Ph.D. K.V. Dikikh
Professor, Dr.Hab. G.D. Babushkin
Siberian State University of Physical Culture, Omsk

Keywords: mental conditioning, speed skating, thinking activity, effectiveness, competitive activity.

Introduction. Athletes' competitive activity is attended with responsibility for results and necessity to solve operational tasks emerging during competitions; which leads to high emotional tension. Effectiveness of competitive activity is pre-determined by a number of factors, among which the characteristic of athlete's thinking activity during training for competitions, its direction and factors stipulating its essence, remain unstudied and go unregarded in the course of training of speedskaters. But they are the basis of mental conditioning. During pre-contest training an athlete can be in abeyance as for the final results. Athletes often complain about uncertainty, instability, inability to control own state, etc. Athlete's thinking activity in such cases can be stuck on his own shortcomings and may retard the growth of his sports skills [3-5]. We assume that one of the significant factors, determining the successful performance in competitions, is athlete's thinking, its content, concentration and direction. In this view, a trainer is to develop effective thinking in athletes, which would render a positive effect on their competitive activity. However, today this seems to be a pressing problem for trainers and athletes, which is conditioned by an insufficient amount of scientific research. Consequently, the content of mental conditioning is an immediate problem in sports psychology, as well as in the theory and methodology of sports training.

Nowadays, mental-psychological preparedness of athletes, competing at different levels and vindicating the honor of our country, is a topical issue in sport. The level of athletes' all-round fitness in speed skating is so high that winners are often divided by two or even three decimal places. All this sets high requirements for their psychological and mental preparedness: even the slightest mistake can prevent an athlete from winning a victory or lower his rating in the final protocol.

In our earlier studies [1, 2] we determined the effects of mental-psychological preparedness of speedskaters on effectiveness of their competitive activity. This served as the basis for the development of a mental conditioning program for speedskaters.

The purpose of the study was to develop and experimentally substantiate the content of the pre-contest mental conditioning program for speedskaters.

Materials and methods. The research methods used were as follows: analysis of documents, athletes' survey, pedagogical supervision, testing, educational experiment and mathematical methods of statistics. The study was conducted in the period from 2009 to 2014 at the premises of SibGUFK (SibSUPC) and SDYuSShOR (Specialized Children and Youth Sports School of the Olympic reserve) № 23 in Omsk. In the first phase the pre-contest mental conditioning program for speedskaters was developed. The second phase of the study (educational experiment) was conducted at the premises of the SDYuSShOR № 23 and involved 42 male speedskaters aged 14-15 years at the start of the experiment. The educational experiment was conducted in the period from April 2010 to March 2014.

Results and discussion. A program has been developed for the long-term training of speedskaters from the stage of in-depth sports specialization. The program is supposed to be implemented in a year-round training of speedskaters. The first stage is realized in the off-season, the second one - at the general and special preparatory phases of the pre-season, the third one - at the pre-contest phase of the pre-season, the fourth one - in the regular season. The program content includes theoretical material for athletes to assimilate during the first part of a training session, and practical training - the main part of a training session.

At the stage of in-depth sports specialization the program is realized in the following manner. At the first and second phases athletes gain psychological knowledge about peculiarities of their training and competitive activities, means, methods and techniques of self-regulation, and assimilate this material when doing practical tasks. At the third phase athletes model their competitive behavior, from warming up on out to going on marks. It is during this period when athletes start thinking harder, so exercises and more appropriate means and methods of self-regulation, which come together to form the model of their competitive behavior, can be selected individually. The fourth phase is dedicated to participation in competitions, and consequently, practical application of the formed behavioral model, where a trainer acts as a coordinator of athlete's actions, since due to sport specifics, during competitions athletes prepare for the start all by themselves.

At the stage of sports improvement the program is realized via correction of the formed behavioral model, basing on competitive experience and models of competitive behavior of elite athletes. At the first phase an individual program for correction of the model of competitive behavior and competitive actions during the contest at a distance is selected together with an athlete. The objective of this phase is to transfer an athlete from the status of an object of sports activity to the status of its subject. At the second phase an athlete is engaged in theoretical classes based on an individualized training program, where an athlete gets knowledge about psychological, physiological and methodological aspects of sports activity, during practical training athletes improve their self-regulation skills. At the third phase the models of competitive behavior of speedskaters and the patterns of competitive actions improve in view of the detected shortcomings. The fourth phase is dedicated to participation in competitions, and consequently, practical application of the formed behavioral model. Here, a trainer acts as a coordinator of athlete's actions, and an athlete prepares for a performance all by himself.

As the result of the conducted experiment, the level of formation of the components of mental-psychological preparedness has increased (Table 1). It can also be noted that the number of athletes in the groups has changed over the past four years, moreover, the number turned out to be significantly higher in the experimental group (12 people) due to greater motivation to sports activities. The 2014 control group was presented by two athletes only.

Table 1. Level of formation of units of mental-psychological preparedness of speedskaters (х ±σ), points

During mental conditioning we analyzed the task solving effectiveness and we can state that the speedskaters from the experimental group participated in competitions being in a more favorable state than the athletes from the control group, which was seen in the improved competitive performance and better competitive task solution (Table 2).

Table 2. Solution of competitive tasks by speedskaters during experiment, %

The analysis of competitive tasks’ solution by the athletes has revealed the statistically significant differences between the speedskaters from the control and experimental groups. Solution of competitive tasks in the experimental group increased by 31% in 2011, by 44% in 2012, by 51% in 2013 and by 54% in 2014, the results of solution of competitive tasks by the athletes from the control group has not changed that significantly: by 28% in four years. As seen from the elaborate study of the target task solution, the largest increase in the athletes from the experimental group accounted for solution of the task related to a contest with an opponent in 2011, in subsequent years it was provided by more rational distribution of efforts when covering a distance. This goes to prove that the athletes from the experimental group, owing to optimization of their thinking activity and high-level mental and psychological preparedness, are capable of better realization of their physical fitness thanks to a more favorable pre-start state which they can control themselves.

As seen from the analysis of the competitive performance, personal records of the athletes from the experimental group have increased more significantly compared with the results shown by the athletes from the control group: 500 m – by 5,1 and 3,5 sec respectively; 1000 m – by 9,7 and 6,5 sec; 1500 m – by 16,4 and 10,2 sec; 3000 m – by 32,2 and 19,6 sec.

In order to study the changes in the following criterion of mental-psychological preparedness of speedskaters, we analyzed the direction of speedskaters' thinking activity, determined its sufficiently high level in the athletes from the experimental group: 54 points of 60 possible and sufficiently low level in the athletes from the control group (45 points).

Let us consider the trend of thought of the speedskaters before competitions.

All the examined athletes form their goal prior to performance, based on sober estimation of their preparedness, and know how to reach it. This is one of the cornerstones of success. However, fewer than all athletes always perform successfully in competitions: only 21% of the examined ones. The rest perform successfully in most cases. All athletes agree that sports achievements depend only on them.

Positive self-suggestion plays a significant part in sports improvement. All athletes use it in their sports activity. This helps them achieve high results. However, not all athletes (71% of such) use positive affirmations when preparing for competitions, apparently, they are not aware of their effect on an increase of sports results and successful performance. Our assumption can be explained by the fact that athletes' appeal to specialized sports literature is a situational rather than a permanent action - on somebody's advice. For instance, permanent affirmation of successful performance in the upcoming competition influences athlete's thoughts. Such affirmation is about filling consciousness with thoughts that would enforce a competitive goal. Vocalized words-affirmations create a suggestion: thoughts to be generated in consciousness before performance. Thus, when thinking out loud "this competition will be a success", consciousness will start generating thoughts related to successful performance.

Success in competition performance depends on the athlete's ability to abstract himself from the extraneous and concentrate on the upcoming activity. As follows from the athlete survey, this skill is underdeveloped, not all athletes can concentrate on the upcoming activity every time they perform. Their minds were crossed by thoughts unrelated to successful performance in competitions. 

In all the athletes their thinking activity prior to competitions and before the start was oriented on successful performance, which is a positive moment. It must also be taken as favorable that consciousness of the majority of athletes (93%) was filled with positive thinking.

Athletes' lack of self-confidence before competitions is a common issue in sports. All surveyed athletes consider themselves confident, lucky, able to demonstrate high results. Rarely before the start athletes (86%) were observed to lack confidence in achievement of the target goal. 14% of the respondents did not have such an experience in their sports practice. Herewith, almost all athletes are blind to the effect of self-confidence before the start on performance results.

Most of athletes (90%) control their pre-start state all by themselves, and succeed in that.

Therefore, the experiment confirmed the developed hypothesis that formation of mental-psychological preparedness in speedskaters would enable them to more accurately estimate their own mental state shortly before the start, select adequate means and methods of optimization of own pre-start state, effectively fight hazards emerging during competitions, which would contribute to successful performance in competitions. 

Conclusions:

• We have developed and experimentally substantiated the pre-contest mental conditioning program for speedskaters, facilitating the realization of their physical fitness in competitions.
• The introduction of the program in the training process of speedskaters have brought the following results: increase of the special knowledge and skill level in this area by 43 points, growth of the level of solutions of competitive problems by athletes by 54% and a significant improvement of individual competitive results at all distances.

References

1. Babushkin, G.D. Kharakteristika myslitel'noy deyatel'nosti sportsmena pered sorevnovaniem i ee diagnostika (Characteristics of athlete’s mental activity before competition and its diagnosis) / G.D. Babushkin, K.V. Dikikh // Aktual'nye problemy fizicheskoy kul'tury i sporta: Materialy Vseros. nauch. konf. (Actual Problems of Physical Culture and Sport: Proc. of scientific. conf.) - Cheboksary: ChSPU (ChSPU), 2013. – P. 7–11.
2. Babushkin, G.D. Intellektual'no-psikhologicheskaya podgotovka sportsmena: monografiya (Mental conditioning of athlete: monograph) / G.D. Babushkin, K.V. Dikikh. – Omsk: SibGUFK (SibSUPC), 2013. – 240 P.
3. Babushkin, G.D. Aktualizatsiya intellektual'noy aktivnosti sportsmena: postanovka problemy (Actualization of athlete's intellectual activity: problem statement). Omskiy nauchny vestnik. – 2012. – № 3. – P. 159–162.
4. Babushkin, G.D. Sila myshleniya v sportivnoy deyatel'nosti (The power of thinking in sports activity). Sportivny psikholog. – 2012. – №. 1. – P. 56–61.
5. Ivanov, A.A. Psikhologiya chempiona. Rabota sportsmena nad soboy. (Champion psychology. Athlete's self-cultivation). – Moscow: Sovetskiy sport, 2012. – 112 P.