Project of a psychocorrection program to athletes of wheelchair curling

Abstract

The article describes a correctional program for athletes of the Russian national wheelchair curling team, aimed at improving the indicators of higher mental functions and stress resistance. At the 2021 World Cup, the team took 3rd place, losing in the semifinals, because they could not cope with tension and psychological instability at a crucial moment. At the Winter Paralympic Games held in March 2022, the athletes of the Russian wheelchair curling team had to be emotionally stable, able to maintain high concentration of attention and an unmistakable figurative memory throughout the tournament. To achieve this goal, the coaching staff of the Russian national team proposed the idea of developing a program of psychological correction. This study is a continuation of the diagnosis of the characteristics of the psycho-emotional states of athletes, which was conducted in 2021. Based on the results of the diagnosis, a sports psychologist developed a correctional program. The program is based on breathing control techniques, visualization, ways to control muscle tone, as well as the formation of grounding skills to reduce anxiety levels before competitions. To mobilize the condition, athletes are offered exercises for upper breathing, and for calm and concentration – 4 stages of a single cycle of lower breathing. Athletes are also recommended to prevent muscle clamps by performing exercises for 3 phases "strain – feel – relax". In 2021, a pedagogical experiment lasting ten months was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the developed methodology. The study involved 9 athletes – members of the main and extended squads of the Russian wheelchair curling team aged 28 to 49 years: 6 men and 3 women.