Abstract:
Background. Mental skills are defined as a set of trainable mental abilities and methods that are held to underpin successful learning and performance.
Objectives. The aim of the present research was to study and compare the mental skills of adolescent elite and competitive volleyball and soccer players.
Methods. The sample consisted of 100 players (54 elite soccer, 13 elite volleyball, 18 competitive soccer and 15 competitive volleyball) selected via a purposive sampling method. Data were collected using the Ottawa Mental Skills Assessment Tool-2 (OMSAT-2).
Results. Elite and competitive volleyball players had higher scores for stress reactions than elite soccer players. In addition, elite soccer players had more self-confidence than competitive soccer and volleyball players. Also, competitive volleyball players had higher levels of fear than elite soccer players. There were no other significant differences in mental skills between soccer and volleyball players.
Conclusion. It seems that adolescent volleyball players stand in more immediate need of learning strategies for coping with stress, fear and self-confidence management than soccer players. Results are discussed in terms of an athlete’s levels, the nature and characteristics of the sport and choking during performance.
Machine summary:
The aim of the present research was to study and compare the mentalskills of adolescent elite and competitive volleyball and soccer players.
Discriminating Mental Skills among Adolescent Elite andCompetitive Soccer and Volleyball Players1Zahra Fathirezaie, 1Seyed Hojjat Zamani Sani*, 1Safyeh Ebrahimi, 2,3Serge Brand,4Iraj Jahanbakhsh, 4Saeed Nazari1Motor Behavior Department, Physical Education and Sport Science Faculty, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran.
ABSTRACTKEY WORDS: Soccer, Volleyball, Psychology, Self-Confidence, Fear, Coping with Stress.
Martens (1987), andWeinberg and Gould (1995) have indicated thatthe basic psychological skills that athletes need topractice and develop are mental imaging, controlof mental power, stress control, attention,concentration and goal setting.
Their studyshowed that, compared to non-elite athletes, eliteathletes reported that they experienced fewerproblems with anxiety, were more successful atdeploying their concentration, were more selfconfident, relied more on internally referencedand kinesthetic mental preparations, were morefocused on their own performance than that oftheir team, and were more highly motivated to dowell in their sport (14).
In order toboost soccer players’ performance, researchers inthe different sports sciences, including sportpsychology, have actively studied its practitioners(20, 21).
The 71 itemsof this instrument measure 12 mental skills:goal setting, self-confidence, commitment,stress reactions, fear, activation, relaxation,imagery, mental practice, focusing, refocusingand competition planning.
RESULTSThe purpose of this study was to investigatethe psychological skills of elite and competitivesoccer and volleyball players.
The relationship of psychological skills and performance ofskilled men volleyball players in vulnerable situations of competition.
The relationship of psychological skills and performance ofskilled men volleyball players in vulnerable situations of competition.