Psychological skills of Greek badminton athletes.

Abstract

The purpose was to examine age and sex differences in psychological skills among Greek badminton players. 85 badminton players completed a Greek version of the Athletic Coping Skills Inventory-28 by Smith, Schutz, Smoll, and Ptacek, during the 2002 Greek Men's and Women's National Badminton Championship Tournament. Analysis yielded differences between age groups on two factors (adversity and coachability) but no statistically significant differences between sexes. Older athletes were better prepared to cope with the psychological distress involved in the game of badminton and reported better emotional self-control. Overall, results could help badminton athletes and coaches become more familiar with the sport-specific psychological skills involved in badminton.