Elite sport psychology/motivation

What drives someone to get up every morning at 4:00 a.m. for training, regardless of the weather? What motivates athletes to push their bodies to the very limits of physical endurance? This module will provide you with answers to these questions and others.

Introducing motivation
The term motivation finds its origins in the Latin “movere,” meaning “to move,” and describes the powerful inner force that drives us to direct our behaviour in a certain way. Motivation can be defined as the direction, intensity and persistence of effort. Direction of effort refers to whether an individual seeks out, approaches, or is attracted to certain situations. Intensity of effort refers to how much energy is devoted to tasks. Persistence of effort refers to how long a person will continue to exert effort in order to succeed.

Motivation is a key component of performance, and without adequate motivation an athlete is not psychologically ready to compete. In this module, you will examine the concept of motivation as it relates to elite sport, and be introduced to techniques and strategies designed to help athletes to improve and maintain their motivation.

The aims of this module are to:
 * Explain how aspects of personality can influence motivation for competition.
 * Examine various categories of motivation, and explore some theories of motivation.
 * Offer various motivational strategies that can be used with elite athletes.
 * Demonstrate how token rewards can have a positive influence on motivation.

Module topics

 * Describing motivation
 * Motivational strategies
 * Token rewards
 * Summary and go further