The perceptions of coaches and athletes/players of motivation

It was the primary aim of this investigation to determine to what extent coaches and athletes/players agree or disagree on the importance of motivational factors in sport. Altogether 114 coaches and 454 athletes/players took part in the investigation. The following factors were identified as important motivational factors in sport: encouragement to perform better; goal setting; enjoyment and pleasure in sport; activation; self-efficacy; communication between coaches/players; reward for achievement; self-confidence in players; praise; individual attention; effective coaching methods and techniques; competition; and being intrinsically motivated. The results of a statistical analysis indicated that coaches and athletes/players differed mainly with regard to the factors communication between player and coach, praising the player and competition. The coaches considered these factors to be more important than players do. The main factor which both coaches and athletes/players considered to be important was goal setting. Both athletes/players and coaches considered encouragement to perform better as less important. Keywords: motivational factors, athletes/players, coachesSouth African Journal for Research in Sport, Physical Education and Recreation Vol. 27(1) 2005: 127-136