Motivation in Tennis

Motivation is a huge part of tennis. Players think so, coaches think so, and parents think so. Miguel Crespo and Machar Reid were so interested they ran a few tests and published them in the Br. J. Sports Med. 2007, in an article properly entitled “Motivation in Tennis”. We will briefly go over their findings.

Motivation is a very important psychological skill without which we wouldn’t do half of the strenuous things we do. Of course it comes along with things like drive, passion, persistence, competitiveness, effort, and desire to participate and win.

What is the importance of motivation? When coaches are asked what important psychological skills are needed in tennis they say fun and enjoyment, together with motivation and passion, self-confidence, positive thinking/self talk, positively managing mistakes, focus/concentration, emotional control, honesty/integrity, practice intensity, and keeping competition in perspective. Now that is a lot of things, but they are all related. Out of all these, when coaches of junior players were asked to list the hardest of those to teach, the majority said motivation. Which is true, how do you motivate an unmotivated kid?

What gets kids motivated to play? This is interesting because it varies among groups of people. Young tennis players seem to want to play to increase playing level, keep physically fit, enhance skills and make new friends, in that order. They also list things like satisfying parents or friends, feeling important, being popular, and earning rewards and prizes as secondary reasons for playing. Boys and girls differ too. Boys prefer competition, challenge, status, entertaining and rewards much more than girls do. Players over 12 are motivated by being popular, using tennis equipment, being around friends and satisfying parents to a greater extent than players under 12. Younger players also really want to be in good standing with their coach and perceive their role as tennis player positively unlike older players. So, it seems that reasons for playing are intrinsic and that extrinsic motivation comes with age. Age, gender and club atmosphere tends to influence motivation a lot. Boys on average are a lot less social and more competitive in groups, as I have noticed and age is definitely highlighted accurately here. I would even add that location influences motivation, not just the club. From personal experience, everyone in Florida is “going pro” no matter how much they believe in the fact themselves or exhibit potential for it, while players living in the north east tend to speak of playing for good colleges a lot more. These things are almost contagious.

What is goal achievement motivation? Goal perspective theory is one of the modern approaches to understanding motivation in tennis. This theory states that players that are “task-involved” define their progress in terms of how their skills have improved and how much they have learned versus “ego-involved” players who base their progress on things like doing better than others and being a lot better than everyone with minimal effort. This theory suggests that being “task-involved” is a more positive outlook for young players. Players that think this way perceive the sport as more important, and exert more effort playing. “Ego” players tend to experience more stress and have impaired concentration.

No less important is the climate surrounding the player, as it has to be motivational. It is basically how goals are structured in the players life, their training and competition situation as perceived by those around them. This climate is mostly created by close people like coaches and family members. Through the climate is how players seem to become either “task” or “ego” oriented. Players that grow up in a “task” oriented environment are less likely to burn out. This environment focuses on things learned and skill improvement and reinforces effort and directs players to focus on intrinsic rewards. The players in this environment have a better work ethic, more improvement, higher self confidence, satisfaction, enjoyment, persistence and sportsmanship. They are also happier with their coaches, peers and parents. “Ego” oriented environments emphasize results and outcomes, compare to other players, punish mistakes and recognize work of only the talented players which isn’t helpful for a team or club environment. This setting promotes out doing others and getting things without putting in the work. It detracts from player enjoyment, decreases their satisfaction with coaches and increases feelings of pressure. Self confidence also plunges as tennis performance goals are not met.

Tennis seems to become more “ego” oriented as players go from beginner to competitive. Evidently “task” system works for beginners and although “ego” may motivate competitive players more as they get older, coaches should refrain from using it and stick with the “task” method. The player’s support group has to foster positive patterns in players. They should address things like the meaning of success and failure. Reactions from parents and coaches after lost matches, extrinsic factors in training and player self esteem should all be spoken of and thought about. Tennis should be taught in an individual way promoting rewarding task involving environments based on skill level and drill difficulty. Practices should be stimulating, with a lot of variety of drills. Practices shouldn’t be overtly competitive but more cooperative, emphasizing effort and learning over beating other players. Helping individual players set realistic and measurable goals based on improvement and effort and autonomy in drill selection will help players stay in the “task” zone longer and out of the “ego” zone. It is also a good idea to mix up boys and girls in their practices, not keep it boys with boys and girls with girls. For variety on the one hand and to lessen the pressure that this gender exclusive sport places on kids that train together.

All in all, focus on yourself and how much you’re improving and how much you are learning. You will be a happier camper. And coaches and parents, teach don’t berate! You don’t want to be blamed for an early burn out!