Performance in sports organisations

It also worth watching how the body of an athlete, another important factor influencing performance, is considered in sports science research. According to Nádori (1991:39), performance consists of the following components: “features and sets of features characterising sportsmen/sportswomen that are possibly enhanced by training and profoundly influence sports performance. Moreover, those activities are also included that lead to results directly or indirectly.” There are two key components of performance in the field of sports too. One of them is the (performance) ability of athletes, being comprised of the physical abilities, such as physical condition (strength, speed, stamina, and flexibility) and coordination skills (the perception of balance, space and time, as well as dexterity) necessary for performing a physical activity pursued by a sportsperson, as well as the technical and tactical knowledge and the intelligence of an athlete. The second component is an athlete’s performance readiness, “reflecting a sportsperson’s attitudes towards his trainer, the sport he is doing, his environment, and the regimen he follows” (Nádori, 1991:39). Therefore, we can see that someone’s willingness to perform creates a motivational basis which helps a sportsman to put a lot of effort into the achievement of a goal. As Nádori (1991) puts it, the attitudes of an athlete towards his sports club or association greatly affect his level of performance. What is more, the same is true the other way around too: clubs and associations have their own expectations of athletes. Meeting these requirements on both sides might also contribute to better performance. Either an athlete’s performance ability or his performance readiness is missing, general sports performance is going to be weaker or zero (it is like the product of a sum of two elements)^[1]. All these are interrelated factors, and according to Nádori (1991), the enhancement of the ability to perform belongs to the domain of education, whereas the enhancement of the readiness to perform belongs the domain of training/discipline. In order to be able to undertake physically demanding trainings (development of certain skills), it is necessary for athletes to possess the proper moral character and strong willpower, as well as a high level of readiness to perform in sports, i.e. a drive to mobilise efforts to do well. As Nádori (1991:40) summarises it: “one timely goal of research should be to reveal the aforementioned relations”. Studies in sport have rather focused on the analysis of performance ability; however, more attention should be paid to the examination of factors influencing athletes’ performance readiness, especially from the perspective of organisational psychology.