Blaze Mutware

April 4, 2022
Paul Watts
English 102
Class Section: 004

Assignment: Literature Review 

Drake (2010) once said in a song that “sports and music are so

synonymous,” referring to how athletes want to be rappers and vice versa, which

had me wonder how this relationship is defined, particularly with the role music

has in motivating athletes towards their goal, practice, or main performance. As I

began my research in the topic, I found that a lot of articles and research out there

tapped into this topic in different ways and methods of determining how impactful

music is in sports, more specifically the sport of basketball. `

There were a lot similarities in the results of the studies made with athletes

of all ages and genders, as they found that music had a way of calming the heart-

rate for moments that a needed a little focus of the mind. Participants of the studies

showed improvement in their cognitive, as well as their motor skills when using
music or videos to visualize the task at hand. Other notable ideas that came with

the studies was the effect music can have before a major event, like a Superbowl or

a championship game. Adrenaline can be running high, and subjects have been

able to use music to gear themselves up for a big moment and channel that energy

for their competition.

Music is a large motivating tool, and according to Ochiai et al (2018) “Many

athletes listen to music before a match for logical reasons. Listening to music

definitely helps us get motivated and perform better.” (Pg 3) Music can arouse

feelings of happiness and motivation, similar to dopamine released when

performing physical activities. Athletes have been able to use music in various

scenarios to envision their game, virtually seeing what task they are going to

accomplish and the motor skills to perform. They then would be motivated to look

as good as the visuals they watch, and the music added would be an extra tool to

channel their focus. Studies found how the tempo of the music would be able to

put an athlete in a calming trance and the rhythm is consistent enough where they

can be able to drown out any outside distractions, thus able to perform at their best.

Eliakim et al (2012) adds that “It is generally accepted that music selection aims to

optimize an individual’s goal. When an athlete needs to be motivated or to remain

aroused during intensive power and/or endurance exercise tasks, fast and
motivational music should be selected,” (Pg6) suggesting that the selection of

music has a great effect on a player’s capacity in exercise.

In addition to have an impact on a players fitness level and ability to use

music to improve endurance, previous have reported to have “demonstrated that

music effects are inversely related to the participant’s fitness level, and that music

had significantly greater enhancing effects in untrained participants, during initial

stages of training programs.” (Eliakim et al) Players have been able to maintain top

physicality throughout the season due to the will they had during practices, thus

strengthening their performance during games. Eliakim et al also add that “music

can be used during basketball training…in the hopes…that improved training

ability will convert also to better game performance.” (pg1) This ties in together

with the article How Does Music Influence Athletes’ Motivation? where they

looked at studies that showed the music videos’ influence on performance with

results that directly affected motivation and determination. In the article Ochiai et

al (2018) found that “Players’ successful shot percentage increased significantly,

by 8.9% on average, after they watched the video. These findings support the

argument that the video with music improved athletes’ motivation, which in turn

increased their performance” (pg 2)

 While music has the ability to hype a player up and gear them up for a major

event, it also has the ability to calm or relax a player’s body and mind, depending

on the genre of music listened to. Kulture Hub Squad (2020) had an intake on

NBA players and what they used to listen to prior to games to prepare themselves

mentally and in their studies, they add that “Music can have an incredibly powerful

effect on both our bodies and on our brains. If you need to concentrate whilst

working, classical music has been known to help maintain focus.” (Prg 1) Before

games, athletes would generally have their own personal music and headphones to

get into the right head space, as opposed to blaring music post-game and this is no

different with the NBA players. Though the is no concrete genre of music that has

the best effect on a player’s performance, it can only be summed up to the feelings

certain music may spark in a player to get the body and mind flowing

simultaneously.