Mood and self-motivation in successful and unsuccessful female rowers.

Mood state (POMS) and self-motivation (SMI) were assessed in 84 women vying for a position on a collegiate freshman rowing team. Forty-four of these rowers also completed a standardized rowing ergometer task. Mood state was assessed three additional times during the season with 22 rowers who adhered to training throughout the entire season. No differences (P greater than 0.05) in baseline mood state were observed between the dropouts (N = 62) and those who adhered to the training (N = 22). However, the dropouts possessed significantly lower self-motivation (P less than 0.05) and took longer to complete the rowing task than did the adherers (P less than 0.05). Near the end of the season, rowers were chosen by the coaching staff to compete in regional competition (i.e., successful adherers). Initial self-motivation and ergometer performance did not differ significantly (P greater than 0.05) between the successful and unsuccessful adherers. Repeated measures ANOVA revealed that global mood disturbance (P less than 0.05) increased during the training season in both groups. At the end of the training season, the unsuccessful adherers still possessed significantly (P less than 0.05) elevated mood disturbance, whereas the mood of the successful group had returned to baseline. It is concluded that female rowers who adhere to a season of competitive training have higher self-motivation and superior ergometer performances at the outset than do the eventual dropouts.