Athletes’ perspectives of preparation strategies in open-skill sports

Abstract

Preparation strategies (i.e., pre-game rituals, pre-performance routines) have long been a topic of study in sport psychology. However, previous research has focused on closed-skill tasks and employed methodologies that make it difficult to capture athletes’ perspectives of these behaviors. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of open-skill sport athletes regarding their preparation strategies. Nineteen high-performance athletes participated in semi-structured interviews. Participants described their perceptions of the structures and functions of the behaviors they consider to be part of their preparation strategies. These findings contribute to a more nuanced understanding of how athletes perceive what they do to prepare for a performance. Exploring athletes’ perspectives of this phenomenon allowed for existing theoretical representations of strategies to be compared to the lived experiences of the athletes who engage in them having implications for coaches and sport psychology consultants. Lay Summary: Many athletes have strategies they use to help prepare themselves to perform at their best. We asked 19 high-performance open-skill sport athletes to describe what their preparation strategies are and why they engage in them. Coaches and practitioners should consider their athlete’s perspective when working to establish an effective preparation strategy. Implications for practice Sport psychology practitioners should strive to understand what components an athlete perceives to be part of their preparation strategy and why they engage in them. Preparation strategies can help athletes achieve optimal physical, mental, and emotional states, which differ between athletes and contexts. Preparation strategies are tied to athletes’ individual identities, and in team sports, can help to build and maintain a team’s collective identity over the course of a season.