When it comes to motivation in sports, the motive for achievement is a very significant concept. Petz (2005) defines it as a type of social motive that is manifested in the pursuit for success and high standard achievements. The motive for achievement is based on the inner drive that motivates the athlete to dedicate a significant part of his life to achieve the set goal.
We can differ 3 aspects of motive for achievement whereby all are present with each athlete but the mutual ratios may differ.
1. COMPETITIVE ABILITY
Athletes are motivated by the goal to achieve better results than other competitors, to be better than other athletes, and to win those competitors. The focus of an athlete motivated by competitive ability is to stand out in front of others whereby he compares himself with his opponent. The athlete is predominantly focused on the result and measures the performance he has achieved in comparison with his opponents, rivals or competitors. In literature, this category is called athlete directed ego.
2. SPORTS SKILL
An athlete motivated by the development of sports skills is directed towards the improvement of his performance and not necessarily towards his final result. A dominant motivation of the athlete is the personal development of his skills and knowledge. This type of athlete sets short-term and long-term goals for himself, which are directed towards his play and performance, and, regardless of the result, he measures his efficiency at trainings and competitions. Task orientation with the aim of improving and perfecting certain skills is the dominant motivation in this type of achievement motive. The athlete evaluates his current achievement by comparing with himself, with his own achieved results respectively.
3. SOCIAL APPROVAL
An athlete participates in sports and is motivated to acquire social approval from people he considers important: his coach, parents and friends. Such athletes seek for attention and praise from coaches and parents, prominence in society, public appearance and similar. The need for social approval is more pronounced in children. Namely, it is extremely important to children what older people think of them, whether it regards their coach, older athletes, parents or family.
Which motive is according to your opinion the most desired for an athlete’s long-term development and his positive motivation structure? The answer is: the motive for sports skill development. This motive encourages the athlete to strive for development and, regardless of the competition outcome (which is not always under our direct control), it directs the athlete to set his own challenges, train his own potential and be better in comparison with the previous day. The athlete thus sets his own performance-oriented goals and challenges which is extremely important for self-confidence when the competition is far stronger or far weaker than the athlete.
On the other hand, if the athlete’s dominant motive for achievement is competitive ability, he can expect large oscillations in motivation given that in situations of stronger competition he constantly experiences failure, while, on the other hand, in weaker competition, there are no challenges since there is no challenging opponent.
In addition to the stated motives, the so-called motive of avoiding failure, referring to fear of failure, should also be mentioned.
The ratio of motives for skill development and competitive ability is of great importance for the long-term development of an athlete. Researches show that the motive for competitive ability is desirable for it encourages a competitive spirit but it should by no means be dominant with regards to the motive of skill development. Due to the previously stated, it is important that coaches and parents encourage the so-called skill development climate where pressure on the child is desirable if focused on factors that the athlete can directly influence: effort, engagement and approach.
A coach who encourage the climate of skill development sets goals, rewards ad specifically commends well-done technical /tactical elements, encourages two-way communication where he does not impose a solution but leads the athlete reach a conclusion. Through a stimulating task, the coach leads the athlete to do his own thinking, make decisions and learn from his own mistakes that are not accompanied by condemnation but criticism aimed at a technical/tactical solution of the task with focus on performance.
A successful coach will create a task or exercise in a creative and stimulating manner in which the athlete will clearly recognize the connection between the task and the technical / tactical situation in the competition. In performing exercises, tasks or games created by the coach, the athlete will not even be aware that he is working parallel on countless technical / tactical elements, which, if performed separately, can be monotonous and long-term, non-stimulating exercises.
An example of a soccer/football coach who, by putting pressure on the athlete’s controllable factors encourages communication among co-players:
Coach: Stop… (grabs the player by the shoulder and positions him). Look in front of you and see the situation you are in. Which, according to you, would by the best decision?
Player: I( don’t know…)
Coach: There is no disapproval, stop and think which options you have got. Which are your two options?
Player Think _ and ____.
Coach: OK, which, according to you, is the best solution?
Player: I don’t know (afraid of the wrong solution).
Coach: It doesn’t matter even if you say the wrong thing, we learn.
Player: Probably__________.
Coach: Yes, but why is it worth playing Marin there? If it were a game, what would you want to achieve with a ball like that? OK, for you, this situation is a pattern in a match. Go to the bench and take 5 minutes to see how you will name this moment in the match, so that when Marin shouts __ (that word) you both immediately know what to do.
TEST: Are you an EGO directed athlete or a TASK directed athlete? You can download on the link: TEST