Factor structure of psychological fitness of elite ski jumpers

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Zebzeev V.V.
Tchaikovsky State Physical Education and Sport Academy (Tchaikovsky, Russia).
Sokolovskaya S.V.
Tchaikovsky State Physical Education and Sport Academy; National Research Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod (Tchaikovsky, Russia; Nizhny Novgorod, Russia).
Fedoseev A.M.
Federal Science Center of Physical Culture and Sport (VNIIFK) (Moscow, Russia).
Finogenov A.S.
Tchaikovsky State Physical Education and Sport Academy (Tchaikovsky, Russia).

No. 11, pp. 24–26

Received: 19.09.2026 | Published: 23.10.2026

CC BY 4.0

Abstract

Objective of the study is to reveal the factor structure of the psychological resources of the competitive activity of highly qualified ski jumpers. Methods and structure of the study. 13 athletes, members of the national ski jumping team of Russia, took part in the scientific work. The psychological examination was conducted using the KOMPAS, Spielberger-Khanin, ACSI and N. Hall methods. For the identification of the latent structure of the indicators, the analysis of principal components with Varimax rotation was applied; in the interpretation, factor loadings of more than 0.70 were taken into account. The study was conducted on the basis of the Tchaikovsky State Academy of Physical Culture and Sport. Results and conclusions. Four factors were singled out, cumulatively explaining about 69% of the total variance: competitive psychological resilience (24%), emotional competence (18%), cognitive concentration (15%) and internal anxiety (12%). The obtained structure shows that the psychological support of competitive activity includes several relatively independent resources. The results can be used for differentiated diagnostics and the individualisation of the psychological support of athletes.

KEYWORDS

ski jumping, biopsychosocial approach, competitive psychological resilience, emotional competence, anxiety, factor analysis.

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