How Are Athletes Driven to Win - Essay Example

?How Are Athletes Driven To Win? Motivation in sports is considered to be the most important element to drive the athletes to victory. Various researches had been conducted on this issue related to the significance of motivation in sports that revealed the aspect to be quite essential in encouraging the athletes to attain their ultimate success1. It is due to the fact that researchers and experts consider the role of psychology to be quite vital in sports. However, the impact of psychological motivation is apparently not visible in the initial training period of athletes, but gradually the fact becomes strong and essential at play to be driven to success2. Evidences have revealed that elite athletes possess few characteristics that encapsulate a thin difference between the elite performers and the good performers. For instance, the level of confidence in the elite performers is witnessed to be significantly higher than that of the good or average performers. The perception of these athletes stated that ‘high level of self confidence’ is in demand in order to achieve success in sports. On the similar context, the attribute of anxiety possessed by the athletes also define the success factors in sports. Along with these factors, motivation is considered to be the most vital. It is because motivation intends to enhance self confidence and anxiety among athletes which are recognized as the other two important factors to define the success of athletes3. Experts state that the concept of motivation directly relates to the ‘level of aspiration’, ‘inclination towards action’ and ‘degree of commitment’. The intention to motivate an individual is to direct his ability to perform to his propensity of performing. Motivation can be comprehensively stated “as the act of stimulating someone to take a desired course of action to push the right button to get a desired reaction”4. It is worth mentioning that athletes have been encouraged for success through intrinsic motivation as well as extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation in sports can be referred to as the act of being engaged in athletes for personal pleasure and interest in order to gain satisfaction from the participation. To be illustrated, individuals may select gymnastics as their means to participate in athletes because they accept the game to be interesting and satisfactory which in turn shall motivate him/her for success5. On the contrary, the athletes motivated extrinsically tend to engage themselves with an intention to achieve rewards instead of pleasure. For instance, the athletes who are recognized to participate in Olympic Games were observed in the study to be extrinsically motivated to a large extent. To be elaborated, the majority of athletes participating in the Olympics intend to achieve a gold medal and other rewards that motivate them to perform better. Thus, athletes can also be encouraged through extrinsic motivation6. Studies revealed that most of the Olympic participants define success from their point of view to be the struggle to achieve the success rather than the triumph gained after being at the top. Furthermore, the evidences reveal that perception of athletes largely depend on their “philosophies on life”7. These factors can be related to both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. This signifies that the achievement of pleasure through participation in athletics significantly define the performance of athletes, although, the athletes are driven to success not only by intrinsic factors but also extrinsic awards. Athletes are also motivated towards their success through the implication of Maslow’s Need Hierarchy. Maslow’s need hierarchy signifies seven factors of need that tend to motivate individuals to attain their objective which is indifferent in case of athletes. The needs are psychological needs, safety and security needs, love and belongingness needs, self esteem needs, need to know and understand, aesthetic needs, and self-actualization needs. These needs are further divided into two broad categories, i.e. deficiency needs and growth needs8. In case of athletes the significance of both growth needs and deficiency needs can be witnessed. However, regarding the aspect of attaining success in sports, the need of growth can be identified as the vital element. As stated by Boone (2004), an athlete should always try to develop his/ her skills in order to gain growth and success which can be identified as the utmost priority of successful athletes9. To be specific, the factors those play vital roles in motivating the athletes to perform better to win are self-efficacy, self-actualization and self-esteem. Self-efficacy if often defined by experts as the act of self judgment in terms of the ability to win10. It is worth mentioning that self-efficacy plays a crucial role in enhancing the level of confidence among the athletes which can further be recognized as one of the most significant aspects of success in sports11. According to the study of Chu and Tingzon (2009), self-efficacy of a professional athlete depends on the techniques and strategies used to motivate him/ her. The concept also depends on the character building of the athlete that defines other needs of him or her. It is in this context that the athlete needs to depend on his/her coach for motivation or on his character building to be self-motivated. These attributes accumulatively enhances the self-efficacy among the athletes12. Another aspect that worth consideration in this context is the aspect of job fit and job characteristics. Job fit in athletics refers to the suitability of the professional athletes to perform13. For example, a football player shall be suitable to play football rather than basketball or cricket or baseball. Thus, the characteristics of the athlete define his/ her fitness for the game which in turn influences his/ her performance as well. Job characteristics also play a significant role in enhancing the satisfaction of the athletes. To be mentioned, satisfaction on the job is considered to derive inclination towards the task which in turn motivates the athlete to perform better. In this case, the job characteristics refer to the features of the sport that attracts the athlete to be engaged in the game. Satisfaction towards these characteristics generates satisfaction within the athlete and thus motivates him/ her to perform better driving towards success14. Coaches are often witnessed to motivate the athletes to perform better in the future through goal setting. It is stated to be quite significant in motivating the athletes due to the fact that goal setting increases the anxiety among the athletes and the achievement of the goal provides them with satisfaction which in turn ensures their better performance in future. Considering the importance of goal setting in motivating the athletes to perform better two time scales are used for determining the goal of an athlete, i.e. short-term, long-term15. These goals are intended to create a psychological pressure on the athletes to achieve their targeted success and thus fuels up their growth need as had been identified in the Maslow’s Need Hierarchy. Justice has also emerged to be one of the most crucial elements in the success factor of athletes. Allegations against athletes regarding the use of drugs and other products which are constitutionally prohibited often de-motivate the athletes to perform better. Experts note that the factors that influence athletes to consider these kinds of acts are frequently related to the fierce competition witnessed in the athletics sector and the challenging goals determined by the athletes16. In a nutshell, it can be stated that the aspect of motivation is essentially significant in driving the athletes towards their success which can be attained with due consideration to the needs of the athletes. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivational techniques along with other identified means to motivate the athletes can also prove to be highly beneficial in this regard. However, the success of the athletes should be on the path of ethics which requires to be considered significantly in order to avoid de-motivating the athletes. Read More