The influence of teammate to motivational climate in college baseball team

Abstract

    The purpose of this study is to examine influence of teammates on motivational climate of college baseball teams, to find relationship between motivational climate patterns and teammates factors, and to contribute to improve teamwork and motivation of team members. The study was done on 180 athletes (180 male players with their age of 20.19 ±1.35 years old) belonging to the five college baseball teams in Hokkaido. The research was carried out to ask each baseball team to fill out a questionnaire that I had made for the study. The contents in the questionnaire were based on their individual profile, such as ages, gender, and so on, and some questions to measure motivational climate of the team and to understand the interaction among the teammates, and to clarify how deeply the individuals were affected by his teammates. From the research, I found the following results: If there might be unfriendly relationships among the teammates, those relationships would lead other teammates to lower their motivation. In case some players in the teams show unfavorable attitudes toward the other teammates or some players who are physically gifted don't feel the need to practice or some players are criticized and not encouraged when they make mistakes while their play, these negative factors often influence strongly the players' performance climate. To strengthen the mastery climate helps teams improve their teamwork. Thus, when you coach team sports, such as baseball or basketball, it is important for you to try to make good team atmospheres to reach mastery climate.