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How do Older Masters Athletes Account for their Performance Preservation? A Qualitative Analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 January 2012

RYLEE A. DIONIGI ,
SEAN HORTON  and
JOSEPH BAKER
RYLEE A. DIONIGI*
Affiliation:
School of Human Movement Studies, Faculty of Education, Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, NSW, Australia.
SEAN HORTON
Affiliation:
Department of Kinesiology, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, Canada.
JOSEPH BAKER
Affiliation:
School of Kinesiology and Health Science, York University, Toronto, Canada.
*
Address for correspondence: Rylee Dionigi, School of Human Movement Studies, Faculty of Education, Charles Sturt University, Panorama Drive, Bathurst, NSW 2795, Australia. E-mail: rdionigi@csu.edu.au
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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine how older people make sense of their capacity to maintain sports performance. Performance maintenance is predominantly examined from a quantitative perspective, with little attention given to how people themselves account for it. We interviewed 44 competitors (23 females, 21 males) from the 2009 Sydney World Masters Games (aged 56–90 years; mean = 72 years). The major themes were: ‘Use it or lose it’ (performance preservation required specific ‘training’ and the continuation of general physical activity); ‘Adapt’/‘modify’ (participants compensated for their decline in speed, strength and endurance so they could continue competing in sport); ‘It's in my genes’ (participants attributed their ‘family history’ and/or innate ‘determination’ to performance maintenance); and ‘I like to push myself’ (participants valued improved performance, pushing their bodies and winning which motivated them to continually train and compete). The findings are discussed within a framework of three key performance maintenance theories: (a) preserved differentiation, (b) selective maintenance and (c) compensation. Although compensation and continued training are effective ways to counter decline in later life, this study extends past research by showing how older athletes tend to combine and/or generalise stable and unstable attributes of performance preservation. In particular, this research highlights the importance individuals and Western society place on self-responsibility for health, competition and performance maintenance, which act as key motivating factors.

Keywords

attributionsolder adultsperformance maintenancesport
Type
Articles
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 33 , Issue 2 , February 2013 , pp. 297 - 319
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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