SPORTS STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION IN TABLE TENNIS COURSE AT THE FACULTY OF SPORT IN LJUBLJANA

Abstract

This study examined the sports students’ motives for participating in table tennis sport course held at the Faculty of Sport in Ljubljana. The aim of this research was to provide findings for better planning of the students programs. We included in this research 135 students (70 males & 65 females), who all took the course in table tennis at the Faculty of Sport (SLO). The questionnaire used in this investigation consisted of 30 items. It was designed by Gill, Gross & Huddleston (1983) and is called “Participation Motivation Questionnaire”. The questionnaire was distributed in printed form to the subjects at the end of the semester. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, factor analysis and one way ANOVA. To analyse the motivational space the main component method was used and the number of factors was determined after Varimax rotation Method with Kaiser Normalization.

    The top two motives for choosing table tennis were: “I want to be physically fit” and “I Want to stay in a good shape”. It is interesting that females have the same top two motives as males and that the values are even higher than by males. For the sports students their intrinsic motivation is important and that’s why at the bottom of the results scale there are assertions about extrinsic factors such as: “My parents and friends want me to compete”, “I like to feel important” and “I want to be popular”. The results also indicate students’ preference for a wider variety in table tennis, an increase in the challenge level in physical education classes and an increase in student motivation for participating in table tennis activities with higher demand of physical preparation.