Effectiveness of a Mindfulness-Based Skill Development Program on Elite Archers’ Mental Skills and Mindfulness Levels

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based skill training program on elite archers’ mental skills and mindfulness levels. This study comprised 11 elite archers from the Rio Preparation Camp 2016, ranging in age from 16 to 25 years. Five of the participants were female and six were male. The design of this study was one-group pretest-posttest design and Wilcoxon signed rank test was used for analyzing the data. Mental ability of participants was measured using The Ottawa Mental Skills Assessment Tool-3 and the Five Facets Mindfulness Questionnaire measured the mindfulness levels of the elite archers. The program upon which the study was conducted was an 8-week mindfulness-based skill training program, presented in 90 minute sessions. This study found that, in terms of mental skills, elite archers’ scores in refocusing, competition planning, activation, and relaxation significantly increased on completion of the program. According to the findings that there was also a significant increase in archers’ scores in four subscales of mindfulness: observe, acting with awareness, describe, and nonreactivity to inner experience. These results indicate that an 8-week mindfulness-based skill training program contribute to improvements in elite athletes’ mental skills and mindfulness. On completion of the program, participants experienced increased energy levels, were more focused on competition planning and found it easier to refocus.

Keywords

• mindfulness-based skill training program,
• mindfulness,
• mental skills,
• elite archers,
• sport psychology.

Farkındalık Temelli Beceri Geliştirme Programının Elit Okçuların Mental Becerileri ve Farkındalık Düzeyleri Üzerindeki Etkililiğinin İncelenmesi

Öz

Bu çalışmanın amacı, farkındalık temelli beceri geliştirme programının elit okçuların mental becerileri ve farkındalık düzeyleri üzerindeki etkililiğini incelemektir. Araştırma Rio 2016 Hazırlık Kampında yer alan yaşları 16 ile 25 arasında değişen 11 elit okçudan oluşmuştur. Katılımcıların 5’i kadın ve 6’sı erkektir. Bu araştırmanın yönteminde tek grup öntest-sontest kontrol grupsuz deney deseni kullanılmıştır. Araştırmada veriler, Wilcoxon işaretli sıralar testi ile analiz edilmiştir. Katılımcıların mental yetenekleri, Ottawa Mental Yetenek Değerlendirme Ölçeği – 3 ve farkındalık düzeyleri Beş Boyutlu Bilinçli Farkındalık Ölçeği kullanılarak ölçülmüştür. Çalışmada, 90 dakikalık oturumlar halinde sunulan 8 haftalık Farkındalık Temelli Beceri Geliştirme programı uygulanmıştır. Bu çalışmada, mental beceriler açısından elit okçuların rahatlama-gevşeme, canlandırma-enerji, mücadele planı ve yeniden odaklanma puanlarının anlamlı düzeyde arttığı bulunmuştur. Farkındalığın, gözlemleme, tanımlama, farkındalıkla davranma ve içsel deneyimlere tepkisizlik alt boyutlarına ait puanlarının da anlamlı düzeyde arttığı bulunmuştur. Bu sonuçlar, 8 haftalık Farkındalık Temelli Beceri Geliştirme programının elit sporcuların mental becerileri ve farkındalık düzeylerinin gelişmesine katkıda bulunduğunu göstermektedir. Bu bulgular ışığında programın katılımcıların gevşeme ve enerji düzeylerinin artmasına, mücadele planı hazırlamaya ve yeniden odaklanmaya olumlu yönde etki eden bir program olduğu söylenebilir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• farkındalık temelli beceri geliştirme programı,
• farkındalık,
• mental beceriler,
• spor psikolojisi.

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