Houwer, R. (Ruben) (2016) Mental toughness in talented tennis players: A comparison between on-court observations and a self-reported measure. thesis, Sport Sciences.
Full text available on request.Abstract
In tennis, mental toughness is often considered highly important in achieving elite level. The current study is the first to examine behavioural expressions of mental toughness on court, and their relationships with self-report measures. Based on the input of five experienced tennis coaches of junior tennis players and behaviours used in previous studies, a taxonomy was developed, consisting of six positive behaviours and ten negative behaviours. To investigate the relationship between these on-court behaviours of mental toughness and how the players rate their own mental toughness−emotional control in particular−, six talented tennis players (aged 10-13) were recorded during tennis matches and filled in the self-reported measure of mental toughness (MTQ48). The intra- and inter-rater reliability of the taxonomy was high. With regard to the relationships between on-court behaviours and self-reported mental toughness (total score and subscale emotional control), results revealed no significant correlations between the ratios of positive and negative behaviours (range r = -0.49 – 0.11, p > 0.05) or between the variability of negative behaviours (r = 0.54 & r = 0.10, p > 0.05) and the self-report measure. However, interestingly, negative correlations were found between the variability of positive behaviours and self-reported mental toughness (r = -0.93 & r = -0.84, p < 0.05).These results suggest that variability in on-court behaviours reveal interesting information about tennis players’ mental toughness, more specifically on the (in)stability of their psychological state during a match. Tennis coaches and sport psychologists could use this information to enhance the mental toughness of junior tennis players. Key words: emotional control, behavioural expressions, variability, performance, youth sports
| Item Type: | Thesis (UNSPECIFIED) |
|---|---|
| Supervisor name: | Huijgen, B. and Kramer, T. and Hartigh, R. den |
| Faculty: | Medical Sciences |
| Date Deposited: | 22 Apr 2022 14:42 |
| Last Modified: | 22 Apr 2022 14:42 |
| URI: | https://umcg.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/3148 |
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