Influences on Skill Development and Performance

A number of factors have been found to influence skill development and performance in the martial arts. These include methods of motivation, context for teaching new material, presence of music, presence of an evaluative audience or other participants, and perceptual skill.

Motivational Climate

Theeboom, et. al. (1995) described two theories of motivation in youth sports:

Competence Motivation Theory. This theory indicates that those who see themselves as competent and as having internal control are more intrinsically motivated.
Achievement Goal Theory. This theory proposes that individuals are motivated to demonstrate high ability based on either ego goals which are ability oriented or task goals which are mastery oriented.

Their review of the literature indicates that a mastery climate in a sport setting is associated with greater perceived effort, greater enjoyment, and increased team satisfaction whereas a focus on performance outcome leads to greater worry and less team satisfaction.

To explore the idea that children have a more positive motivational pattern when they have a mastery goal orientation, Theeboom, et.al. studied two groups of boys and girls. One group was a traditional method group, which used basic drills for practice, had an authoritative teacher, focused on individual exercises, and based recognition and evaluation on performance. The other groups was a mastery method group, which used a variety of exercises, shared decision-making, utilized partner and small group exercises, and focused on effort and improvement. For example, the traditional method group may do repeated leg kicks whereas the mastery method group may kick a ball, a bag, or the instructor’s hand and students may suggest combinations and exercises. Results showed that the mastery group enjoyed the class more although there was no difference in the participant’s perceived competence. The interview showed greater intrinsic motivation for the mastery group. Overall, the mastery group was rated higher in performance of motor skills. The authors concluded that the more informal and flexible teaching style used for the mastery method group may be effective early on in training but the later stages of training may require some traditional teaching exercises as well.

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