MENTAL TOUGHNESS & ATHLETIC COPING SKILLS

IN COMPETITIVE-LEVEL FILIPINO DRAGON-BOAT PADDLERS

Mona Liza A. Maghanoy, R. N. Faculty, UP- College of Human Kinetics Graduate Student, UP-CSSP Dept. of Psychology

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

MENTAL TOUGHNESS IS ONE OF THE MAJOR INTERESTS OF SPORT PSYCHOLOGISTS

4 C’s(KOBASA, 1979)

CONTROL COMMITMENT

CHALLENGE

CONFIDENCE

WHAT IS MENTAL TOUGHNESS?

• Generally, cope better than your opponents with the many demands (competition, training, lifestyle) that sport places on a performer.

• Specifically, be more consistent and better than your opponents in remaining determined, focused, confident, and in control under pressure.

• (HANTON & CONNAUGHTON, 2002)

FRAMEWORKBETTER

PERFORMANCE

MENTAL TOUGHNESS • CONTROL • COMMITMMENT • CALLENGE • CONFIDENCE

COPING ABILITY

“Mental toughness, optimism, pessimism, and coping among athletes” (Nicholls et. al, 2007)

THE NATURE OF DRAGON BOAT RACING

The unique nature of Dragon boat paddling as a group sport which requires maximum physical exertion for up to 180 to 300 seconds while being attuned to boat movement, lead command and biomechanics of 19 other paddlers, suggests a certain degree of psychological regulation for optimal performance

Filipinos making waves in Dragonboat international scene

OFFICIAL GAZETTE, 2013

METHODOLOGY

• SURVEY TYPE – ONLINE & ON PAPER

– PARTICIPANTS • 52 DRAGONBOAT PADDLERS • Mean of 37 months of training/ participation

– ANALYSIS • -descriptive statistics • Correlational studies • Regression analysis

RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS

ATHLETIC COPING INDEX

COPING WITH

ADVERSITY

GOAL SETTING &

MENTAL PREPARATION

CONFIDENCE & ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION

PEAKING UNDER

PRESSURE

CONCENTRATION

FREEDOM FROM

WORRYCOACHABILITY

(Smith, Schultz, Smoll, & Ptacek, 1995)

ACSI-284-point Lickert scale scoring 0 = almost never 1 = sometimes2 = often 3 = almost always

COPING INDEX= total score in all subscales; highest possible score is 84 SUBSCALE SCORES= highest possible score is 12

Psychological Performance Inventory (Loehr, 1986)

MENTAL TOUGHNESS

Self-Confidence

Negative Energy

Attention Control

Visual & Imagery Control

Motivation Level

Positive Energy

Attitude Control

PPI• 42-item self-report instrument • a 5 point system where

– ‘1’ (Almost Never) to – ‘ 5’ (Almost Always).

• LOW: 6 HIGH 30 • TOTAL SCORE 42-210 • Sample items:

“I project the outward image of a confident fighter.” “I give 100 percent effort during play, no matter what.”

• Evaluation of the scores per aspect – 26 – 30 -Excellent Skills – 20 – 25- Room for Improvement – 6 – 19 Needs Special Attention

RESULTS & FINDINGS: MENTAL TOUGHNESS

MT TOTAL

TOTALFemalesMales

MENTAL TOUGHNESS PROFILE OF DRAGONBOAT PADDLERS

  Self-Confidence

Negative Energy

Attention Control

Visual and

Imagery Control

Motivation Level

  Positive Energy

Attitude Control

Males 27.11 21.56 19.33 25.59 26.33 26.52 26.96

Females 25.92 20.85 18.65 24.54 26.38 26.35 26.38

TOTAL 26.50 21.21 18.96 24.98 26.31 26.44 26.67

FINDINGS• Dragonboat paddlers are MENTALLY TOUGH With an average of 171 out of 210 in MT scores • Both males and females have the same level

of mental toughness • Males appear to have high self-confidence • Females have high motivational level and

Attitude control • Attention control appears to be less developed

in both groups • NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THEM

IN ANY OF THE MENTAL TOUGHNESS SCALES

MT SCALES MALES FEMALES IN GENERAL

SELF-CONFIDENCE

EXCELLENT EXCELLENT EXCELLENT

NEGATIVE ENERGY

FOR IMPROVEMENT FOR IMPROVEMENT FOR IMPROVEMENT

ATTENTION CONTROL

NEEDS SPECIAL ATTENTION

NEEDS SPECIAL ATTENTION

NEEDS SPECIAL ATTENTION

VISUAL & IMAGERY CONTROL

EXCELLENT FOR IMPROVEMENT FOR IMPROVEMENT

MOTIVATION EXCELLENT EXCELLENT EXCELLENT

POSITIVE ENERGY

EXCELLENT NEEDS SPECIAL ATTENTION

NEEDS SPECIAL ATTENTION

ATTITUDINAL CONTROL

EXCELLENT NEEDS SPECIAL ATTENTION

NEEDS SPECIAL ATTENTION

RESULTS & FINDINGS:ATHLETIC COPING

AT TOTAL

ATHLETIC COPING SKILLS OF

DRAGONBOAT PADDLERS

FREE FR WORRY

PEAK UNDER PRESSURE

COPE W/ ADVERSITY

CONCENTRATION

COACHABILITY

CONFID & ACHVMNT MOTIVATION

GOAL SET & MENTAL PREP

0.00 2.75 5.50 8.25 11.00

TOTALFemalesMales

Comparison Of Means of ATHLETIC COPING Between Male And Female Dragonboat Paddlers

AC components

t-value Sig. (p-value)

COPING WITH ADVERSITY

2.495 0.016*

PEAKING UNDER PRESSURE

2.965 0.05*

FINDINGS• Filipino Dragonboat paddlers are at an intermediate

level when it comes to ATHLETIC COPING ABILITY

• MALES AND FEMALES HAVE RELATIVELY THE SAME LEVEL OF ATHLETIC COPING ABILITY

• MALES AND FEMALES DIFFER IN THE USE OF • PEAKING UNDER PRESSURE & COPING WITH ADVERSITY

• In General, COACHABILITY as a coping skill is highly employed by Dragonboat Paddlers

• Coping skill least used is FREEDOM FROM WORRY for both groups

MENTAL TOUGHNESS & ATHLETIC COPING

Correlational study

• The Mental Toughness and Athletic Coping Skills correlate positively and significantly with each other BUT:

• COACHABILITY has no significant relationship with Attention Control & Visual & Imagery Control

• FREEDOM FROM WORRY is unrelated to & Visual & Imagery Control, Motivational Level and Positive Energy

MENTAL TOUGHNESS

• Age and training years are not factors in predicting mental toughness scores

• ATHLETIC COPING SKILLS significantly predict Mental Toughness – R2 = .755 – ANOVA F(9, 43)= 14. 77, p= .000 – Particularly CONFIDENCE AND ACHIEVEMENT

MOTIVATION as coping skill translates to High Mental Toughness

ATHLETIC COPING

• Age and training years are not factors in predicting athletic coping scores

• MENTAL TOUGHNESS SCORESS significantly predict ATHLETIC COPING ABILITY – R2 = .779 – ANOVA F( 9, 43)= 16.814, p= .000 – Particularly CONFIDENCE AND ACHIEVEMENT

MOTIVATION as coping skill translates to High Mental Toughness

CONCLUSION• Dragonboat Paddlers are generally, mentally

tough. • Males and Females have the same level of

mental toughness in terms of its components

• Athletic Coping Ability is at intermediate level – High reliance on Authority, (coach) initially seen – Males and Females utilize athletic coping skills

with the same degree Except in Peaking Under Pressure & Coping with Adversity.

NICHOLLS et. al, 2007

• In particular, higher levels of mental toughness were associated with more problem or approach coping strategies (mental imagery, effort expenditure, thought control, and logical analysis) but less use of avoidance

• coping strategies (distancing, mental distraction, and resignation).

• MENTAL TOUGHNESS AND ATHLETIC COPING ABILITY IN Filipino Dragonboat Paddlers are correlated.

• To improve one, a psychological skills training program can be geared to adress the other.

• Competitive Dragonboat paddling is an ever-growing sport in the Philippines and it is evident that Filipinos have a talent for it.

• In Understanding the psychological processes involved in the engagement of this sport, we contribute to its growth and its eventual benefits to Filipinos and the nation as well.

MENS SANA INCORPORE SANO