Reasons for tennis practice among players in the province of Huelva: sex and age differences

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyze the motives for practicing tennis in the province of Huelva, examining differences according to sex and age. A total of 182 participants (161 men and 21 women) completed the Motives for Physical Activity Measure–Revised (MPAM-R). A non-experimental, cross-sectional, correlational design was applied. Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used after checking the non-normal distribution of the data. Results showed that enjoyment was the most valued motive (men: 5.4; women: 5.8), whereas appearance was the least relevant (3.1 in both sexes). No significant differences were found according to sex, whereas differences across age groups were observed in enjoyment (p = .010) and competence (p = .010). These findings suggest that, in the sample analyzed, age may be more closely associated than sex with certain motivational dimensions of tennis practice.