science & practice

Scientific Journal

ISSN 1821-2077

SPORT SCIENCE & PRACTICE The Journal publishes original scientific and professional papers, review articles and patents from the following areas: Sports Theory Sports Psychology Methodology Recreation

Sports Training Sports Sociology Kinesitherapy Fitness and Wellness

Sports Medicine Biomechanics Management in Sports Pre/School Sports

The scientific journal SPORT – SCIENCE AND PRACTICE, founded in 2009 by decision of the Board of Directors of the College of Sports and Health from Belgrade

ISSN 1821-2077 Editor-in-chief Prof. Ljubiša Lazarević, Ph.D. Editor Ana Krstić, M.Sc. College of Sports and Health Technical Editor Doc. Snežana Lazarević, Ph.D. Faculty of Physical Culture and Sports Management, Singidunum University Editorial board Aleksandar Milojević Aleksandar Naumovski Božidar Otašević Branko Bošković Christos Kolais Dane Korica Dušan Perić Elizabeta Ristanović Goran Rađen

Joanis Kafentarakis Lenče Aleksovska Veličkovska Ljudmila Bogdanova Marijana Mladenović Miladin Radisavljević Milivoje Karalejić Mirjana Petković Nebojša Ilić

Nenad Dikić Nenad Havelka Nenad Trunić Nicoleta Alexandrescu Radenko Krulj Saša Jakovljević Simeon Jordanov Sretenka Dugalić Zlatko Ahmetović

Editing and proofreading Nada Šironja, B.A. Translation into English Katarina Ćirić-Duvnjak, M.A. College of Sports and Health Valentina Bošković, M.A. Singidunum University Elizabeta Holt, M.A. Faculty of Physical Culture and Sports Management, Singidunum University Published by Penda d.o.o Beograd [email protected] Published semiannually Circulation 200 copies Copyright © 2011 by VSZŠ All rights reserved

Scientific Journal

SPORT –

Science & Practice

Vol. 5, No 1 & 2, 2015

June – December 2015

Content PERCEPTION OF ATHLETES REGARDING MOBBING IN SPORTS CLUBS Snežana Lazarević, Ana Krstić, Maja Sobek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 THE IMPORTANCE OF PLAY IN REAL AIKIDO FOR PRESCHOOL CHILDREN Jovana Spasović, Jovan Spasović, Radojica Spasović. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 SPORTS MOTIVATION AND GOAL ORIENTATION OF YOUNG SERBIAN BASKETBALL PLAYERS Marijana Mladenović, Nenad Trunić . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF SAQ MOVEMENT SKILLS IN BASKETBALL Nenad Trunić, Marijana Mladenović . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 PRICING AS AN ELEMENT OF SPORTS ORGANIZATIONS’ MARKETING MIX Milan Gašović. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 SURVIVAL AND FUTURE OF SPORTS FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED IN SERBIA Sretenka Dugalić, Sanja Gligorić. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 OBESITY Kristina Vukušić, Desanka Filipović, Snežana Milićev . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 AN ANALYSIS OF LEG TECHNIQUES IN KARATE Radomir Mudrić, Miloš Mudrić, Velizar Ranković. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN VARIOUS AIKIDO AND REAL AIKIDO TECHNIQUES Mladen Burazerović. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Book review: M. RANKOVIĆ 70 YEARS OF BOXING IN KRAGUJEVAC 1940-2010 Vladimir Živanović. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE AUTHORS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

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SPORT - Science & Practice, Vol. 5, No 1 & 2, 2015, pp. 5-17

Original scientific paper

PERCEPTION OF ATHLETES REGARDING MOBBING IN SPORTS CLUBS UDK 796.01:316.62 ; 796.011.1:364.634

Snežana Lazarević1 Faculty of Physical Culture and Sports Management, Singidunum University, Belgrade, Serbia Ana Krstić College of Sports and Health, Belgrade, Serbia Maja Sobek College of Sports and Health, Belgrade, Serbia Abstract: Mobbing, as a very widespread negative social phenomenon, represents one of the key stresses of the working environment. The aim of this research is to define the existence of certain types of mobbing in sports organizations, i.e. in their production parts whose focus is on the most critical human resource- athletes of all categories. By using random sample of sports clubs and by specially designed questionnaire, athletes as examinees (N=250) have given their opinion about the types of maltreatment, harassment and pressure in their closest environment. The results have confirmed the existence of some types of mobbing for which it is assumed to be able to significantly affect the health and development of young athletes (the pressure to raise endurance during trainings, which can affect the health of an athlete, sexual harassment of female athletes and the sense of psychophysical problems as a consequence of these types of behaviour). Keywords: types of mobbing, health, athletes, gender

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SPORT - Science & Practice, Vol. 5, No 1 & 2, 2015

INTRODUCTION By the end of last century, and especially by the end of last decade, numerous authors have shown great interest in studying mobbing as a current phenomenon which affects business of contemporary organizations. It is necessary to approach the concept of mobbing, its characteristics, types, phenomena, consequences, prevention and education on a multidisciplinary level, as this social phenomenon is in the focus of many scientific areas, and above all, in the focus of organizational behaviour, organizational psychology, sociology of work, legislation and health protection. Scientist Konrad Lorenz has introduced the term ’mobbing’ in the sixties (Lorenz, 1963), wishing to explain the behaviour of certain types of animals, i.e. small units, when they team up against other, bigger member, attack it, throw it out from the group, and sometimes even bring to death2. Later on, Peter Paul Heinemann (Heinemann, 1972) studied aggressive behaviour among children, explaining the form of group behaviour where a stronger child bullies a younger peer. In professional work, in the 80s, doctor Heinz Leyman was the first one who started using the term mobbing in order to define and explain the pressure, aggression, violence and maltreatment in the working environment, as well as their effects on work productivity (Zapf, Knorz & Kulla, 1996; Niedl, 1996). Mobbing includes psychological and emotional terror, i.e. maltreatment and harassment of an individual in the workplace, supported by hostile and unethical forms of behaviour, verbal and/or physical attack, with the aim of discrediting, humiliating and violating a person’s individual and/or professional integrity, reputation and honour (Leymann, 1990; Zapf, & Einarsen, 2001; Hacicaferoglu, et al., 2012; Hacicaferoglu, & Gundogdu, 2013). Mobbing is a complex process which begins with seemingly naive and simple activities and interactions, which eventually have consequences that can significantly affect not only organizational and individual performances, but health of the victim of mobbing as well (Salin, 2001). Authors of psychosocial studies claim that, if an indiviual is exposed to all least weekly maltreatment in longer period of time, longer than six months, then there are high chances of this individual having professional, emotional, social and health issues (mental and psychosomatic), or even the syndrome of postrtraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which shows that mobbing, as a social phenomenon, is an extreme social stressor in the workplace (Leymann, & Gustafsson, 1996; Leymann, 1996; Zapf, et al., 1996; Zapf, 1999; Hacicaferoglu, 2014). The term ’mobbing’ is accepted in the Serbian language. The root of this word comes from the English verb ’to mob’, which means to attack, i.e. from the noun ’mob’ which means crowd or myriad. 2

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S. Lazarević, A. Krstić, M. Sobek: PERCEPTION OF ATHLETES REGARDING MOBBING IN SPORTS CLUBS

There are numerous forms of mobbing that can be found in working environment and they usually include the following actions directed at the victim of mobbing: gossiping, mocking, slander, insult; unfounded and often critique and devaluation of work; stricter work control; ignoring, underestimating, humiliating or depriving of right to express one’s own opinion; not getting tasks or getting too many tasks; communication in high pitched voice or yelling; non-verbal communication (unethical gestures, provoking stares or other forms of negative eye contact); endangering one’s right to use a break during working hours, holidays and days off; giving tasks which endanger health and safety at work; isolation from social life of organizational unit, team or group; verbal threats, physical attack, sexual blackmail or sexual assault (Leymann, 1996; Zapf et al., 1996; Koonin, & Green, 2005; Sloan, et al., 2010; Farmer, 2011). Despite the fact that certain authors claim that there are no specific factors in the environment that promote maltreatment, but that there are organizational conditions which encourage certain types of this behaviour (Ferris, at al., 2007; Matthiesem & Einarsen, 2001; Salin, 2001, 2003; Van Heugten, 2010), the following issues fall under organizational risks of the phenomenon of mobbing: organizational structure, culture and design (the size of organization, bureaucratized organizational structure, low level of control and distance of power, insufficiently defined tasks and work division); insufficiently transparent policy and practice of top management; unacceptance of team concept which is founded on supreme human values- trust, understanding, empathy, cooperation, freedom to exchange opinions through dialogues and discussion, systematic and critical opinion, cooperation, open and two-way communication; leadership style which does not recognize participative style or style of delegating responsibilities and authorities to employees and team members; closed, non-porous and one-way communication channel with the consequence of having insufficient flow of information and knowledge; low level of moral and ethical standards and norms; ruined interpersonal relationships and not solving conflicts constructively; working environment where there is hostility, bigotry, envy, jealousy, group pressure and group opinion, high level of competitiveness among employees; lack of training or insufficient training and education of employees regarding these issues. The connection of causal factors that cause mobbing, its appearance and consequences is highly correlated. The consequences that come along with mobbing are numerous psychophysical disturbances for the victim of mobbing (anxiety, depression, insecurity, apathy, physical tension, insecurity, loss of concentration and appetite, insomnia etc) which can have a negative effect on: psychophysical and social and emotional balance 

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of an individual and behavioural sphere of his or her personality, which can also have a negative effect on working atmosphere, interpersonal relationship and lower productivity and work efficiency of a group, team and/or organization. Even though there are no numerous scientific papers that deal with the issue of mobbing in sport, the questions that normally arise are: Is sport excluded from mobbing due to its nature and authentic motives and characteristics which are dedicated to nurturing and development of qualitative moral values and ethical principles? Can a sports organization also ’suffer’ from this or similar phenomenon? Sports organization consists of two parts: the first one is managerial and administrative (top management and all levels of management and other employees) which is based on the same principles as any other business organization, and the second one is productionfunctional, which includes the training and competing process whose focus is on athletes of all ages and sports experts (coaches) (Lazarević, 2006). Of course, managerial and administrative part of an organization suffer from all organizational phenomena, and mobbing is one of them. Still, the question of whether there are such forms of behaviour among athletes, or among athletes and coaches remains insufficiently researched sociopsychological issue. However, the fact is that the general goal is to achieve success in sports by commercialization of sport, which is far from moral and ethical principles and which creates opportunity for negative phenomena (corruption, doping, harassment and maltreatment of athletes by coaches and club management, ageism and sexual discrimination etc) (Lazarević, et. al., 2014). Although sports is an important segment and factor of development of contemporary society whose main mission is development, improvement and refining individuals in society, it seems that sports is allowed to neglect the same or similar ethical principles (DeSensi, & Rosenberg, 1996). Despite the fact that the role of experts in sports and in development of athletes is immense and that they are expected to teach athletes the highest socially acceptable values, it happens quite often that they are the ones who perceive athletes as an efficient tool for their own promotion and for achieving social goals or for achieving sports results and profits no matter what (Simon, 2013; Kavussanu, et al., 2008; Stanger, Kavussanu, & Ring, 2012; Bodin, Robène, Héas, 2007; Lazarević, 2009). The aim of this research is to define whether there are certain types of behaviour characterized by maltreatment, harassment or mobbing in clubs and to identify forms of this behaviour that are thought to have a significant effect on health of athletes or psychophysical disorders of younger population. This is done by quantitative and qualitative data 8

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analysis from random sample of active athletes. The paper also defines whether there are any specificities of this phenomenon affected by the gender of athletes as examinees.

METHODOLOGY Specifically designed questionnaire was used for the purpose of this research. In the questionnaire, athletes expressed their attitude whether they agree or disagree with statements which refer to the existence or recongition of some unethical forms of behaviour, and which basically represent a form of mobbing in their sports clubs. Before questionnaire, all examinees received instructions and explanation of the term which is the subject of the study, as well as the significance of their anonymous participations. Underage participants had parent consent about their voluntary participation and publication of results. Sample The research includes N=250 athletes from various sports clubs in Serbia. Sample structure includes: 134 male examinees (53.6%) and 116 female examinees (46.4%) with different age structure, from 10 to 30 years old, differentiated by age categories: pioneers (10-12 years old), cadets (1314 years old), juniors (15-17 years old), younger seniors (18-20 years old) and seniors (21-30 years old) and from various sports: taekwondo, karate, judo, aikido, swimming, waterpolo, football, volleyball, basketball, sport dance and aerobics (Table 1). Table 1. Structure of examinees according to gender and category of athletes Category of Athletes

Male No (%)

Female No (%)

Overall No (%)

20 (14.9%)

9 (7.8%)

29 (11.6%)

Cadets

24 (17.9%)

15 (12.9%)

39 (15.6%)

Juniors

20 (14.9%)

31 (26.7%)

51 (20.4%)

Younger seniors

25 (18.7%)

23 (19.8%)

48 (19.2%)

Pioneers

Seniors Total

45 (33.6%)

38 (32.8%)

83 (33.2%)

134 (53.6%)

116 (46.4%)

250 (100.0%)

In accordance with the defined research goal and subject, eight characteristic predictor variables which describe typical forms of mobbing in training and competing cycle are defined, and gender of examinees (male 

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and female) is used for criterion variables. These variables by their content point at the existence of some forms of harassing, pressures or maltreatment in sport, i.e. forms of unethical behaviour and mobbing in sport. Examinees shared their opinion about whether there are requirements for training in a certain sport if that training could harm not only health, but also psychophysical development of the youth (I1); whether there are excessive demands (forcing) during trainings and competitions (I5); whether there are suggestions to take prohibited medicines in order to achieve better results (I4); whether there are any forms of physical violence in clubs (I3) and sexual harassment (I4); whether unethical behaviour by club managers or organizers of trainings and competitions can cause some inadequate psychological condition of athletes (e.g.fear, anxiety, depression, fall of motivation etc) (I6) or the feeling of psychophysical difficulties (headache, chronic fatigue, nausea etc) (I7); and whether there is awareness and knowledge regarding the forms of mobbing such as maltreatment, harassment, abuse, compulsion etc. (I8). This paper uses nonparametric methods, while nonparametric statistics was used for counting relative value of responses regarding statements based on sample and for defining statistical difference according to criterion variables of gender. For independent samples, Fisher’s exact test was used.

RESULTS Descriptive statistics for test variables based on the whole sample is presented in Table 2. Table 2. Percentage and absolute value by statements based on the whole sample Items Item 1

Item 2

Item 3

No (%) - Yes

200 (80%)

3 (1.2%)

1 63 199 213 136 86 (0.4%) (25.2%) (79.6%) (82.2%) (54.4%) (34.4%)

Item 4

Item 5

Item 6

Item 7

Item 8

No (%) - No

50 247 249 187 51 37 114 164 (20%) (98.8%) (99.6%) (74.8%) (20.4%) (14.8%) (45.6%) (65.6%)

Table 3 shows descriptive statistics results and statistical significance of test variables based on athletes’ gender, where it is visible that statistical significance based on gender exists for all statements, apart from statements I2, I3, I6 and I7. 10 


Table 3. Absolute and percentage value, statistical signficiance of test variables based on gender of the whole sample Items

Female

Male

p

No (%) Yes

No (%) No

No (%) Yes

No (%) No

Item 1

82 (70.7%)

34 (29.3%)

118 (88.0%)

16 (12.0%)

0.001

Item 2

3 (2.6%)

113 (97.4%)

0 (0.0%)

134 (100.0%)

0.099

Item 3

1 (1.0%)

115 (99.0%)

0 (0.0%)

134 (100.0%)

0.464

Item 4

63 (54.3%)

53 (45.7%)

0 (0.0%)

134 (100.0%)

0.000

Item 5

65 (56.0%)

51 (44.0%)

134 (100.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0.000

Item 6

96 (82.8%)

20 (17.2%)

117 (87.3%)

17 (12.7%)

0.373

Item 7

68 (58.6%)

48 (41.8%)

68 (50.7%)

66 (49.3%)

0.252

Item 8

22 (19.0%)

94 (81.0%)

64 (47.8%)

70 (52.2%)

0.000

Statement which should define whether a coach demanded from an athlete to continue training or competing despite potential danger of ruining his or her health (I1) shows that 80% of examinees confirmed that they were forced to train despite the dangers regarding their health issues. Gender structure of the sample shows that male athletes also found the demands from their coaches threatening (88%), while this percentage for female athletes is a bit lower (70,7%) (Table 3). These gender differences are statistically very high. The variable which refers to the question of whether athletes suffered from some form of physical violence in clubs (I3) did not show results of mobbing based on the whole sample (98.8%). The experience of sexual harassment (I4) as a form of maltreatment that happens often is also present in sport with 25% based on the whole sample, and it showed the percentage of 54.3% for female athletes, while it was not present for male athletes, which causes significant statistical differences among genders. The percentage for variable which refers to the sense of having pressure by the coach to train more than one can endure (I5) is 79.6%. From the aspect of gender structure, there is significant statistical difference between genders  11


of athletes. All male athletes experienced the pressure of training too hard, even above their level of endurance. For female athletes, the percentage is a bit lower and it is 56%. This difference in responses of males and females was statistically significant. Test variables which refer to the question of whether athletes feel some consequences from maltreatment or bad relationships in clubs, such as psychological or physical issues, based on the whole sample, we can conclude that 213 athletes of both gender have some pshychological issues, which is 85.2%, while 136 athletes (54.4%) suffer from physical issues. When it comes to gender structure, there is no significant statistical difference, i.e. almost the same percentage of male and female athletes feel some kind of psychological issues (82.8% i 87.3%), while 58.6% of female athletes and 50.7% of male athletes feel some physical issues as a consequence of this type of behaviour in their clubs. Based on the statements of examinees regarding using doping offered for the purpose of achieving better sports results, the results show that 98.8% of examinees have never been in such a situation, while only three female athletes confirmed being offered such a thing. The variable which refers to the attitude of athletes regarding knowing the phenomenon of mobbing in sports (I8) shows that 65.6% of the whole sample of athletes think that they are familiar with the concept of mobbing well enough. When it comes to gender structure, there is significant statistical difference, as 19% of female athletes and 47.8% of male students think that they are aware of this social and psychological issue. This difference in male and female responses is statisctically significant.

DISCUSSION This paper is part of the authors’ research of mobbing in sports, whose results refer to a certain number of statements defined as forms of mobbing in sports clubs, and which are presented and discussed in the paper of Lazarević et al, (2014). Studied forms of mobbing in this paper refer to those forms of behaviour that can significantly affect the health and development of young athletes. The results gained based on the opinion of athletes about the demands of coaches to train and compete above endurance if there health is ruined show a widespread pressure, harassment and maltreatment in sports facilities. All 79.6% of examinees claim that they have suffered from or are currently suffering from pressure by coaches during the training process which lead to their exhaustion, or even ruining their health. This is a worrying phenomenon which shows insufficient care of coaches and clubs about health, especially 12 


about the health of young athletes. Achieving sports results no matter what and prioritizing results over health care and development represents a certain type of maltreatment of athletes and leaving them without rights to see sport as a means of development and satisfying their personal needs. There are at least two reasons for this behaviour: the first one is the fact that coaches are not educated enough to work with athletes, especially with younger categories, and the second one is the fact that they do not understand that sport is an activity whose purpose is personal development of young people, and not its neglecting. Both of these reasons indicate insufficient knowledge of coaches about pedagogical work with athletes. In addition to the previous attitudes of examinees regarding the attempts of coaches to affect the increase in their sports performances and competing abilities by ruining their health, the results regarding the usage of forbidden substances are basically very encouraging. Almost the whole sample, 98.8% of examined athletes, claim that coaches and team management do not stimulate them to use doping. The assumption for explanation of such results is the awareness of clubs, coaches and public of Law on doping prevention in sport (Sl. Glasnik RS, no. 111/2014), permanent seminars in the organization of Antidoping agency of the Republic of Serbia (ADAS) and awareness of very rigorous sports, legal and criminal sanctioning (Mandarić, Delibašić, 2014). The forms of physical and sexual harassment belong to typical forms of aggression and abuse, i.e. mobbing, which is why the results from this research are interesting. Namely, physical harassment as a form of mobbing in sports clubs is not present in our research sample, which could be interesting from the aspect of contemporary analysis of competing in sport where aggressive forms of behaviour are more and more visible. The analysis of these results regarding gender indicates that female athletes do not suffer from physical violence, while male athletes do. There is a clear explanation for male athletes that sports in which they participate demand more aggression, strength, contact etc, which is why their trainings have to contain elements of behaviour described as ’controlled aggression’, and quite often the behaviour of athletes grows into some forms of violence. After all, this is the tendency of contemporary sport where behaviour in the training process and competition moves to area of unethical behaviour. For female athletes, the results show that there is no physical violence and that they do not regard sport as violence. The explanation for such results could be found in pedagogical work of coaches and other factors in clubs and organizations, but in the traditional stereotype that sport for women should not be based on strength, aggression, violence etc. Sexual harassment is often in sport, especially for female athletes, although it is rarely said in public. The results from this research clearly point at this phenomenon, especially for female athletes (54.3%). These results  13


are worrying, having in mind that sport is an area where educational and pedagogical activity of experts is vital for development and expression of young people, and when this form of harassment decreases the value system of sport and sports clubs and the role of athletes in sport and their experience in sport as a form of satisfaction and necessity of men, changing it into a source of frustrations, doubts and fear. The results regarding psychological and physical issues experiences by athletes show that this phenomenon in sport which was neglected until recently needs more attention, as 85.2% of athletes have negative psychological symptoms such as lack of motivation, bad mood, fear etc, while 54.4% of athletes also suffer from physical symptoms such as headaches, chronic fatigue, increased heart rate etc. Based on the subsampling, the results show equal level of expressing consequences: on psychological level, 87.3% of males and 82.8% of females suffer from psychological symptoms as a consequence of harassment, threats, too demanding trainings etc, which means that there is no significant statistical difference. When it comes to negative physical symptoms as a consequence of various types of mobbing, female athletes have a higher percentage (58.6%) when compared to male athletes (50.7%). This difference was not statistically significant. Having in mind significant appearance of negative psychological and physical symptoms as a consequence of behaviour of the environment (coaches, club staff, other athletes), this issue need special attention, as it can affect motivation of athletes or lead to negative results. The worst effect can be on psychophysical development of athlete, or even on amotivation which can lead to leaving sports. The opinion of athletes on awareness of mobbing shows that even 65.6% of athletes think that they are not familiar enough with this concept and that they do not have specific knowledge about mobbing in sport. When it comes to those athletes who think they know and understand this phenomenon, the problem is the fact that we cannot define the quality of this knowledge or whether they understand what types of behaviour are characterized as mobbing, or what its consequences can be. When we analyze gender differences, we can see that 47.8% of male athletes think that they are familiar with mobbing, while only 19% of female athletes think that they are aware of this issue, which shows significant statistical difference.

CONCLUSION Based on the results and taking into consideration the previous study results by the same authors (Lazarević, et al., 2014), we can conclude that there is mobbing in sports clubs. Based on the defined goals, this research 14 


has shown that there are some forms of mobbing in sport, especially when it comes to the demands of coaches for athletes to train above endurance level, which is against medical, sports and moral, ethical principles and values. The most obvious example of mobbing is sexual harassment and maltreatment of female athletes. As a consequence of this and similar forms of behaviour, examined athletes claim that they do suffer from certain psychological symptoms (fear, anxiety, bad mood, lack of motivation, frustration), which can have negative consequences on the development and health of an athlete. One might think that contemporary sport regards these forms of harassment and maltreatment as ’justified and desirable’ instrument, especially if it is used for achieving great results. Athletes are quite often unaware of being victims of violence during trainings and competition, so unethical behaviour of their coaches and/or experts in sports is often justified by their ’good intentions’, and culprits are athletes themselves, thinking that they deserved to be punished, humiliated and maltreated. A few facts can be suggested as paper limitations: first of all, the number of research dealing with mobbing in sport in Serbia is very low, as many studies refer specifically to qualification of maltreatment in sport without terminological usage of ’mobbing in sport’ and all its forms which appear in other working environments; secondly, in order to interpret given results and relevant conclusions, it is necessary to approach this problem interdisciplinarily; thirdly, it is necessary to implement more valid methodology (bigger sample of athletes- according to gender, competing level, type of sport, creating valid and adequate instrument for defining wider scope of mobbing in sport). With the aim of avoiding and minimizing consequences in the form of violence in sport, it is important to define and sanction all forms of unethical and mobbing behaviour by using legal acts. Also, a well organized sport system demands permanent education of all its participants (athletes, sports experts, social sports workers), but of the whole public as well, regarding the importance of prevention, recognition and sanctioning all deviant forms of behaviour in sport, with the aim of promoting and development of sport and promoting its authentic values.

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15. Leymann, H. (1996). The content and development of mobbing at work. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 5 (2), 165184. 16. Leymann, H. (1990). Mobbing and psychological terror at workplaces. Violence and Victims, 5 (2), 119-126. 17. Mandarić, S. & Delibašić, V. (2014). Sankcionisanje dopinga u sportu. Fizička kultura, 68 (1), 39-49. 18. Matthiesem, S. B., & Einarsen, S. (2001). MMPI-2 configurations among victims of bullying at work. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 10, 467−484. 19. Niedl, K. (1996). Mobbing and well-being: Economic and personnel development implications. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 5 (2), 239-249. 20. Salin, D. (2003). Bullying and organizational politics in competitive and rapidly changing work environments. International Journal of Management and Decision Making, 4, 35−46. 21. Salin, D. (2001). Prevalence and forms of bullying among business professionals: A comparison of two different strategies for measuring bullying. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 10, 425−441. 22. Simon, R.L. (2013). The Ethics of Coaching Sports: Moral, Social and Legal Issues. West View Press. 23. Sloan, L.M., Matyok, T., Schmitz, C.L., Short, G.F.L. (2010). A story to tell: Bullying and mobbing in the workplace. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 1 (3), 87-97. 24. Stanger, N., Kavussanu, M., Ring, C. (2012). Put yourself in their boots: effects of empathy on emotion and aggression. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 34 (2), 208-222. 25. Van Heugten, K. (2010). Bullying of social workers: Outcomes of a grounded study into impacts and interventions. British Journal of Social Work, 40, 638-655. 26. Zapf, D., & Einarsen, S. (2001). Bullying in the workplace: Recent trends in research and practice-an introduction. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 10 (4), 369-373. 27. Zapf, D. (1999). Organizational, work group related and personal causes of mobbing/bullying at work. International Journal of Manpower, 20 (1/2), 70-85. 28. Zapf, D., Knorz, C., & Kulla, M. (1996). On the relationship between mobbing factors, and job content. Social work environment and health outcomes. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 5 (2), 215-237.  17


Internet sources: 1. 2.

Law on doping prevention in sports in the Republic of Serbia http://www.mos.gov.rs/dokumenta/sport/zakoni/ (pristupljeno 27.10.2015) Anti-doping Agency of the Republic of Serbia (ADAS) http://www.adas.org.rs/ (pristupljeno 27.10.2015)

18 


Brief scientific article

THE IMPORTANCE OF PLAY IN REAL AIKIDO FOR PRESCHOOL CHILDREN UDK 796.853.24-053.4

Jovana Spasović1 Bachelor with Honours in Physical Education and Sport, Belgrade, Serbia Jovan Spasović Operational Instructor of Real Aikido, Real Aikido Club Uča, Belgrade, Serbia Radojica Spasović Operational Instructor of Real Aikido, Real Aikido Club Uča, Belgrade, Serbia Abstract: A research was conducted on a sample of 20 participants. The participants included preschool children, 4-6 years of age, and absolute beginners in real aikido. The aim of the research was to determine the effects of play in the process of teaching techniques for the yellow belt testing in real aikido. One group of participants did not play specific games in the course of the main part of training sessions over the period of three months, while the other group of participants played those games within the main part of the training sessions over the same period of time. The research subject is the programmed training process where the specific games, as an experimental factor, play an important role in the process of teaching techniques within the testing program for children between 4 and 6 years of age. The quality of techniques’ realization as a result of the training circumstances was assessed by the expert grading. The grades 5 to 10 were given by the three-member jury, all masters of real aikido. Statistical analysis showed that there are significant differences in terms of quality of techniques’ realization between the group that played the specific games in the course of the main part of the training sessions and the group that did not play the games to the advantage of  [email protected]

1

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the former vs. the latter. In view of all the above mentioned, it can be firmly stated that the specific games have significant and positive role in teaching real aikido techniques in case of children, 4-6 years of age, and that they should be a part of the training process. Keywords: play, children, real aikido, preschool age

INTRODUCTION Preschool age is a very significant period in the development of children and there is social responsibility to dedicate major attention to this age group. Hypokinesia, obesity, hypertension, postural defects and other types of defects are increasingly found among preschool age children. Human life in contemporary, urban conditions is static and remote from nature. Children at this age also participate in such lifestyle, and they particularly feel the consequences of insufficient movement and decreasingly exercised physical activities. Every child feels the need to move and they should be enabled to satisfy the need through various physical activities. These days, children spend more and more time in front of computer, they move less and less, which primarily leads to spinal deformity (Ivanović, 2013). It has been noticed long ago that physical activity impacts individual’s health, that certain physical exercise has beneficial effect on the quality of life. Present day’s lifestyle can be described as sedentary, because a majority of population is physically inactive. Insufficient level of active movement is labelled as hypokinesia, which is the main cause of what is known as hypokinetic diseases. It is precisely the physical inactivity that, combined with other unfavourable factors of modern life (such as stress, malnutrition, etc.), may lead to many ailments. A physically active person has longer average life span and lower disease rate than a physically inactive (sedentary) person, as well as lower risk from sudden death (Ostojić, 2006). In order to prevent hypokinetic diseases, one should find an adequate physical activity for themselves. Heavy and overly exhausting activities are increasingly avoided, as well as those not adjusted to an individual and their personal needs, and whose exercise does not help them feel good. Even though almost everyone is familiar with the risks brought about by lack of movement, the source of physical inactivity lies in the absence of habit to exercise regularly. Precisely these habits are acquired at the earliest age, childhood. Sport and physical activity develop self-consciousness and decrease anxiety and stress. A child learns how to win, but also to accept defeat, adopt fair play in the game as well as in life, make friends… From educational aspect, it is essential to constantly direct children toward realizing their moral development at all times, not only during play or exercise (Ivanović, 2014). A program implemented through sport also develops various skills in children. Preschool children are increasingly 20 

J. Spasović, J. Spasović, R. Spasović: THE IMPORTANCE OF PLAY IN REAL AIKIDO FOR PRESCHOOL CHILDREN

affected by the contemporary, sedentary lifestyle spending many hours a day sitting. In line with the above, it is required to engage them in terms of physical activity. Even though almost is aware of the dangers resulting from inactivity, the source of physical inactivity lies in the absence of habit to exercise regularly. Precisely these habits are acquired at the earliest age, childhood. Familiarity with the development characteristics of the children engaged in the activity represents a significant element in the planning, programming and realization of recreational activities of early school age children, in order to allow the physical activity to have a positive impact on organ systems and organism as a whole. A major part of today’s population of early school age children is not physically active, so it is essential to come up with recreational activities that children have not been engaged in before in order to trigger their interest. It has been long known that play leads to the intellectual, moral and physical development of a child. An important characteristic of play is that it is its own purpose. A child socializes through play, learns to respect others and follow rules. Play enables a child to become more constructive, active, liberated from fear of consequences, increasingly engaged and involved. By implementation of specific games during the main part of the training session, far better results can be achieved in terms of quality of realization of learnt techniques than in the case when the games are not included in the main part of the training session. One of the activities that is very interesting for preschool children and that is exercised by a great number of children both in Serbia and globally is the martial art - real aikido. The basic setup of real aikido is to efficiently overpower an attacker without causing them any physical injury. It is a defensive, extraordinarily flexible defense technique system, whose basic characteristics include: integration into opponent’s attack, continuous performance of technique and full final control over the attacker (Milosavljević & Vračarević, 2011). By such training, the founder of real aikido wanted to master the techniques that will be applicable in real-life situations. “This martial art has found great application among recreational population” (Milosavljević et al., 2013, pg. 31). In view of this research, it is very important to note that one of the most significant directions of real aikido’s actions is work with the youngest generations, conducted through a special program titled „Gain Mastership Skills through Play“. The program is adapted to psychophysical abilities of children aged 5 to 12 (Vračarević, 2007). The mentioned program was slightly modified lately so that the 4-year old children can also easily participate. “In real aikido, or to be precise, in the aforementioned program „Gain Mastership Skills through Play“, games are an extremely important part of the process of training. Above all, they develop basic motor and functional abilities crucial for real aikido, but they also fortify social relations between group members” (Matavulj et al., 2014a, pg. 20). In order to better understand the essence of real aikido, it is of key importance to keep in mind the insistence on striking techniques as an almost inevitable part of the majority of combinations of individual techniques aiming at defense against  21


the various types of attacks. Incorporating the striking techniques into real aikido aimed at simpler realization of lever techniques. „Practice has shown that it is not easy to carry out a lever in real aikido, especially on the joints in which movements are carried out by engaging larger and stronger muscle groups“ (Milosavljević et al., 2014a, pg. 11). By rendering the attacker temporarily powerless due to the acute pain produced by the strike, it is quite certain that the lever technique will be more easily carried out. Such approach, among other things, has earned real aikido the new status, equal to other martial arts, even the ones it derived from, and set it apart from many of them particularly owing to the mentioned principle. „The main feature and attribute of this art in regards to aikido are the existence of strikes which in the majority of cases are inflicted upon the attacker’s vital areas prior to the realization of the lever technique” (Milosavljević et al., 2014b, pg. 59). The aim of the research is to determine the effects of play in the process of teaching techniques for children’s yellow belt testing in real aikido. The research subject is the programmed training process where the specific games, as an experimental factor, play an important role in the process of teaching techniques within the testing program for children between 4 and 6 years of age.

METHOD For this research, the experimental factor was a specially programmed training process whose priority was the implementation of the specific games in the course of the main part of the training sessions, whereas such games were also the means by which the participants practiced the learnt movement structure, at the same time enjoying the pleasant feeling and relaxed atmosphere at the training session. Participants Sample Participants included preschool boys, 4-6 years of age, who are absolute beginners in real aikido. They were divided in two groups of ten participants each. During the three-month period in which they were taught the techniques for children’s yellow belt testing, one group played the specific games generally used in real aikido, while the other group did not play the specific games within the main part of the training sessions where the mentioned techniques were taught. After three months, the quality of the taught techniques’ realization was assessed. Observed variable The observed variable in this research includes the techniques for children’s yellow belt testing in real aikido. The children’s testing program contains seven very complex combinations of individual techniques. 22 


Defense against a grab by the hair The attacker is in left posture. They then make a forward lunge, switching to right posture, trying to grab the defender’s hair from the above. After the attacker performs the hair grabbing, the defender make the pressure on the attacker’s hand by their hands at the same time pushing it towards their head by placing onto the attacker’s hand palm first the right and then, on the top of it, the left hand. Then the defender bends slightly forward until the lever effect is achieved in the attacker’s wrist. Following this, the defender draws their left leg back and thus puts the attacker into the lying position on their stomach. By carrying out a lever on the attacker’s wrist, the defender reaches the kneeling position in order to put the attacker’s elbow into the fixed position and creates a support for increasing the intensity of the lever realized on the wrist. Defense against a one-hand grab by a collar from behind The attacker is in left posture. They then make a forward lunge, switching to right posture, trying to grab the defender by a collar from behind using their right hand. The defender is in the parallel position at the moment of the grab and they pull their left leg diagonally in order to reach the angle of 90 degrees against the opponent. While pulling their leg backwards, the defender lowers their trunk and passes under the right arm of the attacker. Simultaneously, the defender strikes the attacker’s stomach by the top of the left open hand, and by their right hand, the defender grabs the top of the attacker’s right hand and removes it from their body pushing it towards the attacker’s head. This is followed by the defender’s forward lunge and static turn, while they are using their left hand to grab the attacker’s slightly bent right elbow joint putting the attacker off balance and pulling the attacker down into the lying position on their stomach. Then, the defender carries out a lever on the attacker’s wrist in order to achieve the final control. Defense against a side grab from behind The attacker is in left posture. They then make a forward lunge, switching to right posture, and with their right hand perform the side grab of the defender’s lumbar part from behind. The defender grabs the opponent at the moment of attack standing in the parallel position and using their right hand to grab the opponent’s top of the right hand. Performing the static turn to the left, the defender at the same time strikes the side of the attacker’s head by their left arm elbow. Then, the defender makes the static turn to the right simultaneously raising the opponent’s right arm by their own right arm. Upon completing the mentioned movement, the defender makes the movement - a forward lunge, turn, static turn, at the same time holding the opponent’s right elbow by their left hand. By the mentioned movement, the defender pulls the attacker down into the lying position on their stomach. Then, the defender carries out a lever on the attacker’s wrist in order to achieve the final control.  23


Defense against a both-hands grab by both hands from the front The attacker is in left posture. They then make a forward lunge, switching to right posture, and with their both hands grab the defender’s wrists. The defender is in the left posture, and, after the attacker’s grab, they raise their left hand forward to the shoulder’s height, simultaneously placing the right hand onto their hip, which is immediately followed by their right hand grab of their own clothes. In parallel, the defender’s left leg makes a diagonal movement. The defender then makes a lunge turn in order to free themselves from the opponent’s grab on their right arm. At the same time, the left hand lowers to the left knee height destabilizing the static opponent. Then, the defender grabs the opponent’s right hand wrist by their own right hand placing at the same time their left hand onto the outstretched elbow of the opponent’s right arm making the movement – a lunge turn, static turn. After the mentioned movement the opponent is lying on his stomach. Then, the defender carries out a lever on the attacker’s wrist in order to achieve the final control. Defense against a hand grab „handshaking“ The attacker is in left posture. They then make a forward lunge, switching to right posture, and with their right hand grab the right hand of the defender in such manner that palms of the opponent and the defender are pressed against each other. The defender is in the left posture and after the attacker’s grab, makes a forward lunge by his right leg in order to pass under the attacker’s right arm simultaneously pushing the attacker’s right arm to the side and pulling it upwards. In parallel, the defender grabs the attacker’s right hand wrist by their left hand and performs the movement, static turn, in order to end up next to the attacker. After the mentioned movement, the defender pulls the attacker’s right hand fingers towards themselves and upwards at the same time pushing the wrist away and down thus putting the attacker into the lying position on the stomach. Then, the defender carries out a lever on the attacker’s wrist in order to achieve the final control. Defense against a right-hand grab by the right hand The attacker is in left posture. They then make a forward lunge, switching to right posture, and with their left hand grab the defender’s right hand. The defender is in right posture and after the attacker’s grab makes a forward lunge by their left leg at the same time pulling their right hand towards their right hip and placing their right hand to the interior side of the opponent’s right lower arm. The previously described movement is only a part of the movement step, turn, small turn, followed by the defender’s positioning of their left hand onto the extended right elbow of the attacker and concluding the complete mentioned movement by pulling the opponent’s right hand towards his right leg thus destabilizing the opponent and leading them into the lying position on the stomach. Then, the defender carries out a lever on the attacker’s wrist in order to achieve the final control. 24 


Defense against a chest-grab The attacker is in left posture. They then make a forward lunge, switching to right posture, and with their right hand try to push the defender’s chest. The defender is in the left posture and, at the moment of the contact, they grab the attacker’s right upper arm with their left hand, makes a reverse lunge by their left leg pulling the attacker’s right arm towards themselves and pressing the right hand palm onto the attacker’s right cheek and chin so as to turs the attacker’s head to their left side. Then, the defender grabs attacker’s right hand from the top with their right hand and carries out the twisting lever without using the left hand which is placed onto the extended attacker’s right arm elbow. This is followed by the movement step, turn, static turn, destabilizing the opponent and leading them into the lying position on the stomach. Then, the defender carries out a lever on the attacker’s wrist in order to achieve the final control. Specific games In this paper, specific games represent an experimental factor applied to a group of participants. These games affect not only the specific motor and basic skills, but also stimulate children’s feistiness, self-confidence, resourcefulness, and enable them to get used to winning and losing. It should be underlined that these games make children cheerful, which is regularly noticed during training sessions. It is important to stress that many of the specific games were implemented as an experimental factor within the main part of the training sessions for one group of participants over the period of three months, which is the duration of the program for teaching techniques for children’s yellow belt. In addition, it should be noted that the specific games used in this research are composed of the movement structures used in real aikido. As the aim of this paper is not a detailed technical description and listing of all specific games used in the research, but determining of their effects, we will mention and describe a few of them as follows: Semi-circular grab The rules of this game make it resemble children’s game “tag”. One exerciser is tasked with chasing other exercisers, whereas the only movement to be made by all exercisers is “step, turn, small turn”. Pushing Two exercisers stand opposite each other in left posture at a distance sufficient to reach each other’s extended arm elbow. Both exercisers keep one hand on their hip, while their other arm is on their partner’s chest trying to destabilize them. During this game, exercisers must not move, but rather stay in place.  25


Rolling Race Exercisers try to reach the finish line as fast as possible, moving only by rolling forward. Exercisers are at a safe distance from each other. Procedure for Data Gathering and Technical Assessment Each exerciser in each of the groups realized all seven combinations of techniques included in the yellow belt testing program and was assessed by the jury. The testing program was realised by each exerciser individually (the other partner acted as the „attacker“), whereby the jury was observing only one exerciser at a time, i.e. their attention was not dispersed, which would be the case if more than one exerciser were realizing techniques and the jury was tasked with the simultaneous observation and assessment of a number of participants. Prior to commencing the realization of the testing program, all participants were made aware that after the realization of each of the seven combinations of techniques included in the yellow belt testing program they have to demonstrate the final control over the attacker. „In real aikido, the control over the attacker is most often performed by carrying out the lever technique in order to control the attacker by controlled acute pain“ (Matavulj et al., 2014b, pg. 40). The data were gathered by the observation technique, whereby the jury performed the expert assessment. The jury was composed of three members holding the minimal rank “Black Belt – 1st Dan” in real aikido who were assessing the quality of realization of the given technical elements by grades 5 to 10 based on the defined criteria precisely defined in Table 1. Table 1. Grading criteria Grade 10

(ten)

Excellent harmonization and synchronization

Grade 9

(nine)

Grade 8

(eight)

Grade 7

(seven)

Grade 6

(six)

Grade 5

(five)

Excellent realization, optimal rhythm Very good realization with one of the components being defective Good realization of technique, minor mistakes, basic structure of the technique not affected Basic structure is slightly affected, larger number of mistakes, basic principles not significantly affected Poor realization, major deficiencies

In terms of visual expert assessment of the quality of techniques’ realization, the jury graded each candidate with a single grade after the realization of all techniques which are a part of the children’s yellow belt testing program. 26 


RESULTS Statistical data analysis showed the existence of a statistically significant difference between the observed groups in terms of quality of the techniques’ realization. Better results in terms of quality of the techniques’ realization were achieved by the group which played the specific games in the main part of the training sessions. Table 2. Results of statistical analysis T-test for Independent Samples. Note: Variables were treated as independent samples

SAIG vs. BEZIG

AVG Group SAIG

AVG Group BEZIG

t-value

df

p

8.30

6.70

2.28

18.00

0.03

Valid N Valid N Std. Dev Std. Dev F-ratio Group 1 Group 2 Group 1 Group 2 Variances 10

10

1.70

1.42

1.44

p var. 0.59

Table 2 clearly indicates that the Student’s t-test shows statistically significant difference of p=0.03 between the groups to the advantage of the group that played games as a part of the three-month training process.

DISCUSSION The positive impact of the specific games in the process of teaching preschool children the real aikido techniques has been unequivocally determined by this research. The motivating effect in case of 4-6 years’ old children achieved by playing games was noted in some other researches as well. The research results point to the importance of all situational aspects of acquiring motor skills which are boosting intrinsic motivation (Mladenović, 2010), and this is particularly important if the age of the participants is taken into account (Popović, Mladenović, 2012). Relaxed atmosphere as a definite result of specific games undoubtedly helps children in the process of learning new movement structures. Motivation and pedagogical approach of the coach that includes the games in addition to the techniques, positively affects the personality development and motor skills, despite the fact that in practice there is a deep-rooted opinion that „strict atmosphere“ is conducive to discipline and efficiency of the training (Mladenović et al., 2015). Implications of the results of this research should be also understood in the context of development perspective and motivation for pursuing sport at older age. Some researches indicate that children at the early adolescent age start to show lack of motivation for sport (Mladenović, Marjanović, 2011). If one of the pedagogical and psychological objectives of the coach’s work includes the perspective of the life-long physical activities and keeping the motivation for sport, it is obvious that including the elements of play  27


into the training sessions at an early age can have only positive benefits. Specific games used in this research not only create relaxed atmosphere in the training sessions, but their content assists the complete process of teaching real aikido techniques, as they are composed of movement structures used in real aikido. In addition to the mentioned benefits, the most obvious example of the effects of specific games on the process of teaching real aikido techniques is the quality of techniques’ realization, as the participants who played specific games as a part of the training process achieved significantly better results. Due to the all above mentioned, the results of this research clearly show the positive effects of play on the training process of preschool children.

CONCLUSION Due to sedentary lifestyle, preschool children are increasingly exposed to the modern age ailments. It has been noticed long ago that physical activity impacts children’s health. Even though a part of the children’s population of this age regularly trains a chosen sport, a large part of the mentioned population is physically inactive, so it is essential to come up with recreational activities that children have not been engaged in before in order to trigger their interest. A child socializes through play, learns to respect others and follow rules. Following rules also contributes to overcoming egocentricity, as the rules valid for all apply to each individual and vice versa. One of the possible recreational activities that can be implemented in work with the preschool children is real aikido. However, the quality of learnt techniques which are part of this martial art will be by far better if the specific games are included into the main part of the training sessions. This hypothesis has been confirmed by this very research conducted over a three-month period. The quality of techniques’ realization was incomparably higher in case of the group that played specific games in the course of the main part of the training sessions. In addition to the mentioned benefit resulting from the implementation of specific games in the main part of the real aikido training sessions, positive effects of such activities in the main part of the training session are reflected in more positive atmosphere at the training sessions. Every child that was a member of the group whose training sessions included games, responded very positively to the question „whether the training was interesting“. On the other hand, children that belonged to the group whose main part of the training did not include games often commented that they were “bored“. For all the above mentioned reasons, including games into the training process of children, age 4-6, can be perceived as a multidimensional benefit.

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REFERENCES 1.

Ivanović, M. & Ivanović, U. (2014). Igre za predškolce. Sremska Mitrovica: Visoka škola strukovnih studija za vaspitače i poslovne informatičare, Sirmijum 2. Ivanović, M. & Ivanović, U. (2013). Sportske aktivnosti u najstarijem predškolskom uzrastu – atletika, gimnastika i plivanje. Sremska Mitrovica: Visoka škola strukovnih studija za vaspitače i poslovne informatičare, Sirmijum 3. Matavulj, D., Milosavljević, S., Lazarević, P. & Ivanovski, A. (2014a). Implementation potential of specific real aikido games in recreation of early school age children, Sport – Science&Practice, Vol. 4 (1), 15-23. 4. Matavulj, D., Milosavljević, S., Lazarević, P. & Trunić. N. (2014b). Retreating from the line of attack as an important factor for a successful defense in real aikido, Sport – Science&Practice, Vol. 4 (2), 39-46. 5. Milosavljević, S., Matavulj, D. & Lazarević, P. (2014a). Producing acute pain by means of a strike as a relevant prerequisite for a successful realization of the lever technique in real aikido, Sport – Science&Practice, Vol. 4 (1), 5-13. 6. Milosavljević, S., Matavulj, D., Lazarević, P. & Spasović, J. (2014b). The analysis of “Jiyu Waza“ technique, Sport – Science&Practice, Vol. 4 (2), 57-64. 7. Milosavljević, S., Matavulj, D. & Trunić, N. (2013). Implementation potential of real aikido techniques on balance improvement among the recreational population, Sport – Science&Practice, Vol. 3 (1), 29-39. 8. Milosavljević, S. & Vračarević, Lj. (2011). Real aikido in real life, in: S. Stepanov, A. Ponomarev & E. Osipčukova (Eds.), Conference with internacional participation - Martial arts & combat sports status and prospects of development (pp. 206-210). Yekaterinburg Russia: Ministri of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, Ministry of Sport, Tourism and Youth Policy of the Russian Federation. 9. Mladenović, M., Trunić, N., Đurović, M. & Vučić, D. (2015). Autonomy support and controlled coaching styles and skills development in water polo, Facta Universitatis: Series physical education and sport, 13 (3), 341-349. 10. Mladenovic, M. & Marjanovic, A. (2011). Some Differences in Sports Motivation of Young Football Players from Russia, Serbia and Montenegro. Sport Logia, 7 (2), 145-153. 11. Mladenović, M. (2010). Samomotivacija, Beograd: Zadužbina Andrejević. 12. Ostojić, S. (2006). Leksikon sportske medicine sa osnovama ishrane i fiziologije vežbanja u očuvanju i unapređenju zdravlja. Beograd: Agencija Matić.  29


13. Popović, Z. & Mladenović, M. (2012). Interaction and conflict between swimming coaches of pre-school children and their parents, Sport – Science&Practice, 2 (4), 15-24. 14. Vračarević, Lj. (2007). Realni aikido. Beograd: MLS.

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Brief scientific article

SPORTS MOTIVATION AND GOAL ORIENTATION OF YOUNG SERBIAN BASKETBALL PLAYERS UDK 796.323.2-053.6:159.947.5

Marijana Mladenović1 Faculty of Physical Culture and Sports Management, Singidunum University, Belgrade, Serbia Nenad Trunić Faculty of Physical Culture and Sports Management, Singidunum University, Belgrade, Serbia Abstract: For optimal psychological development and affirmation of young athletes, it is important to highlight instrinsic motives and goal orientations aimed at managing the tasks and development of competencies. The aim of this research was to study sports motivation and goal orientation of young basketball players of U16 Serbian national team. 21 basketball players have been examined, aged 15-16. Sport motivation scale (SMS-28) and goal orientation scale (TEOSQ) have been used. The values of Cronbach alpha show satisfying validity of these instruments. The data have been analyzed by descriptive statistics and correlation analysis. The results have shown that instrinsic motives and goal orientation are primarily directed towards development of competencies. Keywords: intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, goal orientation, basketball

INTRODUCTION Studies investigated the reasons for participating in sports activities have shown that the dissimilitude of outer (extrinsic) and inner (intrinsic) motives is quite valid (Vallerand, Deci & Ryan, 1987). Extrinsic factors are  [email protected]

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unavoidable in sport, even though intrinsic reasons for sports have a more positive effect on self-confidence, emotional stability and overall mental health. When people enjoy physical activity or sport, there is an inner or intrinsic motivation. Participating in favourite sports activity is a reward on its own and it does not require additional incentives. However, sport also implies numerous extrinsic components. For instance, a competition is ended by proclamation of winners and trophy awards. An athlete can personally be under pressure, as sports achievement becomes the main self-evaluation benchmark. Participating in sport in order to prove one’s own value and not in order to participate in the activity is also an example of extrinsic motivation. Early theories and research in the field of motivation have assumed that the relationship between instrinsic and extrinsic motivation is additive. The overall motivation represents the sum of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. In the context of motivation in sport, such an assumption would imply that extrinsic incentives are added to overall motivation and that they complement intrinsic motivation. However, it has been shown that the relationship between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation is much more complex than it was originally thought (Mladenović, 2010; Mladenovic & Marjanovic, 2011). There is a vast number of extrinsic and intrinsic reasons for sports activities. One division of extrinsic and intrinsic motives implies three types of intrinsic motivation, three types of extrinsic motivation and one condition described as the lack of any intention to be in action- amotivation (Vallerand & Ratelle, 2004). Any sports activity is inseparable from extrinsic factors and is most certainly under the influence of environment factors. Many aspects of sports activities do not have to be interesting, but they are unpleasant, or even pointless. For instance, time spent in the gym can be quite monotonous and seemingly separated from main sports activity, but crucial for physical fitness. Some activities, taken from a whole set, may be seen as pointless, boring and non-motivating if an athlete has not developed an awareness of their significance for sports activity and overall success. Successful internalization of the significance of these seemingly boring activities is vital for the development of sense of responsibility and for sports achievement as well. A person who understands and accepts the significance of extrinsic reasons develops responsible behaviour. When an athlete approaches all their obligations, both those they enjoy and those they find less interesting and pleasant with responsibility and commitment, it is said that there is extrinsic motivation by identification. However, it could be that extrinsic reasons for dealing with boring activities are not internalized completely, but only superficially. For instance, an athlete goes to the gym because the coach 32 

M. Mladenović, N. Trunić: SPORTS MOTIVATION AND GOAL ORIENTATION OF YOUNG SERBIAN BASKETBALL PLAYERS

demands so, and not because he or she is aware of the fact that this part of the training is important for its overall success. There is probably no coach who has not been faced with the silent resistance of athletes regarding some aspects of trainings. In that case, when an athlete performs a certain aspect of training only superficially or automatically because ’it should be done’, it is said that there is extrinsic motivation by introjection. The third type of extrinsic motivation is extrinsic motivation by external regulation, which is a type of motivation that we usually have in mind when we talk about extrinsic motivation, while it refers to extrinsic incentives (money, title, medal, trophy etc). When it comes to intrinsic reasons for sports activities, there are three motives that are highlighted. The first one is intrinsic motivation to know. The desire to know and learn something about sport is the most important and it could be considered the beginning ’trigger’ which directs a potential athlete to meet a certain sport ’from the inside’. As the knowledge broadens and technical elements are perfected, a suitable ground is prepared for another aspect of intrinsic motivation - intrinsic motivation to accomplish something within the chosen sport. When an athlete masters physical and technical demands of sports to a certain level and when he/she increases his/her knowledge, there is an intrinsic challenge to enhance the existing competencies even more. The third type of intrinsic motivation is intrinsic motivation to experience stimulation. This type of motivation implies inspiration which appears when an activity performed quite competently represents a new inspiration for performing this activity. Complete absence of any intention of action is amotivation. In the context of sports competition, implicit strategies and accomplishment goals have a specific significance. There are two types of goal orientation in literature (Duda, 1989), task orientation and ego orientation. It is assumed that these two orientations depict the ways in which a person defines and experiences success and failure and evaluates his/her competence. Task orientation exists when a person is primarily motivated to master a certain task, overcome the challenges by skills development, and promote efficiency. Success is estimated by the perception of actual level of personal competence when compared to the previous personal achievement. Another goal orientation is ego orientation. The reference for the evaluation of personal competence is in others. Success and failure are estimated by direct comparison to the achievements of others. A person is primarily motivated to demonstrate normative competence. Studies have shown that the differentiation between two goal orientations is relevant in sports context and that it is connected with the perception of cause of success and failure in sport (Duda, 1992; Nicholls et al., 1990; Duda et al., 1992). Task orientation is connected with the  33


perception of sports situation as a context used to increase self-respect and status. The cause of success in sport is attributed to one’s own superior sports competences when compared to other athletes. Ego orientation is connected with the strategy of working hard and continually on the development and improvement of competences. The success is seen as the result of persistence and effort. The situation of sports achievement is seen prosocially, as a place when relative competences of athletes are measured in specific moment. The aim of this research was to explore whether extrinsic or intrinsic motives are dominant in the group of young basketball cadet players, as well as whether the dominant goal orientation is task orientation or ego orientation. The main hypothesis assumes that there is the domination of intrinsic motivation and task orientation.

METHODOLOGY The research has included 21 participants, U16 basketball players of the Serbian national team. Four examinees are aged 15, while the others are aged 16. The research was conducted in 2015, during the preparations for the European Championship in Lithuania. The research consists of two questionnaires, SMS-28 sport motivation scale (Pelletier et al., 1995) and TEOSQ goal orientation (Duda, 1989). SMS-28 sport motivation scale includes 28 items in the form of Likert scale. Four items measure: the aspects of intrinsic motivation (to know, to accomplish, to experience stimulation), the aspects of extrinsic motivation (for identification, introjection and external regulation) and amotivation. TEOSQ goal orientation consists of 13 items also in the form of Likert scale. Six items belong to task orientation scale, while seven items measure ego orientation. The data have been analyzed by descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation coefficient in SPSS, version 22.

RESULTS The value of Cronbach alpha for SMS-28 sport motivation scale is 0.898. In subscales, the vailidity is from 0.439 for the amotivation subscale to 0.884 for the instrinsic motivation to accomplish subscale. The validity regarding other subscales is the following: 0.801 for intrinsic motivation to know, 0.787 for intrinsic motivation to experience stimulation, 0.813 for extrinsic motivation by identification, 0.795 for extrinsic motivation by introjection and 0.724 for extrinsic motivation by external regulation. 34 

M. Mladenović, N. Trunić: SPORTS MOTIVATION AND GOAL ORIENTATION OF YOUNG SERBIAN BASKETBALL PLAYERS

The validity of TEOSQ goal orientation scale is 0.811. The value of Cronbach alpha for the subscale of task orientation is 9.761, and for the subscale of ego orientation is 0.750. The descriptive statistics results presented in Table 1 show that intrinsic motives are dominant for young basketball players. The most dominant motive is intrinsic motivation to experience stimulation (IMES), and the motive to achieve accomplishment through basketball (IMAC), as well as the motive to constantly learn about the game of basketball (IMKW). Regarding external motives, the most dominant motivation is by introjection (EMIJ), the motivation by identification and, finally, the motivation by material awards (Table 1). Table 1. The results of descriptive statistics for intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation and amotivation (N=21) IMES

AS

SD

min

max

6,01

0,77

4,50

7,00

IMAC

5,74

0,97

3,25

7,00

IMKW

5,65

0,90

3,75

7,00

EMIJ

5,29

1,27

2,50

7,00

EMID

4,85

1,23

2,25

7,00

EMER

4,11

1,21

1,75

6,00

AMOT

1,94

0,75

1,00

4,00

IMKW – intrinsic motivation to know; IMAC– intrinsic motivation to accomplish; IMES – intrinsic motivation to experience stimulation; EMID – extrinsic motivation by identification; EMIJ- extrinsic motivation by introjection; EMER – extrinsic motivation by external regulation; AMOT – amotivation

Regarding goal orientation, the descriptive statistics results presented in Table 2 show that the dominant goal orientation for young U16 basketball players of the Serbian national team is directed towards task, i.e. the development of competences. Table 2. The results of descriptive statistics for goal orientation (N=21) AS

SD

min

max

TASK

4,26

0,50

3,00

4,86

EGO

3,71

0,69

2,17

5,00

TASK – task orientation; EGO – ego orientation.

The results of correlation analysis are presented in Table 3. High correlations are visible between all three aspects of intrinsic motivation.  35


Apart from intrinsic aspects, one aspect of extrinsic motivation is highly correlated - extrinsic motivation by identification. It has also been shown that intrinsic motivation for accomplishment is positively connected with the extrinsic motivation by introjection. The extrinsic motivation by external regulation is not connected either with extrinsic or with intrinsic motivation and goal orientation. Amotivation is not connected with extrinsic or intrinsic motivation, but it has a negative correlation with goal orientation directed towards personal emphasis and the demonstration of competences. Task orientation is connected with intrinsic motivation to know and to accomplish, as well as with extrinsic motivation based on the mechanicm of introjection. Table 3. The results of correlation analysis (N=21) 1 1. Imkw 2. Imac

1

2

3

4

0,902** 0,677** 0,647** 1

3. Imes 4. Emid 5. Emij 6. Emer 7. Amot 8. Ego 9. Task

5

6

7

8

9

0,408

0,041

0,129

0,043

0,568** 0,578**

0,727**

0,763**

0,535*

0,169

0,195

0,099

1

0,630**

0,304

0,090

0,206

-0,001

0,194

1

0,281

0,142

0,104

0,234

0,335

1

0,346

0,418

-0,201

0,502*

1

0,282

0,171

0,172

1

-0,596

-0,315

1

0,448*

**

1

IMKW – intrinsic motivation to know; IMAC – intrinsic motivation to accomplish; IMES – intrinsic motivation to experience stimulation; EMID – extrinsic motivation by identification; EMIJ- extrinsic motivation by introjection; EMER – extrinsic motivation by external regulation; AMOT – amotivation; TASK – task orientation; EGO – ego orientation. **p