Exploring temporal patterning of psychological skills usage during the week leading up to competition: lessons for developing intervention programmes

Background and purpose: Although sport psychology literature focuses on psychological skills use to promote proficiency, it is still puzzling that current research has focused on psychological skills use only during competition. There remains a scarcity of empirical evidence to support the timing, and content of psychological skill application during the time preceding competition. This study examined the extent to which psychological skills usage are dynamic or stable over a 7-day pre-competitive period and whether any natural learning experiences might have accounted for the acquisition of these skills across gender and skill level. Methods and results: Ninety elite and semi-elite table tennis players completed the Test of Performance Strategies (TOPS) at three different periods (7 days, 2 days, 1hour) before competition. A MANOVA repeated measures with follow-up analyses revealed significant multivariate main effects for only skill level and time-to-competition with no interactions. ...研究背景与研究目的：尽管运动心理学领域的文献多聚焦于通过应用心理技能提升运动表现水平，但令人费解的是，当前研究仅关注竞赛进行期间的心理技能应用。目前仍缺乏实证证据，以支撑竞赛前阶段中心理技能应用的时机与内容相关研究。本研究旨在探究：在赛前7天的周期内，运动员的心理技能应用是动态变化还是保持稳定；同时验证是否存在自然学习体验，能够解释不同性别与运动等级群体对这类技能的掌握情况。研究方法与研究结果：90名优秀及半优秀乒乓球运动员分别在赛前三个不同时间节点（赛前7天、赛前2天、赛前1小时）完成了运动表现策略量表（Test of Performance Strategies, TOPS）的测试。采用带后续分析的重复测量多元方差分析（MANOVA）进行检验，结果显示仅运动等级与赛前剩余时长存在显著的多变量主效应，二者无交互作用。……