Motivation for Athletes
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Motivation! We all ponder what will motivate us, in this blog we will discuss what motivates athletes and how motivation works. We will give an overview of the self-determination Theory, the role that emotions play, goal setting, achievement motivation, and more. We also separate and research the different motivating factors between team athletes and individual athletes.
Our needs tend to guide our motivations which, in turn, guide our actions. On the most basic level, this is eating when we are hungry and being motivated to eat something that we greatly enjoy, satisfying a physiological need. But humans are very complex and dynamic, so we have several motivations at once on different levels. In addition to physiological needs like hunger, we are always striving to satisfy our psychological needs.
Self-Determination Theory
Self-determination theory outlines three core needs that all humans require to be met for their psychological needs to be met. These needs are the need for autonomy (1), the need for competence (2), and the need for relatedness (3) (Reeve, 2018). Most sports and athletics allow for these three needs to be met on some level. Choosing a sport to play and compete in allows autonomy in an individual because they can freely choose a sportthey enjoy satisfying intrinsic motivations. During competition autonomy can also be met in individual sports like gymnastics and dance where self-expression and creativity is encouraged, but also in team sports like soccer or basketball where a person’s individual decision-making heavily influences the outcome of the game. The need for competence obviously can be met through sport by athletes because people tend to play sports they are talented at. This does not change for team athletes or individual sport athletes, they both will gain feelings of competence from playing, competing, and striving for success. Then lastly there is the need for relatedness or belonging. While team sport athletes can create a community within their team and feel a belonging in a role within their team, individual sport athletes also can meet this need as well. While not directly competing with a team, individual sport athletes still have an environment alongside others that they will share common experiences and struggles that will bring them closer together, as well as relationships with coaches and trainers.
► Listen to our podcast episode!While sports allow for athletes to meet their psychological needs in both team and individual sports, there are still several aspects that go into meeting these needs. Emotions, goal striving, and self-regulation are all important aspects in how athletes motivate themselves to meet their needs.
Emotions
Although they may seem simple at first, emotions are hard to define and quite complex but they play an important role in guiding motivation. In short, emotions are short-lived feelings that are paired with bodily responses which are expressed through various means and guide our actions (Reeves, 2018). Humans experience an immense range of emotions that will influence their mood or “affect.” People are always feeling some sort of mood, which is a nonreflective feeling state. It is a mental state, but not a conscious, cognitive state. Moods exist in a matrix that has two dimensions: pleasure vs. displeasure, and arousal activation vs. arousal deactivation. This leads to a wide range of emotions that are often characterized as “good” or “bad.” If you have high arousal and pleasure you will likely feel an emotion like elation (a “good” emotion), but if you have high arousal but low pleasure you will likely feel an emotion like distress (a “bad” emotion).
Through the rigors of competition, athletes will be faced with a wide range of emotions, both positive and negative. Emotions significantly impact the direction, intensity, and persistence of motivation. To achieve the highest levels of performance, there is a need to regulate these emotions so that they don’t end up taking over and negatively influencing performance or success (Yun et al., 2024). The strategies used by team sport athletes and individual sport athletes are often similar in some respects, but there are several distinctions between the two because of the nature of being on a team versus being alone in competition.
As previously mentioned, there are several strategies that both types of athletes can use for emotional regulation. Probably the most common amongst athletes would be ritualization of behavior before and during competition. Before every pitch, Hall of Famebaseball player Ichiro Suzuki would hold his bat ahead of him toward the pitcher and pull up the sleeve of the right arm of his jersey. Each time Kevin Durant shoots a free throw, he will always spin the ball in his hand, dribble once, spin the ball again, then do a distinct “shoulder-shimmy” as he relaxes into his shooting motion. Serena Williams will always bounce the ball five times before her first serve, but only two times before her second serve. These are all ways that these very successful athletes use a ritualized process to refocus their attention during competition. Nearly every athlete has their own ritual before competitions as well. Baseball and softball players will often refuse to step on the foul line when walking on the field for fear of bringing bad luck to them or their teammates. Many others will stop talking to others shortly before their competition as they are mentally preparing themselves and refocusing their attention and motivation on the competition.
Where team sport and individual sport athletes differ in regard to emotions comes from the very nature of being a part of a team or not. Individual sport athletes need to develop a high level of self-reliance because they don’t have the support of their teammates to fall back on during competition. While this heightened level of self-reliance can lead to stress and feeling overwhelmed, it can also lead to greater self-confidence when these obstacles are overcome, and success is had. As the tennis great Billy Jean King once said, “Pressure is a privilege.” On the other hand, team sport athletes, while having teammates to help pick them up, also need to be able to regulate themselves when their teammates are underperforming during competition. If a player loses their cool because of the blunders of their teammate, the problems can possibly become compounded, and success would be harder to achieve.
Goal Setting
Achievement motivation is an internal drive that pushes an individual to pursue a goal and to push them to overcome a challenge. This “drive” can come from wanting to succeed or avoiding failure, both of which fuel an athlete's determination in their sport. Motivation in athletes can be both intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation is being driven by personal satisfaction, whereas extrinsic is being driven by external rewards. Achievement motivation influences an athlete’s performance and tends to vary between team and individual sports (Roberts et al., 2007). High achievement motivation often correlates with strong goal setting, which plays a key role inkeeping athletes focused and driven (Locke & Latham, 2002).
In team sports like basketball or baseball, achievement motivation is a blend of intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Team athletes are often motivated by wanting to contribute to their team's success, but they may also have personal goals (Carron et al., 2005). Players value having team cohesion and support, which comes from. Being a part of a team. (Deci & Ryan, 2000). On the extrinsic side, team championships and titles serve as motivators as well (Smith et al., 2006). Team athletes are more likely to balance their personal goals with the goals of their teammates as well, since they are accountable both to themselves and the team (Roberts et al., 2007).On the other hand, athletes in individual sports such as golf or swimming often lean more on intrinsic motivation. Since their performance is directly tied to their own effort and goals, they are usually focused on achieving personal bests or setting new records (Pelletier et al., 2004).
Goal Setting in Team Sports
Setting goals gives athletes something clear to aim for and reduces uncertainty. Being able to track progress, from where they started to where they are now, often helps athletes see improvements, which is motivating (Smith et al., 2006).
In team sports, goal setting often includes a combination of team and personal objectives. Before a season begins, coaches and players might set a team goal, such as winning a certain number of games (Carron et al., 2005). In basketball, for example, a team might aim to win 15 games in a season. However, individual players may set their own personal goals as well, like aiming to score a certain number of points in a game. Even though these are individual goals, a player’s success still relies on their teammates’ success and teamwork, like passing the ball. The motivation to meet both personal and team goals creates a cycle where individual accomplishments contribute to team success (Deci & Ryan, 2000).
Goal Setting in Individual Sports
In contrast, athletes in individual sports are more focused on personal goals, like setting new records or achieving a new skill level. Without team dynamics, individual athletes may face self-pressures when setting and striving for goals. Since they carry full responsibility for their performance, they may feel a heightened sense of accountability. However, the freedom from team-oriented goals gives individual athletes more flexibility to pursue personal ambitions on their own terms. Instead of relying on team goals, individual athletes must find ways to generate their own motivation, often by creating a structured path for their personal development and setting milestones that are meaningful to them (Locke & Latham, 2002).
Views of Self (Regulation/ Achievement)
What motivates athletes more? Is it Self- Regulation or Self- Achievement? To explore this, let’s figure out what these are. Self- Regulation is when “athletes functionally adjust their goals in the context of training and competition” (Kitsantis et al., 17). In the context of a cross-country coach, self-regulation Is used based on the team and individual goals set at the beginning of the year by both coach and athlete; to “encourage both individual goals” and to “set team goals based on their individual goals.” Self-motivation is how athletes will encourage themselves to reach their goals. This could be ways such as “I want to get my PR (personal record)” or “I’m doing this to get in shape” or many others. However, some are motivated by external motivators such as “food and material items.” However, in any sport, progress doesn’t always come quick so trying to encourage athletes and celebrating the little wins goes a long way. So, the answer to this is neither - nor both. This is such a complicated question as each athlete is different and therefore coaching styles must adapt to the specific athlete.
So, can there be other motivational factors on a team? A lesser looked at way of motivating comes based on team dynamics. This can be shown based on the level of the hierarchy of theteam. Those who are helping the coaches take on the role and therefore must implement a coaching style that usually is leading by example. Therefore, the team captains are the ones the coaches see that will lead the team the best. They usually will use this to improve themselves and hope that others will follow their example at practice, in meets or games, and can use that to bring themselves and others to success.
Conclusion
Therefore, there are many ways to motivate athletes. Some are motivated by their own drive while others are more motivated by the team they work on. This is a major difference between individual sports such as cross country and team sports such as softball or baseball. Looking at self-determination theory, we can determine what the best way to motivate these athletes is. Emotions play a big factor and being able to control them is one way for athletes to improve in their particular sport and be able to keep a calm mindset while doing so. The difference between the sports even impacts what type of goals are set such as if they are more an individual goal such as a new personal record (PR) in cross country or the goal for the team such as a team title in softball or basketball.
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