Sport Confidence Research Articles

Competitive worries, sport confidence, and performance ratings for young swimmers.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among competitive worries, sport confidence, and performance of young athletes. Participants were 143 young swimmers aged 11 to 12 years. The athletes completed trait and state questionnaires (competitive worries and sport confidence) in noncompetitive and competitive conditions, respectively. The results indicated: (a) significant relationships among trait and state characteristics and between trait General Self-confidence and performance ratings in both races as well as between performance ratings in Races 1 and 2; (b) significant differences in state variables among athletes with moderate or high and low scores on the trait variables; (c) significant differences in performance among athletes with moderate or high and low scores on the trait General Self-confidence and trait Positive Thinking in Race 1 and on variables trait General Self-confidence, state General Self confidence, and state Positive Thinking Race 2; and (d) trait General Self-confidence and trait Confidence in Unfavorable Situations were the most important predictors of young swimmers' performances. These results may be useful in application to competitive sports for young athletes. They may help in psychodiagnostic procedures and may be used for both the content and the direction of individual programs for psychological preparation of young athletes.

Optimism and Sport Confidence as Correlates of Slump-Related Coping among Athletes

Sport performers (N = 213) completed either a questionnaire measure of dispositional optimism or a questionnaire measure of trait sport confidence and then provided information about how they cope with performance slumps. The use of task-focused, emotion-focused, and avoidance-oriented coping strategies was assessed with a slump-referenced version of the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS; Endler & Parker, 1990a). Results indicated that both personality measures were positively related to the use of problem-focused strategies and negatively related to the use of emotion-focused strategies. These findings are discussed in relation to previous research on confidence in sport and a model of sport-related coping proposed by Hardy, Jones, and Gould (1996). Practical implications for the effective management of performance slumps are also addressed.

A Multidisciplinary Investigation of the Relation of State Sport Confidence with Preference and Velocity of Swimming Starts

This study investigated the relations of state sport confidence with preference of swimming start, i.e., pike or flat, and vertical velocity for male and female NCAA Division I swimmers. Ten male and 10 female swimmers who had a minimum of five years competitive swimming experience participated. Men generated greater vertical velocity on both the pike and flat starts. Analyses of variance indicated a relationship foc gender with the most confident swimming start and vertical velocity for the pike and flat starts. In addition, a significant interaction between gender, preferred swimming start, and most confident swimming start was found. Discriminant function analysis using gender as the grouping variable and the dependent variables of vertical velocity and state sport confidence indicated that gender was an indicator of swimmers' performance and state sport confidence on the pike and flat starts.

What Are Confident Athletes Imaging?: An Examination of Image Content

Despite the advocacy of a confidence-enhancing function of mental imagery, the relationship between confidence and imagery has received little attention from sport researchers. The primary purpose of the present study was to identify the specific image content of confident athletes. Fifty-seven elite competitive rollerskaters completed the Movement Imagery Questionnaire-Revised (MIQ-R), the Sport Imagery Questionnaire (SIQ), and the State Sport Confidence Inventory (SSCI). Results revealed that high sport-confident athletes used more mastery and arousal imagery, and had better kinesthetic and visual imagery ability than low sport-confident athletes did. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that mastery imagery accounted for the majority of variance in SSCI scores (20%). The results of this study suggest that when it comes to sport confidence, the imaged rehearsal of specific sport skills may not be as important as the imagery of sport-related mastery experiences and emotions.

Trait Sport Confidence, Goal Orientation and Competitive Experience of Female Collegiate Volleyball Players

The purpose of this study was to examine associations among 66 volleyball players' trait sport confidence, goal orientation, i.e., task or ego, age, upper (junior, senior) or lower (sophomore, freshman) class standing, years of NCAA Division II collegiate volleyball experience, and total years of competitive volleyball experience. Athletes who scored task-oriented and of upper-class standing, i.e., junior or senior in college, had a greater total number of years of competitive volleyball experience than ego-oriented, upper-class standing athletes. Athletes who scored ego-oriented were more likely to have a lower class standing and be younger, and have fewer years of NCAA Division II experience than the task-oriented athletes. Athletes who scored task-oriented had more years of competitive volleyball experience and scored higher on trait sport confidence than ego-oriented athletes.

Self-Confidence and Sports Performance

Self-confidence (SC) is one of the most cited factors thought to affect athletic performance. SC is said to playa critical role in athletes 'success; in contrast, lack ofSC seems to be closely associated with athletic failure. Thus, confidence is an importantfactor that distinguishes successful athletes from unsuccessful ones in terms of both their mental states as well as their performances. However, the precise nature of SC was quite unclear until the publication of Feltz's seminal chapter on this issue. The term self-confidence refers to one's belief that he or she can successfully execute a desired behavior (i.e., his or her belief of T II get the job done). Feltz argued that the exact relationships of SC and performance in sport have not been scientifically clarified in a satisfactory manner. To promote our understanding of the precise nature of these relationships, she first presented several definitions of SC and briefly discussed them with reference to some related terms, such as perceived ability, self-concept, self-esteem, and performance expectancies. Feltz presented three of the major theoretical approaches available at that time for studying these relationships: Bandura 's self-efficacy theory, Harter's perceived competence model, and Vealey 's concept of sport confidence. She not only described the theoretical approaches but also provided extensive research evidence in sport and reviewed some relevant criticisms. Feltz summarized and compared these three approaches and derived some important conclusions referring to the (at that time) updated scientific status of the relationships between SC and sport performance. This seminal chapter did not, of course, completely resolve the riddle of SC in sport. However, Feltz organized and presented the theoretical knowledge relevant to SC in sport at that time and undoubtedly had a profound influence on many researchers in this area, which is theoretically intriguing and has a substantial practical importance for those actively involved in sport.