Studying the motivation of students to participate in table tennis activities

Personal interest, inner conviction and need for motor activity, i.e., the students' enjoyment of sports activities in general, and the school facilities determine the extracurricular forms of teaching Physical Education and Sports in schools. Their main tasks are aimed at intruducing adolescent students to systematic sports activities, expanding and improving their knowledge, skills and habits in the respective sports planned for studying in Physical Education and Sports classes. Developing extracurricular forms of sports activities and increasing the scope of participating students is one of the possibilities for purposeful and organized realization of the objectives of Physical Education and Sports during their free time. The aim of the present study is to determine the motivation of students to participate in the educational and training process of table tennis. The object of the research are the characteristics of the educational and training process of young table tennis players. The respondents in the survey are 42 students practising table tennis. After the generalizations made in the text, the following conclusions can be drawn: adolescent students practising table tennis clearly state their motivation for participating in organized sports activities and receive the support of their parents for taking part in an organized educational and training process in table tennis; and sports activities have a positive effect on their physical condition and they demonstrate a drive for success based on motivation and competition.