Sport Psychology for Athletes

Most of us want more motivation but what exactly is it? In this lesson, we will explore the difference and intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.

Motivation is a matter of degree. It is not the case that we either have it or we don't, but rather to what level are we motivated.

There are seven common reasons why we lose motivation:

1. Lack of progression

2. Conflict with other activities

3. Lack of fun

4. Boredom

5. Lack of playing time

6. Excessive pressure from others

7. Increased time commitment

What do we do if we lose motivation? Using the structured interview presented in this lesson, you can explore your initial motivation and use it to build additional motivation resources in the present.

While motivation is usually good, being too focused on a goal can lead to burn-out. What is burn-out and what do we do about it?

You can measure your level of perfectionism using the Short Revised Almost Perfect Scale (SAPS). This will ask you eight questions which you rate from extremely disagree to extremely agree.

You can try the questionnaire on the PsyToolkit website here.

Possible scores range from 4 to 28. Typically, athletes will score highly on this scale. So, if you score around 24, it indicates you have high levels of perfectionism, but don't worry too much because you are not alone.

Levels above this suggest excessive perfectionism.