Original scientific paper
Why are former swimmers former?
Josipa Nekić
; Sveučilište u Zagrebu Kineziološki fakultet
Renata Barić
; Sveučilište u Zagrebu Kineziološki fakultet
Abstract
While most of the research show what a (young) athlete needs on the way to a top result, there are fewer findings about those who dropout on the way to achieve that goal. Competitive swimming implies physical and mental readiness for the challenges that swimmers face quite early in their careers. Many of them dropout from sport because they can’t withstand these loads. Another risky period of dropout is the transition from junior to senior swimming. The aim is to investigate differences in motivation, personality traits, dropout reasons and goal orientation regarding to gender, region the swimmers come from, age of quitting sport, swimming experience, discipline and competition category. Furthermore, the aim was to check the relationship between motivational variables, personality traits, dropout reasons and goal orientation with the frequency of training. 180 former swimmers who competed at the national level and beyond, with five to over twenty years of sport experience, who stopped active training between the age of 13 to 30, participated in this study. The Participation Motivation Questionnaire (PMQ23,42), the BFI Personality Questionnaire (Big Five Inventory9), the Dropout questionnaire (DQ38), Task and Ego orientation in sport Questionairre (CTEOSQ6) and general data questionnare were used. The obtained results showed that there are no differences in dropout reasons among male and female swimmers. Former female swimmers were more conscientious and more agreeableness, significantly motivated by belonging to the team and affiliation, and more oriented towards learning and improving skills compared to male swimmers. Considering the region the swimmers come from, there is a significant difference in level of openness as a personality trait. Regarding the age of withdrawal, the group of swimmers who dropout before the age of 18 expressed more personal reasons for withdrawal than those who dropped out later. In that same group, fitness motives were less expressed and focus on the task and learning skills was lower compared to those who gave up after the age of 18. The results indicates positive relations between the dimension of conscientiousness and the frequency of training. Female swimmers were mostly motivated by belonging to the team and affiliation, and the fitness dimension was the main motive for the group of swimmers over 18 years old. Swimmers who dropout for personal reasons were less focused on the task and improving their swimming skills. The obtain results can be helpful in understanding young swimmers and their needs, which can help swimming coaches in better approach and work methods. By looking into profile of former swimmers, we contribute to preventing the withdrawal of young talents due to not understanding of their characteristics and development needs.
Keywords
swimming, motivation, dropout, personality traits
Hrčak ID:
304531
URI
Publication date:
29.12.2022.
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