Data from: 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. Specifically, elite (international) athletes reported more usage than semi-elite (national) counterparts for self-talk, imagery and relaxation respectively. Time-to-competition effects showed imagery use decreased steadily across the three time points while reported usage of relaxation were almost at the same level on two time points (7 days and 1 hour) but decreased 2 days before competition. Conclusions: Findings suggest an implementation of formalized and periodized psychological skills training programs over continuous training cycles. This may foster a positive long-term athletes' psychological state prior to the onset of competition.研究背景与目的：尽管运动心理学领域的研究多聚焦于用于提升运动表现的心理技能应用，但当前研究仅关注比赛期间的心理技能使用，这一现状仍令人费解。目前仍缺乏实证证据支撑赛前阶段心理技能应用的时机与具体内容。本研究旨在探究两个核心问题：其一，在7天的赛前周期内，运动员的心理技能使用是动态变化还是保持稳定；其二，在不同性别与运动水平群体中，是否存在自然学习经历可解释此类技能的习得。 研究方法与结果：本研究招募90名精英与半精英乒乓球运动员，分别在赛前7天、赛前2天、赛前1小时三个时间节点完成《运动表现策略量表（Test of Performance Strategies, TOPS）》的施测。采用重复测量多变量方差分析结合后续检验进行分析，结果显示仅运动水平与赛前剩余时长存在显著的多变量主效应，且二者无交互作用。具体而言，精英（国际级）运动员在自我对话（self-talk）、意象训练（imagery）与放松训练（relaxation）三项技能的使用频率上，均显著高于半精英（国家级）运动员。赛前剩余时长的主效应分析显示：意象训练的使用频率随三个时间节点持续降低；而放松训练的使用频率在赛前7天与赛前1小时两个节点基本持平，但在赛前2天出现下降。 研究结论：本研究结果提示，应在持续训练周期中推行规范化、周期化的心理技能训练方案，这有助于在比赛开赛之前塑造运动员长期积极的心理状态。