Mental Preparation Strategies Research Articles

Mental preparation strategies and firefighter’s performance under stress

Mental preparation strategies and firefighter’s performance under stress

Psychological Strategies During Military Training Are Linked to Resilience in US Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal Operators.

We describe the psychological strategies (PS) used by a specialized military population, US Navy explosive ordnance disposal (EOD), during training and military operations. We also aim to establish the relationship between PS and resilience. The Test of Performance Strategies was adapted to the military environment and subsequently was administered to 58 EOD Operators in conjunction with the 10-item Connor- Davidson Resilience Scale. Differences between high- and low-resilience Operators for PS were evaluated with discriminant models. The PS of EOD Operators were comparable to those of Olympic athletes described in our prior study. The most frequently used strategies during training and military operations were goal setting and emotional control. Discriminant analysis indicated an overall difference between high- and low-resilience Operators with respect to the six training subscales (ρ < .05), with goal setting, emotional control, and attentional control contributing most to the discriminant function. EOD Operators' use of PS was comparable to that of elite athletes. We provide evidence that more-resilient EOD Operators differ from their less resilient counterparts in the strategies they use. These findings have implications for mental preparation strategies used during military training and operations.

Resilience in nursing: The role of internal and external factors.

Recent evidence shows that resilience can buffer the negative impact of workplace stressors on nurses and is linked to favourable patient outcomes. However, the comparative effectiveness of different contributing factors to nurses' resilience has not yet been examined. Our objective was to examine and compare the impact of individual characteristics, external factors and coping strategies on nurses' resilience. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted. Data were collected from 1,012 Greek nurses working in eight hospitals in northern Greece. Resilience, anxiety and depression, were measured using existing validated self- report instruments. In terms of coping strategies, this study used the "Mental Preparation Strategies Scale" to assess the mental preparation strategies employed by nurses before the beginning of their shift. Educational level, anxiety and the overall use of mental preparation strategies were the main predictors of nurse's resilience ([F=52.781, p=0.000, R2 =0.139, Adjusted R2 =0.137]). Resilient nurses were better educated {(b=0.094. 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.038, 0.162)}, had lower anxiety ([b=-0.449, 95% CI -0.526, -0.372]) and used more often mental preparation strategies before the beginning of their shift ([b=0.101, 95% CI 0.016, 0.061]). Findings provide information about which subgroups of nurses are more vulnerable in terms of resilience, i.e. less educated nurses, or nurses working in internal medicine wards.

Gender and type of sport differences on perceived coaching behaviours, achievement goal orientations and life aspirations of youth Olympic games Singaporean athletes

Several confounding factors, such as culture, athlete profiles, levels of competition and type of sport, have resulted in inconsistent findings in studies on gender differences in youth sports. This study examined the gender and type of sport differences on perceived coaching behaviours, achievement goal orientations and life aspirations in a new international event—youth Olympic games (YOG). Singaporean athletes (61 males and 40 females) who took part in the YOG were recruited for the study. Significant gender differences in perceived coaching behaviours were found. Male athletes reported significantly higher levels of goal setting, mental preparation and competitive strategies than the female athletes did. In addition, athletes in individual sports reported higher degree of mastery-approach, mastery-avoidance and intrinsic life goals as compared to the athletes from team sports, while team sports reported significant higher degree of performance-avoidance and extrinsic life goals than individual sports. The results were discussed with reference to the existing literatures on gender and type of sport differences in youth sports. Practical applications were also proposed.

Survey results of the training, nutrition, and mental preparation of triathletes: Practical implications of findings

Although triathlon is growing in popularity at a remarkable rate, it has not been extensively studied. The aims of this research were to identify preparation strategies used by triathletes and to categorize these strategies according to gender and consultation with triathlon coaches. Survey data collected from 401 triathletes (207 males, 194 females) revealed training, nutritional, and mental preparation habits. Most participants engaged in strength training, consumed food and/or fluids during and after training, set training and competition goals, and applied mental preparation strategies during training and the hour before racing. Water was the most commonly consumed fluid; positive self-talk was the most used mental strategy. Participants were more likely to consult with a triathlon coach than a nutrition or sport psychology professional. Athletes with more years of experience in triathlon and those competing in longer distances were more likely to consult a triathlon coach. Female triathletes were more likely than male triathletes to train with others, use mental preparation strategies, and report feeling anxious before competitions. More male triathletes reported using nutritional supplements during training than their female counterparts. These findings add to the limited research base on triathletes' training habits, and hopefully will help guide practitioners who work with this group. The results provide guidance for collaborative efforts among training, nutrition, and mental health professionals to best support triathletes.

Mental preparation strategies of elite modern pentathletes

Objectives This study examined the repertoire of preparation strategies and coping responses that elite modern pentathletes display across pre-, during, and post-competition periods. Methods Six women and eight men were interviewed using an in-depth, open-ended, and semi-structured approach. The qualitative data were then hierarchically content analysed. Results The findings revealed that perseverance, consistency, and commitment during training were critical components of the athletes' preparation in the days preceding an event. The athletes also presented a range of mental and technical preparation strategies across the competitive phases. These included, among others, competition simulation, mental practice, goal setting, emotion control, behavioural routines, specific technical strategies, attentional strategies, reaction to mistakes, and post-competition self-assessment. In addition, athletes' negative expectations during competition emerged as potential threats to personal achievements and were associated with dysfunctional bodily symptoms related to emotions, attentional difficulties, and coping problems. Conclusions The practical implications of these findings are discussed focusing on individual differences in cognitive and emotional experiences, and pre-, during, and post-competition strategies.

The Development and Controlled Evaluation of Athletic Mental Preparation Strategies in High School Distance Runners

This study examined the influences of two mental preparation interventions on 1.6 km run performance in 90 (45 male, 45 female) high school long-distance runners in Nevada, U.S.A. After participants completed a 1.6 km baseline run, they were randomly assigned to receive one of these interventions 3 min prior to a second 1.6 km run (i.e., listening to a personalized script of motivational and running technique statements on headphones, listening to music on headphones, listening to no sound on headphones). Results of running performance indicated that participants who were assigned to the motivational and running technique statements and music conditions significantly improved their run performance, whereas participants in the no-sound control condition did not. Youth ratings of intervention satisfaction were consistent with performance outcome. Study implications and future directions are discussed in light of these results.

Mental Preparation Strategies of Olympic Archers During Competition: an exploratory investigation

Extensive interviews were conducted with all eight members of the 1996 Italian Olympic archery team regarding psychological factors associated with excellence and mental preparation strategies adopted during competition. Hierarchical inductive analysis revealed that positive expectations, concentration, facilitating emotions, body awareness and technical preparation were the mental aspects described by archers necessary for effective performance. Furthermore, the archers outlined a variety of mental preparation strategies including (a) autonomic control (emotion control, somatic control, internal dialogue, and focus on shooting), (b) imagery (visualization, self‐talk), (c) task‐focused concentration (body and action control, thought control) and (d) reaction to mistake (focus on correct execution, mistake disregard, shooting analysis). The idiosyncratic nature of the athlete's competition strategies highlights the need of gaining information about the particular demands of the sport and the mental procedures spontaneously developed by the performer, to provide suitable counselling or psychological intervention.

A Conceptual Model for Integrating Athletes’ Needs and Sport Demands in the Development of Competitive Mental Preparation Strategies

This article provides a conceptual model that describes several critical aspects in the development of competitive mental preparation strategies: (a) a complete understanding of the specific needs of the athlete, (b) detailed knowledge of the particular demands of the sport, (c) integration of this information to identify the most critical psychological factors that will affect performance, and (d) a the development of the most effective competitive mental preparation strategies for the specific athlete. This discussion is presented in several stages. First, gaining an in-depth understanding of an athlete with the use of subjective and objective assessment is described. Second, the critical physical, technical, and logistical differences between sports are delineated. Third, the roles that key psychological factors play and what priority they should be given in each sport are discussed. Fourth, strategies that are most suitable to each mental factor within each sport are identified.

Psychological foundations of olympic wrestling excellence: Reconciling individual differences and nomothetic characterization

Abstract This manusuipt presents a portion of a larger study fuaded by a grant From USA This manuscript is one in a series presenting results of an in-depth investigation of the 1988 US Olympic Wrestling team regarding psychological factors influencing performance in the Seoul Olympics. Previous reports have shown clear nomothetic differences between medal and nonmedal winning wrestlers (Gould, Eklund, & Jackson, 1992a, 1992b, 1992c). This particular article focuses on identifying individual differences among the six medal winning wrestlers. Results revealed that clear and important individual differences existed in the medalists' Perceptions of expectations placed upon them and the content and complexity of their preperformancc mental preparation strategies. These findines show that focusing on nomothetic consistency and aggregathg over subjects to remove individual “error” or foCusing only on individual Werences and ignoring nomothetic consistency is not as useful as Silverstein's (1988) “Aristotelian R...

1988 U.S. Olympic Wrestling Excellence: I. Mental Preparation, Precompetitive Cognition, and Affect

This study involved extensive interviews with all 20 members of the 1988 U.S. Olympic Wrestling Team about their performances in the Seoul Olympics. Qualitative research methodology and analyses were employed to acquire and preserve rich representations of these experiences. Mental preparation strategies, precompetitive cognition, and affect were examined by having the wrestlers respond to a series of questions about their all-time best match, worst Olympic match, and most crucial Olympic match. Considerable consistency was found across wrestlers’ responses regarding all-time best and worst Olympic matches whereas striking differences were found between the best and worst matches. For example, before best matches, wrestlers followed mental preparation plans and routines and were extremely confident, totally focused, and optimally aroused. They also focused on clear tactical strategies. Before worst matches, wrestlers were not confident, had inappropriate feeling states and experienced many task-irrelevant and negative thoughts, and deviated from preparation plans. These results are consistent with other research with Olympic athletes and suggest that precompetitive states play a critical role in competitive performance.

Arousal interventions for athletic performance: Influence of mental preparation and competitive experience

Abstract Mental preparation, or “psych-up” strategies have been assumed to promote physical arousal which subsequently improves certain athletic performances. The present experiment examined the role of arousal changes in the use of psych-up strategies on a physical strength task and a reaction time-decision task for subjects varying in competitive experience. Eighty-four subjects were reliably divided into high, moderate, or low competitive experience groups and randomly assigned to one of three mental preparation strategies. These strageies, which the subjects employed during a mental preparation period for both tasks, were either: (a) a self-generated arousal strategy, (b) a prescribed arousal strategy, or (c) a placebo-control strategy. While heart rate was being monitored, each subject completed a baseline trial, then one trial following a 45 sec mental preparation period and one trial following a 45 sec distraction interval. Order of presentation of tasks and order of presentation of distraction and...

Use of Mental Preparation Strategies by International Elite Female Lacrosse Players from Five Countries

Fifty-five lacrosse players from five countries (Australia, Canada, England, the United States, and Wales) competing in the 1986 Lacrosse World Cup Tournament completed a questionnaire regarding their use of mental preparation in training and competition. The findings revealed that 81 % of the subjects considered mental preparation to be very important or extremely important in preparing for competition, and only 2% considered it to be unimportant. A one-way ANOVA indicated a significant difference among the countries on 3 of 10 variables studied. A significant difference was demonstrated between lacrosse teams from various countries in the use of visualization/imagery and frequency of dreams about play (Canada made most frequent use). There was also a significant difference in the frequency of mental training received from a trained sport psychologist. Perhaps not coincidentally, the lacrosse team that had the most frequent contact with a trained sport psychologist (Australia) was the most successful team at the tournament.

Mental preparation, mental practice and strength tasks: a need for clarification.

Mental preparation has long been thought of as an important aspect of physical performance, especially in tasks requiring muscular strength. Recent studies in sport psychology have addressed this issue, mainly through the investigation of 'psych-up' strategies and effects. The overall trend in such experiments supports the use of mental preparation strategies for strength tasks, but the evidence is less clear for other types of activities. A recent review on mental practice by Feltz and Landers (1983) employed a 'meta-analysis' technique to analyse the statistical trends in 60 studies of mental practice. They compared the 'effect sizes' for mental practice on cognitive, motor and strength tasks and reported a significantly larger effect size for cognitive tasks than for the others and only a small effect size for strength tasks. This suggests that mental practice is less effective in strength activities and thus appears to question the evidence reported in the 'psych-up' literature. This paper proposes, therefore, that a distinction is necessary between mental preparation and mental practice in order to clarify the findings. Future experiments and reviews must address the issue of distinguishing between types of mental strategies and types of tasks in both practice and preparation.

Mental preparation strategies and performance: Is a combination of techniques better than a single technique?

Abstract The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether combining two mental preparation strategies would be more effective in enhancing performances than a single strategy. Subjects (n = 40) practiced on a basketball free throw task (20 shots) using one of the following mental preparation strategies: (a) imagery, (b) relaxation, (c) relaxation plus imagery, (d) placebo control. To simulate game conditions, subjects were allowed only 10 s in which to use their mental preparation strategy. After the practice session, subjects shot 20 test free throws using their designated technique. Results indicated a significant main effect with the imagery group performing significantly better than the placebo control group although there were no specific differences between the three experimental groups. The results are discussed in terms of potential variables mediating the effectiveness of imagery in enhancing sport performance, and future directions for research are offered.

The Relationship Between Mental Preparation Strategies and Motor Performance: A Review and Critique

This paper reviews the mental practice literature as well as more current research on the effect of specific mental preparation strategies on skilled performance. A synopsis of the mental practice literature indicated that mental practice was generally effective in enhancing performance. For maximum effectiveness, mental practice should be used in conjunction with physical practice and should not be thought of as a replacement for physical practice. The degree of effectiveness of mental practice is dependent on a number of variables, such as conceptualizing ability, previous experience, task type, and length of practice session. Recently, researchers have begun to study the effect of specific mental preparation on motor performance. Some of the more popular techniques include imagery, selfefficacy statements, attentional focus, preparatory arousal, and relaxation. In addition, several recent techniques such as stress innoculation training and visuomotor behavior rehearsal use a combination of the techniqu...

Mental Preparation Strategies, Cognitions, and Strength Performance

Two experiments were conducted to determine if different mental preparation strategies produced differential strength performance and whether arousal was the major mediating variable explicating this relationship. In the first experiment, 15 male and 15 female subjects performed under five different mental preparation conditions in a 2 × 5 (sex by mental preparation strategy) Latin square design. The mental preparation conditions included: attentional focus, imagery, preparatory arousal, a control-rest condition, and a counting backwards cognitive-distraction condition. Immediately after employing each technique, all subjects performed four trials on a leg-strength task, and measures of state anxiety and other cognitions were then obtained. The findings revealed that the preparatory arousal and imagery techniques produced the greatest change in performance, with preparatory arousal subjects also reporting the greatest changes in cognitive states. However, due to the possibility of range effects resulting from the within-subjects design used in Experiment I, a second between-subjects experiment was conducted. Thirty males and 30females performed in a 2 × 3 (sex by mental preparation) design using the preparatory arousal, imagery and control conditions of Experiment 1. Only the preparatory arousal condition was found to facilitate performance. However, no consistent changes in cognitive states were found between experiments, and these inconsistent findings were interpreted as being caused by methodological problems associated with self-report assessment of cognitive states.