Mental Skill Assessment of the National Brazilian and Australian Futsal Teams.
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CONTRIBUTORS:
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PROCEEDINGS TITLE:
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YEAR:
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2005
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PUB TYPE:
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Conference Paper in Proceedings
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PAGES:
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n/a -
n/a
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SUBJECT(S):
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Sport Psychology, mental profile, development of expertise in sports, coaching.
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DISCIPLINE:
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Recreation, Sports & Leisure Studies
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HTTP:
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http://www.issp2005.com
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LANGUAGE:
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English
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PUB ID:
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103-424-282
(Last edited on
2008/06/10 13:53:44 GMT-6)
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SPONSOR(S):
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ABSTRACT:
Mental Skill Assessment of the National Brazilian and Australian Futsal Teams
Mauricio P. Marques, Newton S. Vianna Junior and John H. Salmela. Brazil
The purpose of this research was to assess the mental skills of the best futsal players from Brazil and Australia identifying similarities and differences, considering the different realities in which these players were raised.
A total of 45 players (22 Australians and 23 Brazilians) were assessed. The instrument used was the Ottawa Mental Skills Assessment Tool (OMSAT, Durand-Bush, Salmela, & Green-Demers, 2001). The questionnaire includes 48 items and 12 mental skills scales grouped under three broader conceptual components: foundation, psychosomatic, and cognitive skills. Each mental skill is scaled from zero to seven. Demographic data was also collected including age, starting age in the sport and the number of contacts with a sport psychologist over their futsal career.
The OMSAT was applied in youth and open players selected for their national teams, while they were either in training camps or on tour. The players were then grouped and an average of their scores was taken as a team result. We used the multiple T-tests to identify statistical differences between each mental skill with significant level of ¦Á = 5%.
The Australian players on average started playing when they are 12.2 years old. Considering their average age is 23.7, it gives them an average career length of 11.5 years. On the other hand, as expected, the Brazilians had an earlier average start at 8.1 years of age, and at an average age of 24.3, gave them a longer average career length of 16.2 years.
The results from the OMSAT have more similarities than differences, but the response sets were difficult to assess. Some athletes might have purposely rated their mental skills higher to make themselves look more favorable. This issue was somewhat controlled in this case, since the researcher administered the questionnaires in person and ensured that the participants clearly understood what was required and they took their time to fill out the questionnaire as suggested by Durand-Bush (1995).
Considering the general high scores, the test confirmed the elite profile of both teams. Durand Bush (1995) defined elite athletes as members of a national sport team or athletes who competed internationally. Despite the infrastructure difference between the amateur and professional realities, both teams showed an acceptable level of mental readiness. This suggests that mental skills may have facilitated the achievement of their current international representation of their countries, and differentiating them from less skilled players. It would be interesting for further research to collect data from competitive players in both countries to cross examine this discrimination.
The Brazilians showed better scores for goal-setting, self-confidence and imagery, while the Australians scored higher on refocusing, the worst score of the Brazilians, with the worst scores of the Australian was mental practice.
Sport psychology researchers are convinced that mental skills are linked to excellence in sport. It is also suggested that these skills should be constantly refined as part of a specific mental training program. However, it was found that these players had very little specialized assistance by sport psychologists during their careers. This shows that the level of mental skills acquired by the players was developed without a structured psychological training program. It appears that these skills were developed naturally by trial and error, but certainly seemed to contribute to the players¡¯ pathway to excellence.
We can conclude that the different professional realities of the sport in Brazil and in Australia did not affect the development of players¡¯ mental skills.
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