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  • Competitive_performance_effects_of_psychological_skills_training_for_young_swimmers

    Rights statement: The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 126 (5), 2019, © SAGE Publications Ltd, 2019 by SAGE Publications Ltd at the Perceptual and Motor Skills page: https://journals.sagepub.com/home/pms/ on SAGE Journals Online: http://journals.sagepub.com/

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Competitive Performance Effects of Psychological Skill Training for Youth Swimmers

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

Published
<mark>Journal publication date</mark>1/10/2019
<mark>Journal</mark>Perceptual and Motor Skills
Issue number5
Volume126
Number of pages18
Pages (from-to)886-903
Publication StatusPublished
Early online date11/06/19
<mark>Original language</mark>English

Abstract

This study assessed the effect of two different psychological methods of skills training-self-talk and goal setting-on the swimming performance of youth swimmers. We allocated a convenience sample of club and county level youth swimmers ( N  = 49; M age  = 10.8, SD  = 1.25) to one of the three groups: self-talk, goal setting, or a control group engaged in no systematic psychological method of skills training. The groups were balanced in terms of competitive performance ability, age, and gender. Participants in the experimental conditions (self-talk and goal setting) completed a 5-week psychological skills intervention program and were measured on pre- and post-200-m swimming time in competition. After controlling for level of engagement in the program, analysis of covariance revealed a significant omnibus effect ( p  = .006, η p 2  = .20) with post hoc pairwise comparisons using magnitude-based statistics demonstrating that goal setting had a small positive effect compared with self-talk ( η 2 = .40; ± 0.45). Both self-talk ( η 2 = .50; ±0.48) and goal setting ( η 2 = .71; ±0.4) showed a small and moderate positive effect, respectively, relative to the control group. A social validation check confirmed that the swimmers found the intervention to be relevant, beneficial, and meaningful for improving performance. Psychological skills training may be effective in improving youth swimming performance; specific mechanisms underlying these benefits need further exploration.

Bibliographic note

The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 126 (5), 2019, © SAGE Publications Ltd, 2019 by SAGE Publications Ltd at the Perceptual and Motor Skills page: https://journals.sagepub.com/home/pms/ on SAGE Journals Online: http://journals.sagepub.com/