Ruth Jiménez

Young Tennis Players’ Competitive Task Involvement and Performance: The Role of Goal Orientations, Contextual Motivational Climate, And Coach-Initiated Motivational Climate

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of situational and dispositional factors in contributing to competitive task involvement and performance in young tennis players. One hundred fifty-one adolescent tennis players and their coaches participated in the study. Participants responded to instruments measuring pre-game dispositional goal orientations and perceptions of the motivational climate and post-game task involvement in the competition by assessing concentration, loss of self-consciousness, and autotelic experience, perceptions of coach-initiated motivational climate in competition, and self-evaluation of game performance. In addition, coaches evaluated the players’ performance. Results showed that task involvement was predicted by players’ perceptions of a coach-initiated learning motivational climate in competition. Loss of self-consciousness was predicted by the players’ perceptions of a coach-initiated performance climate in competition. Finally, coaches’ and players’ assessment of performance were predicted by autotelic experience, concentration, and by perception of coach-initiated learning and performance orientation in competition.

Análisis de las relaciones entre orientaciones de meta, clima motivacional, valoración de la Educación Física y flow disposicional en estudiantes de Educación Física en secundaria

Resumen Este estudio analiza desde la perspectiva social-cognitiva de las metas de logro las principales variables predictoras del flow disposicional, incluyendo tanto a las orientaciones disposicionales como a la percepción del clima motivacional en el aula, así como a la valoración de la Educación Física (E.F.) que realizan los discentes de la asignatura. Además, analizaremos las correlaciones entre las diferentes variables. El estudio se llevó a cabo con una muestra de 300 estudiantes de E.F., de 14 a 18 años de edad. Para ello se utilizó un análisis de regresión y un análisis de correlaciones. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que los predictores significativos del flow son las orientaciones disposicionales y la valoración que den los alumnos a la asignatura de E.F. El clima motivacional (implicante a la tarea) sólo es predictor del flow cuando se le considera como única posible variable predictora.

The Cognitive and Motivation Intervention Program in Youth Female Volleyball Players

Abstract This study, grounded in Self-Determination Theory (Deci and Ryan, 1985, 2002) was aimed to determine the influence of a cognitive-motivational intervention program, to improve the basic psychological need satisfaction of autonomy and competence, autonomous motivation, procedural knowledge, perceived performance and sport commitment, in youth volleyball players. Participants included 34 Under-19 female volleyball players. A quasi-experimental design was carried out with an experimental group (n = 16; M = 17.45; SD = .45) and a control group (n = 18; M = 16.64; SD = .70). The experimental group followed a multidimensional intervention program comprised of 24 sessions held over three months (two training sessions per week). It was based on two strategies: giving athletes the possibility of choice in specific training tasks (proposing training situations with several action alternatives) and questioning (cognitively involving players through tactical questions). A repeated-measures MANOVA 2 (group: experimental and control) x 2 (time: pre-test and post-test) was used to analyse the effect of Group x Time interaction. The results of the inter-group analysis showed significant differences in the post-test measurement between the experimental group and the control group (in favour of the experimental group) in the variables: basic psychological need satisfaction of autonomy and competence, autonomous motivation, procedural knowledge, perceived performance and sport commitment. Given the relevance of the cognitive-motivational processes, not only for performance but also for sport commitment, this intervention has important implications for sport coaching.

Application of Two Intervention Programs in Order to Optimize Motivation and to Improve Eating Habits in Adult and Elderly Women

Abstract The objective of this study was to analyse the effectiveness of two intervention programs: a physical exercise program with strategies to support the three basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence and relatedness); and a physical exercise program with nutritional education in order to improve the lifestyles of adult and elderly women who practiced functional maintenance. The Self-Determination Theory was applied as the theoretical framework. A sample of 135 women aged between 40 and 88 years (59.66 ± 10.76) who enrolled in a 12-week functional maintenance program and attended 24 exercise classes took part in the study. A quasi-experimental study was performed where strategies to support the three basic psychological needs were applied to one group and strategies for the improvement of eating habits were applied to the other group. No strategy was applied to the control group. The main results showed an improvement in experimental groups I and II when compared to the control group regarding the variables of autonomy, competence, intrinsic regulation, identified regulation, introjected regulation, external regulation and eating habits, after the application of the intervention programs. The conclusion is that both intervention programs were successful with this project’s participants and that it is crucial to promote such intervention programs in functional maintenance classes, as they foster healthy lifestyles among participants.

Cognitive and emotional factors as predictors of performance indicators in young volleyball players

In recent years, there has been much discussion about the need for using the key performance indicators, in order to guide training and consequently, competition. Some studies used the game action efficacy, the match result or the classification as a reference, while others used player’s or coach’s perception of performance. Thus, a predictive study with the aim to analyze several performance indicators in volleyball formative stages, was realized. The sample consisted of 164 players from all 16 teams (male and female) of an Under-16 volleyball league. Dependent variables: game action efficacy, classification and player’s perceived performance. Independent variables: procedural knowledge, decision-making, motivation and basic psychological needs. The results of the regression analysis showed that game action efficacy and classification were predicted only by cognitive variables (knowledge and decision-making), while players’ perceived performance was predicted by the basic need of relatedness. The different performance indicators appear to measure different realities, being predicted by different variables. Mixed methods could provide a better understanding of performance than a single analytic approach alone, combining descriptions from the inside and from the outside.