PhD, Associate Professor L.G. Maydokina¹
PhD, Associate Professor A.V. Kokurin¹
Master's student R.V. Kornishina^1
1Mordovian State Pedagogical Institute named after M.E. Evseviev, Saransk

Keywords: mental conditioning, mental set, Greco-Roman wrestlers, elite sport excellence stage, training, competitive performance.

 

Background. It is quite common nowadays that failures in multiple international sport competitions are increasingly explained by drawbacks in the athletes’ mental conditioning for the events, with the coaches and athletes complaining being not ready for the high mental pressures; susceptible to burnouts; or recognizing that the competitor(s) was (were) underestimated; or the athlete failed to develop a proper mindset for the bout; etc. On the whole, the growing competitiveness in the international sports and the increasingly biased attitudes of the leading international sport organizations to Russian athletes force the national sport community give a special priority to special mental conditioning tools for elite athletes.  

The modern elite Greco-Roman wrestling sport is particularly demanding to the athletes’ mental conditioning competences and skills so they could effectively cope with the emotional and direct psychological pressures typical for every close-contact sport on the whole and wrestling sport in particular. The modern training systems are designed to secure progress in both competitive techniques and mental conditioning components with an emphasis on the opponent-specific trainings and conditioning for his fight plan, fitness, agenda, personality traits etc. versus own resource and situation for success. Since physical, technical and tactical abilities in the modern elite sport are close enough, a decisive role is often played by intelligence, acumen and analytical skills to realize the opponent’s fight plan, mental and physical fitness with its strong and weak aspects to effectively use the analysis for success. This is the reason why in the modern sport training systems such high priority is being given to the mental conditioning tools in an athletic training process [2].

Presently the Regional Practical Research Center for Physical Culture and Healthy Lifestyles under Mordovian State Pedagogical Institute (MSPI) runs a project to find the most efficient mental conditioning tools and technologies and build up the relevant competences and skills in the coaching teams [1-4].

Objective of the study was to rate the elite national Greco-Roman wrestlers’ mental fitness and test a special mental conditioning model designed for the elite sport excellence stage.

Methods and structure of the study. The study was performed at the Regional Practical Research Center for Physical Culture and Healthy Lifestyles under MSPI. Sampled for above study purposes were elite Greco-Roman wrestlers (n=14) qualified Masters of Sport and World Class Masters of Sport trained at the  Olympic Reserve Wrestling Sport School named after A.V. Mashin. The study took two years and included fact-finding, experimental training and progress test stages. The research methods applied were as follows: Greco-Roman Wrestlers Mental Fitness Testing questionnaire survey form of our own design; and the Athlete’s General Mental Fitness Test method.

Study findings and discussion. At the fact-finding stage, we tested the pre-experimental mental fitness of the sample by the questionnaire survey. The survey data showed most of the athletes giving a due priority to the mental conditioning tools in the individual training systems with a special emphasis on the mindsets for the event; and the mental qualities critical for success in the modern Greco-Roman wrestling including attention, self-confidence and mental balancing skills. It should be noted that most of the athletes confessed being still in need of due mental conditioning competences and skills for success in competitions – and willing to master or excel these competences and skills via a special training course. Therefore, the primary survey data and analyses showed most of the sample being aware of the benefits of the modern mental conditioning tools albeit their actual competency in this domain was tested still too poor or narrow i.e. limited by their own habitual – and not always efficient – pre-competitive mental setting, willpower building and motivating methods.

Furthermore, we applied the Athlete’s General Mental Fitness Test to rate the mental fitness of the sample in the context of the V.R. Malkin’s interpretation of mental fitness as the top alertness of the individual mental control system with its five components including goals-and-motivational, data-processing-and-analyzing, emotional-and-volitional; executive-and-corrective; and performance-energy ones [5].

The pre-experimental test data failed to show any case of low mental fitness in neither of the above components, with most of the sample diagnosed with the moderate mental fitness in emotional-and-volitional; executive-and-corrective; and performance-energy components. A few athletes in the sample were tested with high mental fitness in the goals-and-motivational and data-processing-and-analyzing components. Therefore, the pre-experimental mental fitness of the sample was generally moderate in every component.

At the experimental training stage, the sample was trained using the special mental conditioning model of our own design including theoretical and practical training modules. The theoretical training module was intended to give due competency in the mental conditioning basics critical for success in the elite Greco-Roman wrestling sport; and the practical training module was geared to develop, on an individualized basis, the specific mental qualities critical for success in the sport discipline. Special emphasis in the trainings was made on the following issues: must-win mindsets in the sport; mental self-rating and self-control; insistence and determination; decisiveness and courage; confidence building basics; competitive fear and anxiety control tools; responsibility and diligence developing tools; right attitudes to failures and accomplishments in the sport; etc.

It is no secret that success in the modern sport is secured, among other things, by a few critical individual mental qualities driven by willpower, fighting spirit and ethics. The special mental conditioning model tested in the study was designed to encourage progress in the most important personality qualities in the athletes.

The special individualized mental conditioning trainings secured progress of the sample in the mental qualities most critical for success and helped the wrestlers develop their individual mental self-control for due mental balancing in harsh competitive situations; improve the self-analyzing and self-improvement skills to effectively modify their own competitive attitudes, behaviour and personality qualities.

Upon completion of the individualized mental conditioning trainings of the sample, the post-experimental mental fitness tests were run, and the test data showed progress in the athletes’ mental fitness. More specifically, the test data and analyses showed progress of the sample in the following aspects: competency in the modern mental conditioning methods applicable in elite Greco-Roman wrestling; mental control and balancing skills; ability to control own and others’ attitudes and behaviour in competitions; and negative mental situations control and mitigation skills.

The test data generated by the Athlete’s General Mental Fitness Test showed progress of the sample in the competitive mental conditioning competences and skills, with the highest mental fitness rates tested in the emotional-and-volitional; executive-and-corrective; and performance-energy fitness components.

The sample progress in the mental fitness domain was also tested in the practical competitions for the study period. The athletes’ precompetitive and competitive mental fitness was tested to grow for the period as verified, among other things, by their progress in the competitive accomplishments in the top-ranking national and international events for this time. The statistical data processing confirmed the statistically significant progress made for the period as verified by the comparative analyses of the pre- versus post-training test data arrays.

Conclusion. The study data and analyses showed benefits of the new special mental conditioning model in application to the elite Greco-Roman wrestlers at the sport excellence stage as verified by the sample’s progress in the mental conditioning competency and skills; competitive-situation-specific mental balancing and control skills; and negative mental situations control and mitigation skills.

 

References

1. Kadakin V.V., Fedotova G.G., Kokurin A.V., et al. Deyatelnost fakulteta fizicheskoy kultury v novykh usloviyakh razvitiya pedagogicheskogo obrazovaniya [Physical education department service in developing teacher education system]. Teoriya i praktika fiz. kultury, 2017, no. 11, pp. 9-11.

2. Kokurin A.V., Maydokina L.G. Problema razvitiya psikhologicheskoy kompetentnosti v sisteme podgotovki sportsmenov raznykh kvalifikatsiy [The problem of development of psychological competency in the system of training athletes of various qualifications]. Teoriya i praktika fiz. kultury, 2014, no. 8, pp. 12–15.

3. Maydokina L.G. Gotovnost buduschego trenera k psikhologicheskomu soprovozhdeniyu sportivnoy deyatelnosti [Future coach’s competency for psychological follow-up of sports activities]. Gumanitarnye nauki i obrazovanie, 2014, no. 2, pp. 37–40.

4. Maydokina L.G., Kudashkina O.V. Razvitie samoregulyatsii sportsmena v sisteme ego psikhologicheskoy podgotovki [Development of self-regulation of athlete in the system of his psychological training]. Teoriya i praktika fiz. kultury, 2014, no. 8, pp. 18–21.

5. Malkin V.R. Upravlenie psikhologicheskoy podgotovkoy v sporte [Mental conditioning management in sport]. Moscow: Fizkultura i sport publ., 2001, 124 p.

 

Corresponding author: t_i_shukshina@mordgpi.ru

 

Abstract

In order to support progress of the Russian Federation on the global sport arenas, the relevant policies need to be further pursued to secure sustainable growth of the national professional sports. These policies have been supported by the relevant legal and regulatory provisions and sport management agencies. To facilitate further progress and competitive successes, a special emphasis in the existing athletic training systems needs to be made on the mental conditioning tools and models. Objective of the study was to rate the elite national Greco-Roman wrestlers’ mental fitness and test the special mental conditioning model designed for the elite sport excellence stage. The study was designed to include the following three stages: (1) fact-finding stage to test the pre-experimental mental fitness rates of the elite Greco-Roman wrestlers; (2) piloting stage to develop and pilot a special mental conditioning model (including theoretical and practical modules) on a sample of elite Greco-Roman wrestlers; and (3) progress rating stage to rate the post- versus pre-experimental mental fitness of the sample. The study analyses detailed content, design and benefits of the proposed special mental conditioning model for elite Greco-Roman wrestlers.