Vol. 1, Issue 9, Part M (2015)

Abstract
The concept of social support has been occupying a prominent place in the lives of the individuals. It speaks about enhancing qualities and the feelings of being cared for, loved and accepted. The pressures of such aid and support from significant others in the form of emotional care is understood to play a vital role in the life of individuals. The study makes an attempt to assess the influence of social support the social factors on sports performance of Basketball players selected form the Bellary district of Karnataka. It is well understood that these factors are highly inter-related to sports activities. Knowing the significant influence of a sports educationist can manipulate these psychological factors to improve the performance of sports. Hence, the present study will addresses itself in analyzing the influence of the performance of sports persons especially Basketball players selected from Bellary district.rnThe study was conducted on a sample of 20 players of Basketball selected from Bellary district Karnataka. The selection was done based on level of social support. The respondents were administered social support scales. Based on the scores obtained in the sample was divided in to high and low social support. The sample selected like this was given the performance of Basketball Players. The social support appraisal scale, developed by Vaux, et al. (1986) which consists of 234 items with five alternatives. As per the manual of the scale, higher score indicates higher social support. The reliability and the validity of the scale are fairly high. In this study the Statistical analysis to meet the objectives of the study and to verify the formulated hypotheses the data were analyzed, using the statistical technique of t-test to compare the sample sub-groups.