that require a lot of power and adrenaline like weight lifting or the long jump.So the more aroused you are the more motivated you are so the better your performance up to your optimal arousal levels, which alter between different sports and different performers.

Each individual performer has different levels of motivation depending on their personality. There are two main types- Needs to achieve personality (NACH) these personalities thrive on challenges and a need to achieve a task. Performers such as game players, climbers fall in this category.- Need to avoid failure personality (NAF) these people try to avoid anything new as they have a fear of failure it is less common to see this type of personality in sports, as they hate to fail.

NAF players commonly play against people who are weaker at tasks then they are.So if you are a NACH personality you are more likely to be motivated to do a new task. You would stick at it until they have achieved it so they will perform it better then a NAF performer who wont want do it. If they did do it they would give up easily, as they would have little motivation to do it they would be motivated to avoid doing it and avoid embarrassment and failure.There are also separations between how a performer is orientated they can either be task or ego orientated.

Performers who are task orientated are performers who compete to improve upon there previous achievements e.g. A runner trying to beat their personal best, a long jumper trying to jump a longer distance. However ego orientated performers are motivated to perform better then the opposition. E.

g. a runner wanting to beat the rest of the competitors not caring about the time he ran.A coach would coach the different types of performers according to their orientation. So a coach would continually strive to make a task oriented person beat their previous race time.

But for an ego-orientated performer they would have to train with other performers to gain the best results, so they are motivated to beat them.Goal settingIn order to keep motivation high it is good to have goals, which you will aim to achieve. This helps you perform well and helps you keep track of you progress, which intrinsically motivates you.Goal setting can be used as a training aid to improve and direct performance.

By setting specific goals that direct training you can improve on specific aspects and maintain your current points where you cannot improve. Achieving goals will boost you motivation and confidence, which will make you perform better. Elite performers who get to a stage where they are unable to improve still need goals to maintain their current performance and maintain their high level of motivation.Self confidencePerformers will be more motivated to participate in activities, which they have high self-confidence in. The amount of self-confidence we have in a particular task effects the amount of effort and persistence they put in. There are four factors that effect performers' sporting self-confidence.

- How an performer has performed in the past- If an performer has seen a task completed successfully,- Verbal persuasion- Ability to control arousal levelsCoaches can improve performance by making a performer more confident. They can do this by giving performers experience, e.g. letting them play matches not just practicing closed skills.

Showing a performer the correct technique for a skill and Verbally encouraging them.Motivation will enhance performance by making a performer more aroused to perform a task, which will make them perform the task better and for longer periods. The type of motivation intrinsic or extrinsic effects how the performer perceives the task making them perform accordingly. Also people with different personalities NACH/NAF will perform differently with different levels of motivation. You can increase motivation by setting achievable goals, which can increase self-confidence, which can increase motivation making them perform better.