PhD, Associate Professor M.A. Kuzmin¹
PhD, Associate Professor S.Yu. Tatarova¹
Yu.V. Shakirova¹
V.A. Zhikhoreva¹
I.N. Antonova¹
S.Yu. Vitko^1
1Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, Moscow

Keywords: differential sport psychology, mental adaptation, team sports, adaptability factors, adaptability criteria, competitive environment.

Background. The study considers some issues of differential sport psychology based on findings of М.А. Kuzmin (2018) and analyzes the competitive mental adaptability in sports on the whole and in modern team sports in particular. The initiatives to develop and apply the case-specific approaches to the training system design in view of every sport specifics and requirements to athletes are currently in high priority in the theory and practice of sports.

Modern competitive team sports are specific in the sense that they require the individual progress and accomplishments of every athlete contributing to the competitive teamwork for the team success – that depends on how high the individual mastery of every player and the team performance on the whole are in every match. Competitive performance in team sports may be described as the process driven by a synergy of individual performances in many encounters with opponents in a wide variety of game situations and conditions.

Modern competitive teamwork requires high nervous, mental and physical efforts and exposes the athletes to a lot of stress. The competitors have to mobilize and concentrate in the game to respond to the volatile game situation in a fast and efficient manner. Every team sport implies high physical loads and widely versatile and highly intensive actions, with the individual technical and tactical skills and actions largely determined by the game roles of the players – that means that the competitive performances are different depending on the game roles. It should also be mentioned that competitions in the modern team sports attract crowds of supporters that may be of encouraging, discouraging and distracting effects on the competitors. A special contribution to the competitive teamwork is made by a variety of social and psychological factors with concern to the interpersonal relations in the team that are critical for the individual game-role-specific efforts to be duly harmonized and efficient.

Objective of the study was to identify and analyze theoretical and practical grounds for the competitive mental adaptation in modern team sports.

Methods and structure of the study. The methods applied for the study purposes were as follows: G.D. Gorbunov’s intellectual performance efficiency rating test; M.A. Kuzmin’s performance conditions and outcomes rating tests; A.N. Nikolayev’s mental status rating tests; "The Motivation to Success" test by T. Ehlers; Y. Strelyau’s temperament diagnosis method; Brengelman Personality Inventory; B.N. Smirnova’s willpower rating test; A.L. Gorfinkel and I.L. Keleynikov Q-sort competitive spirit rating test; D. Rotter’s self-control stock test; N.I. Reinvald's self-discipline rating test; Spielberg-Khanin State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) tests; Vagner’s aggressiveness rating ‘hand-test’; N.A. Nikolayeva’s sport motivations rating test; and A.G. Maklakov, S.V. Cheremyanin (M.A. Kuzmin, 2012) adaptability rating test. 

Sampled for the study purposes were the 15-21 year-old (n=563) athletes trained by the Children and Youth Sport Schools and Centers specialized in the following team/ combat/ cyclic/ artistic sports, respectively: basketball (n=142); judo (n=139); cross-country skiing (n=138); and figure skating (n=144) (M.A. Kuzmin, 2012, 2017).

Study findings and discussion. The study data and analyses made it possible to find the key factors of mental adaptation to competitive environments with the relevant sets of the general and specific adaptability rating criteria. It was found that the general mental adaptation rating criteria include competitive environment rating ability; competitive success rating ability; and prestart condition rating criteria (M.A. Kuzmin, 2012, 2017, 2018).

The study found the general and sport-specific criteria to rate the competitive conditions, with the general competitive environment rating criterion being sport unspecific (M.A. Kuzmin, 2017).

The team-sport-specific adaptability rating criteria include the subjective rates of the external factors of influence that may not always be forecasted.

The competitive success forecasts were ranked by the reliability classes as follows: the competitive success rates in the combat sports are most predictable followed by team sports; artistic and cyclic sports are ranked third and fourth, respectively (M.A. Kuzmin, 2017).

The pre-start conditions rating tests showed the widest variations of mental conditions and activity rates being typical for modern team sports. The pre-start anxiety and activity rates were found to peak in the so-called prestart fever in some cases that may be detrimental to competitive performance.

Basically, the objective criteria of the individual adaptation to competitive conditions are dominated by the intellectual performance and competitive adaptability rates, with the rates being largely sports-specific. By the intellectual performance contribution to the competitive success, the subject sports may be ranked as follows: the combat sports are most demanding to the intellectual qualities and performance followed by team sports; and cyclic and artistic sports, respectively (M.A. Kuzmin, 2014).

As far as the second subjective (experts-rated) criterion of an individual adaptation to the competitive environment is concerned, ranked first were team sports followed by cyclic sports; and ranked third and fourth were team and artistic sports, respectively.

The individual mental adaptation to competitive environments in different sport disciplines is determined by the external factors including the competitive conditions and social statuses of the athletes. The social statuses include sport qualifications and track records i.e. practical competitive experiences in the vocational sports that are critical for successful adaptation process (M.A. Kuzmin, 2014). It was found that the objective adaptability control factors are of different effects on the adaptation process success. In the team sports, for instance, the key role is played by the competitive process design, location, climatic conditions and interpersonal communication climate in the team.

A comparative data analysis made it possible to find the sport-specific differences in the personality qualities for the study purposes. The modern team sports were found most demanding to the communication abilities and interpersonal climate internality versus the other sport disciplines.

A correlation analysis was applied to sort out the general and specific personality qualities of influence on the individual adaptability to competitive environments in different sport disciplines. The sport-unspecific general personality qualities of the highest influence on the individual adaptability are the following: high individual success motivations; good individual adaptation resource; internal locus of control (i.e. the general internality critical for the individual responsibility for individual progress on the whole); and good self-management, purposefulness and determination. The specific personality qualities of the highest importance for success of competitive adaptation process in the team sports are the following: temperament-shaping qualities including nervous process excitability and volatility rates; and communication abilities i.e. internality level in the interpersonal relationship and human relations on the whole.

General motivational factors of influence on the competitive adaptation process and, hence, the competitive success rates are the following: competitive spirit; due motivations for competitive process and accomplishments on the whole; and sport-specific success motivations. Specific motivational factors and the relevant personality determinants were found to be sport-specific. In the team sports, for instance, they are dominated by the social/ communication-driven motivations that are largely determined by the individual communication qualities, abilities and internality levels of the interpersonal relationship in the team.

Conclusion. The study data and findings are recommended for application in the initiatives to improve and facilitate the competitive adaptation of athletes on a differentiated basis to advance and optimize the individual sport-specific adaptation processes. The adaptation facilitating technology includes the general and sport-specific adaptability advancement tools that may be applied by individual athletes and training groups with due account of the individual progress in the mental adaptation to the sport-specific competitive environments; with the individualized and teamwork-centered approaches being equally implemented in the technology.

References

1. Averyasova J.O. Gotovnost basketbolistov k sorevnovatelnoy deyatelnosti [Competitive fitness of basketball players]. Teoriya i praktika fiz. kultury, 2018, no. 3, P. 73.
2. Kuzmin A. A. Metodologicheskie aspekty issledovaniya faktorov adaptirovannosti sportsmenov k sorevnovaniyam [Methodological aspects of study of athletes' сompetitive adaptation factors]. Teoriya i praktika fiz. kultury, 2014, no. 2, pp. 58–60.
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Corresponding author: fizkult@teoriya.ru

Abstract

The study considers some issues of differential sport psychology with concern to the competitive mental adaptability in team sports, and specifies the key general and specific external and internal factors of influence on success of the competitive mental adaptation process in sports on the whole and the modern team sports in particular. The study offers a set of general competitive mental adaptation rating criteria with a subset of the team-sports-specific criteria. The general mental adaptation rating criteria include the competitive environment rating ability; competitive success rating ability; and the prestart condition rating criteria. Objective criteria include the intellectual performance and competitive adaptability rating criteria. The sport-specific adaptability criteria include the competitive environment rating ones including the social and climatic conditions, external uncertainties, prestart mental conditions and the emotional balance rating criteria.

Objective competitive adaptability rating factors include the competitive conditions and social factors rating ones. Subjective competitive adaptability factors include the individual emotional, volitional and motivational qualities and abilities. The educational and mental conditioning services in team sports shall be designed with due consideration for the individual competitive adaptability rates of the athletes.