Motivation appears in many forms and is a key component to successfulness in a sport or physical activity advances. It takes adherence along with motivation in order to reach those set goals you have set for yourself. My interviewee, Collin, is a highly motivated baseball player that has showcased the meaning of adherence. Collin has been playing baseball for 17 years or approximately 75% of his life. From little league, to high school and now college ball, Collin has not stopped progressing in the game. Pressures from his family, coaches and future endeavors are only motivators for Collin, as he surpasses everyone’s expectations and accelerates in the baseball world. Collin is on his way towards intrinsic motivation satisfaction, as he has already accomplished his own set goals and still loves the sport. Collin has motivated himself towards satisfaction through self determination, his aesthetic for the game, the love of competition and the pursuit of vertigo. He practices everyday, even in off season and consistently goes to the gym to stay in shape. It takes self determination to fit in practice and working out time along with being a full time student, but Collin’s love for the game is all the motivation he needs. From a young boy, he’s seen baseball in a different life. To him, baseball is not seen as …show more content…
He is competing against the others on the field, with his team against the other team and with himself to beat his goals. Collin is always aiming to beat his batting average and sprint times, which takes self motivation. Along with competing, Collin also receives the pursuit of vertigo. The rush of the game fires his confidence, enhancing his performance and giving him the ultimate athlete’s high. Collin is highly motivated to move up in the world of baseball and in his goal to get drafted to the Major Leagues. However, not everyone has the intrinsic self motivation like Collin
Major league scouts had come to watch a shortstop whom they had heard was an excellent fielder and consistent batter. They were quickly distracted from this responsibility however by the performance of the man on the pitcher’s mound. Fernando Valenzuela was a pudgy teenage boy who had grown up on the dusty baseball fields of northwestern Mexico. From a young age, he had dreamed of playing professional baseball and he was about to get his chance. Less than two years later, he became the only player to win the Cy Young award as well as the Rookie of the Year award...
Hutch, the main character of The Big Field, has played baseball all of his life. He has always played shortstop, the same position that his father dreamed of playing as a professional. “Hutch, had always thought of himself as the captain of any infield he’d ever been a part of” (Lupica 1). Hutch finds himself being demoted to second base because there is another player, Darryl, on his new team that is expected to go pro and also plays shortstop. Hutch struggles because he does not want to play second base and his father does not support him because he does not want baseball to break Hutch’s dreams like it did his own. Hutch is betrayed by his father and Darryl when he finds them practicing together. Hutch has to learn to adjust and eventually becomes friends with Darryl, the up and coming shortstop. He understands that if he wants to win, then he needs to work together with Darryl. His father also comes around and finally gives Hutch his approval. Students should read this book in a high school English classroom because it demonstrates how relationships can be difficult, but teamwork can help to solve many issues.
Chad Harbach’s The Art of Fielding focuses on Henry, a small town boy that learns the value of life through the sport of baseball. Henry comes from humble beginnings of small town America, but suffers from a case of perfectionism – he will not stop short of achieving total perfection and this will eventually lead to his demise. He meets Mike Schwartz, a college baseball player that convinces him that college baseball is his future. Henry’s curiosity gets the best of him as he stumbles into the dark, cutthroat, and competitive world of college athletics. Once he steps foot in this world, Henry’s hunger for perfection is amplified. He sees the real world of athletics and
Mental preparedness separates the average baseball players from the elite ones. A dedicated baseball player shows up ready to play and succeed in whatever situation may arise. Baseball is a mental game, and concentration is key to keeping a player mentally prepared. Baseball is both a fast and slow sport, for it is slow between pitches, but very intense during them. During pitches, it is a players time to regroup himself and think of all the situations that could arise during the next pitch. During the play, everything happens fast, and there is no time to think about what to do, it is all instinct, so the ability to avoid mental errors is crucial. Mental mistakes often lead to physical mistakes, which is when everything goes sour. Mental confidence plays such a critical role in how a person physically plays. When a player is mentally down on himself, it is extremely hard to raise his confidence back up, and most of the time he cannot. A determined baseball player’s mind is totally different, an error is a learning experience,
Smith, R. E., Smoll, F. L., & Cumming, S. P. (2009). Motivational climate and changes in young athletes’ achievement goal orientations. Motivation and Emotion, 33(2), 173-183.
Derek Jeter, one of the most respected and admired players and leaders in baseball, is driven by the personality trait conscientiousness. Conscientiousness is defined as “ a character in which the individual values and obeys order and duty, performs with competence, and perhaps, values achievement.” (Mayer, 2007 pg. 284). It is also further defined as a “tendency to show self-discipline, act dutifully, and aim for achievement against measures or outside expectations.” (OED, 2014). Jeter’s hard work, tenacity, and demand to get better and better have helped build his strong, inspiring character, which many players, coaches, and fans look up to him for. An example of Jeter’s conscientious personality shines through from a quote he gave to a newspaper in 1999; “I don’t think you’ll ever sit around and say you’re good, until you bat a thousand with no errors.” Derek Jeter is a positive role model for the young and old, and as Michel Jordan said, “reflects a positive image”, making him an iconic athlete in America (Leung, 2010).
To the track! To the wall! It is gone and the crowd goes wild! This is the sound of a professional baseball player hitting a homerun. Many people love the sport of baseball but most of them do not know what it actually takes to be a player. Throughout the year a professional baseball player is constantly involved with aspects of the sport. Being able to maintain this takes a numerous amount of dedication from the players. Loss of sleep, sacrifice of time, and being able to constantly travel shows how much dedication a professional baseball player has.
I once had a teacher in high school that littered her walls with motivational sayings. Most flew right over my head, but one stuck. "You can't possibly hit the ball if you're thinking about all the ways you can miss." I don't know who coined that phrase, I suspect a baseball player or a fan of the sport, but it's stuck with me and must have enough followers to warrant a poster. From Pride of the Yankees to The Natural to Bull Durham to Mr. 3000, baseball has always had a home in movies. Maybe it's the pacing of the sport, the longevity of it or something unseen,
She has been practicing the game ever since she was a little girl, by trying to improve in her weak spots, completing vigorous training programs with her fitness coaches, and perfecting her serve until it hits consistency. The Journal of Sport Behavior states that “when task-oriented, an individual focuses on learning, improvement, and meeting the demands of the activity” (Eisenbarth & Petlichkoff, 2012, 388). Williams refers to herself as a student of the game, telling reporters that she is “always yearning to learn more”. The Journal of Sport Behavior also states that “task-oriented athletes believe sport success stems from working hard, exerting high levels of effort, and improving skills. Moreover, task-oriented athletes tend to select challenging tasks that require effort for successful completion” (Eisenbarth & Petlichkoff, 2012,
Have you ever heard the name Kris Bryant. Kris Bryant is a huge well-known, baseball star. He is someone I would love to be. Baseball is an expert on my list. Baseball is a big part of my life. Baseball is a athletic sport that I would play every day if I could. Have you ever seen someone use a ball and hit it with a metal rod?If so, then you have probably seen baseball. This is a fun game, it has intensity and hustle. Baseball is America's favorite sport and has 30 major teams in this sport. This game will never change. This is baseball. Baseball’s huge meaning in my mind is Entertaining. Entertaining means doing something that you like or love, and is something that's fun doing. Baseball is a huge dream of
R. (1995). Toward a new measure of intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and amotivation in sports: The Sport Motivation Scale (SMS). Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 17, 35-53.
As many can tell you there is nothing quite like the feeling of playing the sport you love with crowds cheering for you to win. Everyone can feel this way because sports are relatively simple and easy to play with practice. I remember I used to hate the idea of playing any sport, but when once I started to play I didn’t want to stop; two sports that I particularly enjoyed playing were baseball and tennis. Although Baseball and tennis are both sports that involve using a club to hit an airborne ball, they differ because of the equipment used to play them, the rules for each game and the way points are scored.
Motivation in other words can be described as a will or being dedicated to focus on achieving a certain goal/objective with a person’s inner drive or with outside factors. Which is basically called Intrinsic and Extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation comes from within a person. For example an intrinsic motivation of mine could be to perfect my back-to-back turn in swimming as I am not that good at it and also as it helps to reduce the time wasted when moving on to the next length. Other examples of this type of motivation are; having pride in performing a certain skill, the desire to overcome a certain task, desire to overcome a problem, etc. Extrinsic motivation comes from an outside factor which may encourage the athlete to perform at
It is amazing to watch how most athletes perform at their peak and continue to produce and set record-breaking performances. What drives them to these high levels of motivation and productivity? They may come from various influences and source of motivation and these similar sources can also energize certain individuals affect behavior and arouse their drive.
Motivation can be defined as an individual’s internal dedication and will or focus to accomplish a goal they have set for themselves. Motivation is a prominent factor in elite level sports that makes you do what you want to do, and if you’re not motivated to be a top level athlete then chances of performing to best of your capabilities are very less. As a result there is a huge possibility of falling short of your goals. Motivation is initiated and generated by a motive which is a reason to do things that will require motivation. This research is directed towards in-depth explanation of motivation and its positives and negatives on sports in general and examples of specific areas: 1) What makes an athlete sacrifice a highly desirable social life for the demands of high-performance sport? 2) What pushes the athlete to pursue success in sport at all levels? The research emphasizes on the importance of motivation and how it influences the way in which people think, feel and behave. The research was conducted with the help of following methods: self-experience, online research, real life stories, and interactions with other individuals.