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The Effect of Mental Training on Motor Performance of Tennis and Field Hockey Strokes in Novice Players

Numerous papers have been published in recent years related to the importance of mental training in sports. Mental training is the segment of sports psychology that concentrates specifically on helping athletes break through the mental barriers that are keeping them from performing up to their peak potential. 

Tennis and field hockey are complex and dynamic games in which players repeatedly make decisions regarding stroke technique selection. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the mental training of motor performance can be useful or not in learning tennis and field hockey strokes (forehand, backhand; push pass, hit).

The study was carried out on the basis of teaching an interventional sport education program of tennis and field hockey. 24 university students participated in the study and were divided into 12 students for the experimental group and 12 students for the scientific treatment of the tests, recruited from the 3rd grade of the Faculty of Physical Education for Men, Alexandria University, Egypt. Subjects were novice in tennis and field hockey with ages between 19 - 20 years old, which would respond better to the demands of the questionnaire used. The experimental group attended 16 sessions (8 for tennis, 8 for field hockey) over six weeks (40 minutes each) and used mental training exercises (relaxation, visualization and concentration-attention control) pertinent to the forehand, backhand in tennis and push pass, hit in field hockey. Two waves of measurements were conducted (before and after the completion of the intervention) with the use of motor assessment tests related to the sport of tennis and field hockey. Each student was evaluated regarding to his technique of forehand, backhand in tennis and push pass, hit in field hockey in order to examine the effectiveness of mental training. Questionnaires were also used to measure visualization and concentration-attention control.

The results showed a highly significant improvement in learning forehand, backhand in tennis and push pass in field hockey. However, no statistical difference was found for the performance of the hit stroke in field hockey. In addition, the findings showed also a significant difference between the initial and the final measurement regarding to the ability of concentration and visualization by using questionnaires. The results revealed a value of 0.780 which indicates a good reliability of the tool.

In conclusion, a combination of mental and practical training promises the greatest improvement in performance and learning, because it involves all senses.

Article by Khaled Hegazy, et al, from Germany and Egypt.

Full access: http://t.cn/EtTJw0t
Image by All Hallows School, from Flickr-cc.

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