Dr.Sc. Psych., Associate Professor N.V. Podbutskaya¹
PhD, Associate Professor Yu.G. Chebakova^1
1National Technical University "Kharkov Polytechnic Institute", Kharkov

Modern team sports give a special priority to the factors of influence on competitive performance. The study analyzes benefits of the mental conditioning service in the team sports; practical and experimental aspects of the athletes mental controls; and the individual progress securing psychological factors. Objective of the study was to profile the key individual mental performance factors in the professional basketball and analyze the professional basketball players’ psychological profiles versus the amateur ones.
Sampled for the study were the professional male basketball players competing in the Basketball Federation’s Super League (n =22, aged 23.2 years on average, with the average record of 15.2 years) and amateur basketball players (n=32, aged 19.4 years with the sport records of 2.7 years on average). We used a factorial analysis to prioritize the dominating personality mental qualities of professional basketball players including the emotional factor (factor 1); external regulation factor for teamwork (factor 2); and attention to the teammates (factor 3). Generally a perfect basketball professional demonstrates emotional maturity, confidence, endurance, high mental controls, teamwork skills, sensitivity to the teammates, open mindedness, good communication, openness to positive emotions and impressions. On the whole, the dominant psychological qualities in the psychological personality profiles of the amateur basketball players were found less expressed. Therefore, the professional basketball players were tested with a clear hierarchy of dominant sport-specific mental qualities versus the amateur players. The study found the mental qualities, motivations and personal priorities critical for competitive success in modern basketball.

Keywords: professional basketball, key mental qualities, motivations, individual psychological profile.

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