Sport psychology in coaching: Improving the personality traits and thinking skills of basketball players

Abstract

Using the sport psychology principles in coaching can positively affect the psychological fitness of basketball players, helping athletes to develop tactical thinking skills. This paper discusses the impact of the team coach's program, taking into account the recommendations of sport psychology in order to develop the players’ tactical thinking skills and improve the overall performance. The TTS and the SMTQ were used. A total of 96 student basketball players participated in the study. In control Group A, the mean value of developed tactical thinking skills increased by 10.5%, with 46.7% increase in tactical thinking skills in the exposed group. A similar pattern was found in Group B, with the control group showing a 12.9% increase on the post-test and the exposed group showing a 31.6% increase, respectively. Therefore, the developed team coach's program, subject to the sport psychology recommendations, managed to secure a stronger development not just in tactical thinking, but also in psychological fitness. The research findings can contribute to the development of the sport psychology principles by coaches to improve the performance of athletes. The paper's practical implications come from the fact that the findings can have a positive effect on psychological willingness and tactical thinking among sports students.