The Effect of Mindfulness training on Resilience in elite young athletes (original) (raw)

Effects of Mindfulness for Performance Programme on Actual Performance in Ecological Sport Context: Two Studies in Basketball and Table Tennis

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Mindfulness For Performance is a programme that has been developed over 15 years. It aims to help athletes maintain effective attentional focus regardless of the disruptive sensations and thoughts induced by the performance situation. It is inspired by Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and Acceptance Commitment Therapy programmes and has been adapted to the specificities of sport. It is composed of three steps: (a) psychoeducation and identification of the focus of attention, (b) mindfulness and acceptance training, and (c) integrating skills acquired into training and competition. This article reports the effects of MFP in two studies in national basketball players and in young table tennis players. The first study showed that mindfulness skills and free-throw accuracy during basketball games increased more in the experimental group than in the control group. Table tennis results revealed that participants who showed the highest percentage of adherence to the programme benefited m...

Relationship between Mindfulness, Psychological Skills, and Mental Toughness in College Athletes

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2021

Numerous studies have shown that dispositional mindfulness is positively associated with many mental abilities related to sports performance, including psychological skills and mental toughness. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between dispositional mindfulness, psychological skills, and mental toughness among different types of athletes. For this cross-sectional study, 101 college athletes were recruited. Their dispositional mindfulness, psychological skills, and mental toughness were measured by the Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), Athletic Psychological Skills Inventory (APSI), and Traits of Mental Toughness Inventory for Sports Scale (TMTIS). Pearson’s correlation was used to calculate how dispositional mindfulness is associated with psychological skills and mental toughness. The results revealed that dispositional mindfulness is positively associated with comprehensive APSI (r = 0.21–0.36, p < 0.05), TMTIS overall (r = 0.27, p < 0.01)...

Mindfulness and Self-Regulation Strategies Predict Performance of Romanian Handball Players

Sustainability

Previous studies on handball players’ performance are focused more on influence of physical, physiological factors and tactical strategies and less on the influence of cognitive, metacognitive and attentional regulation strategies. Performance can be achieved by attentional and emotional regulation alongside cognitive, metacognitive and procedural regulation strategies. This study explores the association between self-regulation strategies, mindfulness practice and performance. The sample consists of 288 Romanian handball players. The participants were 30% male and 70% female, with age between 12.01 and 14 years old, divided in three categories. The quantitative research design is descriptive and transversal. The method was survey based on questionnaires. There were interesting results found in different age categories and different performance levels. The variables (state mindfulness of body, self-monitoring, and self-efficacy) explained 87% of the variance in sports performance, i...

A Narrative Review on Mindfulness Practices in Optimizing Performance Among Sports Individuals

Journal of Experimental Biology and Agricultural Sciences, 2021

Mindfulness practice has become an increasingly popular intervention in optimizing athletic performance in sports. Numerous studies have reported on applying mindfulness for improving the performance of various sports such as tennis, table tennis, shooting, cricket, archery, golf, running, hockey, swimming, and cycling. This narrative review addresses different existing mindfulness programs that enhance sports performance, the outcome measures of mindfulness therapy, and identifies the anxiety and depression that affect the performance of sports individuals. To cope with the issues, the efficacy of mindfulness in performance enhancement and future research directions on mindfulness needs attention.

Practical application of mindfulness techniques in sport

2017

Date Drew Hopper Degree Programme in Sports and Leisure Management Practical Applications of Mindfulness Techniques in Sport 33 + 1 Mindfulness has been practiced for millennia. More recently it has gained popularity in the Western world and as a result its application to sport and athletic performance has been of interest. While studies concerned with traditional forms of mental training have shown mixed results on athletic performance, mindfulness has recently emerged as a potentially beneficial tool to enhance the performance of athletes. The aim of this project was to determine whether mindfulness has positive outcomes on athletic performance and the overall wellbeing of athletes and coaches. The method used to collect the data was a literature review. The tenets of mindfulness that arose from the literature as having a beneficial effect on sport performance and/or wellbeing included flow, deliberate practice, growth mindset and meditation that largely focused on training present moment awareness, focus and concentration. The findings suggest that by increasing focus, concentration and attention, as well as helping athletes reduce stress and anxiety, diminish athletic burnout and improve cognitive function, mindfulness training correlates positively to performance in sport. The difference of mindfulness training approaches in comparison to traditional mental training programs is that it largely focuses on accepting injury, pain or stress and learning to manage and move past them rather than ignore or block unpleasant experiences. As a result of the findings from the literature review, a practical guide incorporating mindfulness practices into sport was produced. The guide incorporates traditional mindfulness training as well as original exercises developed as a result of the research results, that are intended to be specific to sport and athlete-centered. The guide is intended for use by both coaches and athletes looking to improve wellbeing and performance through improving mental aspects of their training. Although interest in mindfulness practices is rapidly increasing, more work is required to "demystify" and legitimize its application in sport.

The effects of psychological skills and mindfulness on well-being of student-athletes: A path analysis

Performance enhancement and health, 2020

Participation in elite level sport requires being subjected to considerably stressful training and competition environments. Psychological skills and mindfulness have been demonstrated to enhance performance in sport, but less is known regarding how they impact an athlete's well-being in their sport and in their life. Greater knowledge of this relationship would aid practitioners in developing holistic, more psychologically well-adjusted student-athletes. To this end, 222 NCAA Division I athletes representing six different sports completed measures of mindfulness in sport, psychological skills, general well-being, and sport well-being. Path analyses indicated that both psychological skills and mindfulness had positive and moderate effects on sport well-being; however, only mindfulness was shown to have a positive moderate effect global well-being. Also, a nonjudgmental approach towards one's experiences is highly correlated with global well-being. The practical implications of the findings include evidence for the importance of developing these skills in college athletes to enhance their sport well-being and global well-being.

Effect of a mindfulness programme training on mental toughness and psychological well-being of female athletes

Australasian Psychiatry, 2021

Objectives Research has shown that mindfulness in athletes is associated with positive outcomes. We therefore assessed the effect of mindfulness training on increasing mental toughness (MT) and psychological well-being (PWB). Methods This was a parallel-group, pre-and post-test, randomised controlled pilot trial. Forty-five female athletes from Iranian universities in Tehran were randomly assigned into experimental ( n = 23) and control groups ( n = 22). Forty-two completed the trial. The mindfulness training group received the Mindfulness–Acceptance–Commitment programme for 7 weeks. All subjects completed the Mindfulness Inventory for Sport (MIS), Sports Mental Toughness Questionnaire and PWB Scale. Data were analysed using mixed analysis of variance. Results Mindfulness training increased mindfulness in the experimental group ( p < 0.01). In turn, increased mindfulness led to increased MT and PWB at 2-month follow-up ( p < 0.05). Conclusions Given that mindfulness training m...

Enhance Sport Performance of Elite Athletes: The Mindfulness-Based Interventions

2018

The purpose of this review is to summarize the empirical findings on the effectiveness of mindfulness-based programs to enhance elite athletes sport performance. A literature research was undertaken using Medline, Psych info, Web of Science, Cochrane, Ebscohost, Isi Web of Knowledge databases and references of retrieved articles. The search included original articles published from 1985 to March 2017. The main search terms were mindfulness programs, sport performance, elite athletes, in different combinations as needed. All articles were coded for their design, type of control, study population, and outcome measures. Search returned 26 articles, and set out 2 main mindfulness-based interventions on the field of elite sport performance. Despite methodological limitations in the research design, the results show MAC and MSPE programs as effective on enhancing elite athlete’s sports performance. To confirm these preliminary results, further research, with improved experimental designs...

Attitudes and Opinions of Female High School Athletes About Sports-Focused Mindfulness Training and Practices

Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology

Female high school athletes playing volleyball and soccer (N = 32) responded to a social validity questionnaire that inquired about their experiences with a sportfocused mindfulness training program. On average, the student-athletes rated most highly the effects of mindfulness training on emotional awareness and attention focusing, the contribution of mindfulness toward team play, the benefit of having coaches learn mindfulness skills, and the application of mindfulness to other sports. There were dissimilar ratings between the volleyball and soccer student-athletes concerning use of mindfulness when preparing for and during games. Most of the formal mindfulness practices taught during the training program were rated as being helpful to very helpful. We discuss factors influencing these findings and implications for mindfulness–sport performance research.

Differential and shared effects of psychological skills training and mindfulness training on performance-relevant psychological factors in sport: a randomized controlled trial

BMC Psychology

Background Mental training intends to support athletes in mastering challenges in sport. The aim of our study was to investigate the differential and shared effects of psychological skills training and mindfulness training on psychological variables relevant to athletic performance (e.g., handling emotions or attention control). We assumed that each approach has its own strengths (e.g., mindfulness has a differential effect on the acceptance of emotions), but for some goals (e.g., attention control), both training forms are expected to be equally successful (i.e., shared effects). Methods A total of 95 athletes (Mage = 24.43, SDage = 5.15; 49% female) were randomly assigned into three groups: psychological skills training intervention (PST), mindfulness training intervention (MT), and wait-list control group (WL). Participants completed a questionnaire battery before and after the training (pretest and posttest). We assessed mindfulness, use of mental strategies, handling of emotion...