The Structural Relationship among Desperateness, Mental Strength and Perceived Performance of High School TAEKWONDO Players

Abstract

Purpose: Players desperateness is a mental state of readiness for training and competition, which is under-stood to be a variable that influences players performance as a factor that promotes motivation for why they should participate and win. On the other hand, mental strength is psychological strength that directly affects the performance of players, so the relationship between these two variables is clearly classified into a sequential relationship, and finally, the perceived performance of players will be affected by the relationship between these two variables. In addition, it is possible to predict enough that mental strength will play a mediating role in the relationship between desperateness and perceived performance. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to un-derstand the influence of high school Taekwondo players perceived desperateness through structural relation-ships with their desperateness, mental strength, and perceived performance, and to help them improve their performance. Method: A total of 281 high school Taekwondo players were selected as participants by convenience sampling technique, and they were asked with desperateness questionnaire, mental strength questionnaire, and perceived performance questionnaire. The data analysis of this study was executed by using PASW 23.0 and AMOS 23.0 for the frequency analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, reliability analysis, correlation analysis and the research model was test through structure equation modeling analysis and the bootstrapping method was used to find out the mediating effect. Results: The desperateness had a positive relationship with mental strength. This is a result of predicting that the higher the level of desperateness, the higher the level of mental strength can be. Desperateness was also found to have a positive causal relationship with perceived performance meaning that the higher the level of desperation, the higher the level of performance perceived by athletes, and it is understood that the desperation of high school taekwondo players can help improve perceived performance. Mental strength had a positive causal relationship with perceived performance. It means the higher the level of mental strength, the higher the level of performance perceived by athletes, and it is understood that the mental strength of high school taekwondo players can help improve the perceived performance. Mental strength had a mediating effect in the relationship between desperateness and perceived performance. Conclusion: The desperateness of athletes is a leading variable that positively influences the improvement of athletes performance. Desperate is a state of mind preparedness for how high school Taekwondo players par-ticipate in sports and games, and it is understood that this mindset is expressed as a strong will for the purpose and direction of action, and it is judged to have a positive impact on the win or lose of the game. Since this study found mental strength had a positive causal relationship with perceived performance mental strength needs to be regarded as a major concern of leaders and coaches as a major factor in determining the win or loss of a game, and should be making continuous efforts to improve the mental strength of athletes.