Perceived Motivational Climate of Female Table Tennis Athletes.

The study determined the perceived motivational climate among the eight Women's National Collegiate Athletic Association (WNCAA) table tennis school teams and its athletes according to skill level: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Respondents included 37 athletes in the 2007-2008 season (3 beginners, 24 intermediate and 10 advanced athletes) who completed the 33-item Perceived Motivational Climate Sport Questionnaire - 2 (Newton, Duda, & Yin, 2000) on a 5-point Likert scale. They consist of 90% of the total population in the eight participating school teams. This was utilized to assess the degree of perception to which their respective team's motivational climate is characterized in terms of the two higher-order scales/constructs, labeled the perceived mastery climate and perceived performance climate (Newton, et.al., 2000; Reinboth & Duda, 2006). Descriptive statistics and ANOVA were used to analyze the results. Responses indicated that among all the athletes of the WNCAA school teams and across all skill levels, the identified perception of the prevailing motivational climate was more of a mastery climate which indicated a very high mean scale description of 4.52 than of a performance climate which obtained a 2.645 moderate mean score. The advanced level and intermediate level athletes' degree on their perception of the motivational climate registered a Very High Mastery Climate - Moderate Performance Climate; whereas in the beginner's level, athletes registered a Very High Mastery Climate - Low Performance Climate. It also revealed that there were no significant differences that emerged between the perceived motivational climate of the athletes among all school teams and across all skill levels, thus we accept the null hypotheses. It clearly indicated that the school teams' motivational climate set by the coach and peers valued encouragement, effort/improvement, and that athletes under their care reported having a more positive experience with their sport and team structure. While improving and refining a player's technical and tactical skill is crucial for enhancing the quality of play, it is the improvement of the psychological aspect and an established motivational climate that would eventually allow her to elevate her play to a much higher level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]