The Development and Initial Evaluation of Two Promising Mental Preparatory Methods in a Sample of Female Cross Country Runners

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2001

Publication Title

Journal of Sport Behavior

Volume

24

Issue

1

First page number:

19

Last page number:

30

Abstract

The development of standardized mental preparation procedures specific to cross country running performance is delineated, including a preliminary assessment of the relative efficacy of these interventions in 6 Division I female cross country runners (n=6) in the USA. The interventions occur immediately prior to running, and involve: asking athletes to report current thoughts and feelings; stating motivational phrases to the athlete; and instructing athletes to focus on actions that are consistent with optimum performance. In the origination of these interventions, athletes were employed to assist in the generation of specific content. A preliminary evaluation of these interventions involved performance comparisons between 1000 m baseline trials, and 1000 m trials for each runner consequent to each of the interventions (a Latin square experimental design was utilized to counterbalance effects due to the order in which interventions were implemented, i.e., control for fatigue/practice effects). Preliminary results, including consumer satisfaction indices completed by the cross country runners who participated in this study, suggest the motivational and instructional interventions are most promising. Future recommendations are discussed in light of these results.

Disciplines

Psychology | Sports Sciences

Language

English


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