Theories of motivation in competitive sport Essay

Theories of motivation in competitive sport - Essay Example One of the main aims and focus of all people involved in competitive sports is the ability to motivate the athletes. This has been a major focused issue as in a competitive game, the only things that separates the competitors is the motivation that they have. There are a number of different techniques and skills used by both the athletes and the coaches to motivate the individuals and to perform better in the competitions. There have been a number of motivational techniques used by coaches to ensure that the individual performance is optimum and there have also been a number of researches that have been conducted in the field of sports psychology which has been mainly to discover the motivation techniques and secrets for better performance of the athletes. All the theories that have been developed over the years have been focused on several aspects of the individuals like the initiation, influence and also the modification of behavior. Several theories in the earlier times like those by Freud 1923 / 1962, Skinner 1953 / 1971, and also Hull 1943, highlighted a few factors and dealt with the deterministic aspects of the factors alone. For instance, Freud dealt with the instinctual drives, while Hull dealt with physiological drives and Skinner the environmental drives. These theories have proved to be very successful over the years; however there have been a number of criticism and concerns that have also been put forth in the past. The theories deal with the individuals in a method which states them to be passive beings and are those affected highly by the physiology and environment which leads their performance. However with time and with time and over the several researches that have been conducted, there have also been a number of different views and suggestions that have been developed by White, 1959. White proposed that people are more driven by the competent and effectiveness of their skills.