Mental stability of elite athletes in individual and team sports as a key to successful sports activities

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Introduction. Modern sport is associated with high intensity during training and competitive activities, competition is intensified on the playing field and the social importance of sport is growing. Sports activity is characterized not merely by high physical strain, but also mental stress, mental instability, which affects the performance of the athlete, his psychological health in general, so mental stability plays a central role in sport. The purpose of the study is to identify the levels and differences of mental stability parameters in athletes in individual sport and athletes in team sport. Materials and Methods. The study involved 1545 elite athletes aged 14-17. Of these, 482 athletes are engaged in team sports and 1063 people are engaged in individual sports. As psychodiagnostic methods, the athletes were offered: a questionnaire for assessing neuropsychic stability “Prognoz-2” by V.Yu. Rybnikov and a questionnaire for assessing mental activity, interest, emotional tone, tension, comfort by L.A. Kurgansky and T.A. Nemchin. Statistical analysis was carried out using the H-Kruskal-Wallace test. Results. According to the results of the study, athletes involved in both individual sports and team sports have good mental stability. Reliably significant differences were found in the parameter “emotional tone” (p=0.007) and “tension” (p=0.0308). Indicators of the severity of mental activation, interest and comfort are within the normative values. Conclusion. Mental stability is understood by the authors as an innate dynamic property of a person, the ability of an athlete to resist stressful factors through their self-regulation, while maintaining performance, reliability in sports activities and health in general. Mental stability develops and changes throughout life.