Motivation

What is motivation?
Motivation is determination to succeed in something you are doing.

Trait theory
Trait theory of motivation is when a person's level of motivation is stable and does not change, their motivation level does not change even if they are in the most difficult situation. This theory suggests that level of motivation is inherent and genetic. An example for this would be my athletes motivation level being the same during training or during any matches they play. When they are playing the world cup they'll have this constant motivation level helping them win the match.

Situational theory 
Situational theory of motivation tells that a players motivation level can change depending on the situation they are in. An example of this would be when South Africa is playing a match and they are ahead of their opponent; this will increase the motivation level. Where as if they are really far back and have 2 players left to bat and need many runs then this can also decrease their motivation level as they will feel that they won't win the match because there is too much pressure on them.

Attribution theory
This theory states that depending on achievements a person's behaviour and motivation can change. Reasons for success or failure impact on motivation. Internal and external factors can impact motivation in both positive and negative way. An example of this would be when during matches a specific player is not blamed for losing or winning, it is usually the team effort that is mentioned by the team's captain at the end of the match. When the team loses a match then the athletes usually would say that their fielding was weak or their batting was weak and this would tell them that they need to be working on their weaknesses to make it their team strength.


Intrinsic and extrinsic theory 
There are 2 types of motivations: intrinsic and extrinsic.
Intrinsic motivation is when a person is motivation by internal factors. Intrinsic motivations allows people to do activity for fun, for achievement. Intrinsic motivation refers to behavior that is driven by internal rewards.

Extrinsic motivation is when a person is motivated by external factors. This motivation suggests that people participate in a activity for external award such as money, fame, trophies and etc... This type of motivation arises from outside of individual. This motivation is opposite to intrinsic motivation.

Achievement theory

• Atkinson - Need to achieve (NACH) - Need to avoid failure (NAF) 

Need to achieve theory was found by Atkinson, this theory suggests that a person may play a sport or participate in a sport to win, whereas, his second theory of need to avoid failure suggests that athletes may be losing a game but do not want to take the blame on themselves so they avoid being in the situation. 

• Martens - competitiveness (wanting to succeed in sport) - Competitive trait anxiety (desire to avoid failure in sporting competition)
• Impacted by task faced and reward involved

Effects on training and performance:
My athlete doesn't really fall into a category of intrinsic or extrinsic but South Africa hasn't won a cricket world cup yet so this suggests that as a team they are trying hard to win a cup for the country. My athlete acts according to the situation therefore, their motivation level changes in different situations.