Catherine Cook
13 June 2009
Donald Anderson has been playing golf for about ten years, winning regional and state championships with his team in high school, then going on to play on the university team. His father has been supportive financially through these years. He has also tried to be supportive verbally, but sometimes becomes verbally abusive, increasing the stress and pressure for Donald. Donald’s performance has decreased this past year. Now the coach is threatening to drop Donald from the golf team, and Mr. Anderson is threatening to withdraw the financial support to pay for his apartment at college, before he has finished his degree. These factors greatly increase the intensity and the fears that Donald feels as he is playing these decisive three rounds of golf.
Donald’s motivation has been the friendship he has with Ray, and his success in winning. He has an ego orientation, focusing on surpassing others. His motivation is extrinsic, being influenced by receiving rewards, approval, or criticism. He has introjected the external criticism. He now is extremely critical of himself when he is not perfect. He may be identifying with golf, thinking of the sport as defining who he is and the main course of his life. He may have some intrinsic motivation, coming from his enjoyment of the sport and his friendship with Ray and his father. Donald said that golf is important to him.
Donald sometimes has become overly aggressive because of his drive to win, including causing technical fouls on his high school basketball team, and throwing his golf clubs into a stream after winning second place instead of first. He enjoys the intensity and excitement of a competition, and wants to "charge the course." It may be that golf is only exciting and worth the effort for him when he is winning. It may be that a different, more energetic and expressive sport would give him more opportunities for excitement and intensity than golf does. Or he might feel more positive emotions in sports that build more camaraderie than competition. His father’s negative attitude toward him and putdowns when he doesn’t win lower his self-esteem. His confidence may be based on approval from others. He introjects their attitudes, and his confidence has come to be based on whether he is winning.
I would recommend that Donald describe to his father the negative effects that his putdowns and emphasis on winning have on Donald’s enjoyment of and performance in sports, and describing to him a more supportive role he could play in Donald’s life. I would also recommend relaxation breathing exercises before his golf games. Visualization of successfully playing the golf course, including visualizations of positive emotions and cheerful actions might also help. I would talk to him about ups and downs in his playing being part of playing sports. He might consider his many options for his choice of sports, education, and career. I would tell him that no matter what happens, he will go on to succeed and accomplish many wonderful goals which will bring happiness to himself and his family and influence and inspire others. I would recommend that Donald talk to his father about all of his options for sports, education, and career, and request his continued financial support during college no matter what happens with golf, or what goals he may decide to pursue. Considering his freedoms and many options may reduce his fears of failure in golf, and help him to enjoy this time that he is playing it in college, and may lessen his and his father’s fears about not always winning. He could continue to enjoy golf throughout his life, and even teach others to play it. Another recommendation for Donald is to develop self-talk to maintain his confidence. He could focus on the skills he has developed and everything he does right. The hypnosis technique for relaxation would also be very helpful for him to be able to let go of all stresses. I would also recommend that Donald change his perception of the golf games, maintaining an optimistic viewpoint at all times. He might use self-talk to remind himself of his abilities, skills, and capacities that he has developed, and that he can meet the demands of the situation. He can also remember specific times when he had good experiences, and try to remember as many details and feelings from those times as possible. He can change his expectations of himself, and consider himself successful if he puts forth his very best effort, regardless of the outcome.
According to one study, motivation is dependent on whether certain needs are met. These are self-determination, competence, and relatedness. Self-determination refers to an athlete being in control of his actions and decisions. Competence refers to having the ability and skills required for a sport. Relatedness refers to the need for reinforcing relationships and social order (Chatzisarantis, et al, 2003). With these ideas in mind, Donald’s high-pressure father and coach may be undermining his basic relationship needs, reducing his motivation to play sports. This may explain his lack of precision in his golf performance in the past year. He also may feel that he doesn’t have the freedom to choose his path, and may feel frustrated or unfulfilled in golf.
According to this study, if an athlete is motivated by external factors, such as approval, criticism, or rewards, he is likely to develop amotivation. If the athlete is motivated by intrinsic factors, such as the joy of playing the sport, because it is fun or feels good, he is likely to identify with the sport. This means that he considers his participation in the sport to be part of his identity. This study also found that intrinsic motivation lead to intentional behaviors and increased perceived competence (Chatzisarantis, et al, 2003).
The best way for Donald to improve his performance is to increase his intrinsic motivation. That means that he needs to remember all of the internal reasons that he has enjoyed and still enjoys to play golf. These would not include rewards or approval from others, or the winning of competitions. Some of the intrinsic motivation sources might be the fun and relaxation of being on the golf course, the joy of the exercise and seeing his improvements over time, and the satisfaction of being a source of inspiration for others through his hard work. Remembering these sources of happiness which are independent of the outcome of the game or other’s attitudes may help him increase his intentional behaviors (control over his golf swing) and increase his perceived competence, thereby increasing his confidence on the golf course.
References
Chatzisarantis, Nikos L.D., Hagger, Martin S., Biddle, Stuart J.H., Smith, Brett, Wang, John C.K. (September 2003). A Meta-Analysis of Perceived Locus of Causality in Exercise,
Sport, and Physical Education Contexts. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, Vol. 25, Issue 3, p. 284-306.