This concept profoundly affects participation in sport,
motivation, anxiety and sport enjoyment. Athletes' perceptions
of their athletic competence go through predictable
developmental changes: Children (7-9 years old) focus on outcome
and effort in judging one's competence. "I won,therefore I am a
good athlete," or "I tried hard, I must be a good athlete."
Winning and Losing serve as an important source of competence
information for young athletes. With older children (ages 8-12),
there is a gradual decline in the importance of feedback from
parents as a source of competence information, an increase in
coach technical knowledge as a source of competence inormation,
and a gradual increase in the importance of peer comparison in
making competence judgments. "I beat Joe which means I'm a good
athlete." In adolescents (aged 12-13) and older adolescence
(aged 16-18 years) is when they recognize that ability and
effort impact performance. Prior to this, the athlete can not
distinguish between the two concepts. The