Motivation to Win - The NY Knicks

An important and easy way to motivate any sportsman can be convincing him to watch his own success performance. Recording the success in sport and then watching it again will motivate him to improve further in his game. If he realized a mistake he will try to avoid it in the next game and turn it around for a greater performance. (Riley, 2007).
             Motivation can be intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic is more from within one and the goals are smart, measurable, agreed, realistic, time-bounded, exciting and recorded. However extrinsic motivation comes from outside of the individual and that challenges the sportsman to perform better. That divides the performance related outcome into two distinct categories of rewards; Tangible rewards and Intangible rewards. Tangible rewards are physical rewards like prize money which motives them to perform better each time. It is more of an acknowledgment for their services to the team. While Intangible rewards include praise, recognition and achievements. These should be followed upon the sportsman on a regular basis to keep check on their performance and to keep them motivated. Combinations of both Tangible and Intangible can prove to be very beneficial to teams (Teachpe, 2012). Motivational theories exist in many forms. They are of different types and each has unique significance. The three main classifications of theories are Content-based Theory, Process-based Theory and Reinforcement Theory. All these theories focus on how an individual needs and wants can be transformed into a tool designed to motivate him for positive results in different ways by different theorists. (Lussier et al., 2008).
             Content-Based theory consists of Hierarchy of needs theory, ERG, Two-factor theory and Acquired needs. Hierarchy of needs theory was developed by Abraham Maslow in 1940's in which he categorized needs into levels, mainly: physiological, security, social, esteem and self actualization.