ABSTRACT
This chapter develops sport practitioners understanding of motivation in sport and looks at healthy and positive ways in which they can develop their own motivation and that of the performers they work with, lead or parent. Motivation is the most fundamental area of psychology. Many view it as the cornerstone of other aspects of our thinking, feeling and behaving. But there are many paradoxes and hidden motivational traps – even in the story above, asking someone how much they want something can lead to profound anxiety as it becomes closer. Motivation is a broad concept: it almost defies definition. Textbooks identify two characteristics: first, the direction of our behaviour – what people choose to do; and second, the effort invested in that choice. The modern sport psychology literature is dominated by two theoretical models of motivation: achievement goal theory and self-determination theory.
