Psychological features of coping with stress in tennis players during training and competitions

Abstract

The issues of coping with stress in sports, despite being widely studied, do not lose relevance due to their high practical significance. Studies of coping in a sport like tennis are not so numerous. The purpose of this study is to establish the features of stress–coping behavior in a sample of adolescent tennis players during training and competitions. The study was conducted with the participation of 60 people in the training and in the competition period. The sample was made up of those engaged in tennis and table tennis. Methods of psychological diagnostics were used as methods: «Scale of stress sources» (E.V. Raspopina), «Test of resilience» (S. Maddi in Leontiev's adaptation), «Methodology for studying the relationship between an athlete and a coach» (Y.L. Khanina and A.V. Stambulova), «Coping test» (R. Lazarus). It was revealed that the more athletes are passionate about their activities, the less resistance they have to various sources of stress, the higher the indicator of the influence of the surrounding world on respondents as a source of stress, the more pronounced their coping strategy of distancing is. The more pronounced the influence of external conditions, the less likely athletes will resort to coping «taking responsibility». The higher the indicator of the gnostic component, the less respondents use the coping strategy «escape-avoidance». The presence of good relationships between athletes and the coach, minimizing the impact of stress on athletes, the predominance of adaptive coping strategies and a high level of resilience among athletes will not only contribute to the development of coping behavior, but also improve the performance of athletes. Therefore, it is very important to promote the development of positive dynamics of the development of these components that form coping behavior.