To motivate an athlete it is helpful for coaches to understand their athletes’ perception of events. The reasons which an athlete will attribute to their success serve as an insight into their motivational concepts/blueprints. Knowledge of these blueprints can help a coach to draw the best performance from their athletes. Example
Two long distance runners both of whom fall short of their personal best during the same race give their reasons for their results. Runner A explains that the weather conditions did not suit and Runner B puts their lack-lustre performance down to not putting enough effort into the race. Their explanations give us an insight into how they judge their own performance and the reasons they attribute to success and failure.
Attribution Theory
There are many theories regarding athletes’ motivation. The attribution theory proposes that an individual will endeavour to anticipate and explain events which happen in order to create an element of stability and certainty with respect to outcomes. Several amendments have been made to the original attribution theory which was proposed by Heider in 1944. There are scales which incorporate locus of control, stability and controllability to measure an athletes attribution pattern. Locus of control in the case of athletes refers to the athlete’s perception as to whether they are in control of their own performance or whether they perceive it to be due to ‘forces’ outside of their control e.g. weather conditions, coaches advice etc. There is some evidence to suggest that athletes with an internal locus of control show more consistent performance under stress than those with an external locus of control so this information is helpful to coaches in many ways. These attribution models are limited however and have their drawbacks. Open ended attribution models/systems are informative but also ambiguous. Furthermore they often fail to take social differences into account.
How the coach can help
When attributions about performance are inaccurate athletes may need to be guided so that they can explain their performance in a different manner. By building self confidence and by pointing out when an outcome is due to internal factors athletes can develop a high level of internal locus of control which, as we noted earlier has been found to benefit athletes in terms of consistency under stressful circumstances.
Attribution patterns can affect performance. Monitoring by coaches and observation of attribution patterns can lead to an improvement in performance. It is useful therefore for coaches to develop good communication patterns with the athletes they coach, to set specific goals and to monitor over time the factors to which an athlete attributes their performance. An understanding of the attribution theory, observation, goal setting and good communication can go a long way towards improving performance.
Example
Two long distance runners both of whom fall short of their personal best during the same race give their reasons for their results. Runner A explains that the weather conditions did not suit and Runner B puts their lack-lustre performance down to not putting enough effort into the race. Their explanations give us an insight into how they judge their own performance and the reasons they attribute to success and failure.
Attribution Theory
There are many theories regarding athletes’ motivation. The attribution theory proposes that an individual will endeavour to anticipate and explain events which happen in order to create an element of stability and certainty with respect to outcomes. Several amendments have been made to the original attribution theory which was proposed by Heider in 1944. There are scales which incorporate locus of control, stability and controllability to measure an athletes attribution pattern. Locus of control in the case of athletes refers to the athlete’s perception as to whether they are in control of their own performance or whether they perceive it to be due to ‘forces’ outside of their control e.g. weather conditions, coaches advice etc. There is some evidence to suggest that athletes with an internal locus of control show more consistent performance under stress than those with an external locus of control so this information is helpful to coaches in many ways. These attribution models are limited however and have their drawbacks. Open ended attribution models/systems are informative but also ambiguous. Furthermore they often fail to take social differences into account.
How the coach can help
When attributions about performance are inaccurate athletes may need to be guided so that they can explain their performance in a different manner. By building self confidence and by pointing out when an outcome is due to internal factors athletes can develop a high level of internal locus of control which, as we noted earlier has been found to benefit athletes in terms of consistency under stressful circumstances.
Attribution patterns can affect performance. Monitoring by coaches and observation of attribution patterns can lead to an improvement in performance. It is useful therefore for coaches to develop good communication patterns with the athletes they coach, to set specific goals and to monitor over time the factors to which an athlete attributes their performance. An understanding of the attribution theory, observation, goal setting and good communication can go a long way towards improving performance.
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