psychological skills of greek badminton athletes

Perceptual and Motor Skills, 2003,97,1289-1296. O Perceptual and Motor Skills 2003

PSYCHOLOGICAL SKILLS O F GREEK BADMINTON ATHLETES '

EVANGELOS BEBETSOS AND PANAGIOTIS ANTONIOU

Democritus University of Thrace

Summary.-The purpose was to examine age and sex differences in psychological skills among Greek badminton players. 85 badminton players completed a Greek version of the Athletic Coping Skills Inventory-28 by Smith, Schutz, Smoll, and Ptacek, during the 2002 Greek Men's and Women's National Badminton Championship Tour- nament. Analysis yielded differences between age groups on two factors (adversity and coachability) but no statistically significant differences between sexes. Older athletes were better prepared to cope with the psychological distress involved in the game of badminton and reported better emotional self-control. Overall, results could help badminton athletes and coaches become more familiar with the sport-specific psychological skills involved in badminton.

A major tenet of sport psychology is that psychological skills are impor- tant in sport performance (Mahoney, Gabriel, & Perkms, 1987; Mahoney, 1989). Therefore, great emphasis has been placed on identification of numerous psychological skllls and on instruction of athletes in how to learn and apply them (Orlick, 1990; Nideffer, 1992; Williams, 1993; Anshel, 1994). Psychological skllls are related to a number of desired qualities such as commitment to training, confidence, and decreased precompetition anxiety (Wil- liams & Krane, 1992; White, 1993).

Sport psychology practitioners frequently build their interventions on a psychometric evaluation of athletes' psychological skdls. Such an evaluation may uncover possible strengths and weaknesses and guide subsequent consulting work. Several questionnaires are currently used to measure athletes' psychological skills. One such inventory of the assessment of psychological skrlls in sport is the Athletic Coping Skills Inventory-28 (Smith, Schutz, Smoll, & Ptacek, 1995), which assesses athletes' perceptions of their reaction to practice and competition. The inventory has 28 items and taps seven fac- ets of performance enhancement, namely, coping with adversity, peaking under pressure, goal setting/mental preparation, concentration, freedom from worry, confidence, and coachability (Cox, 1990; Nideffer, 1993; Vealey & Walter, 1993 ; Williams, 1993). Also, research with the inventory indicates that psychological skills account for significant amounts of variance in athletic performance and that this result occurs even when differences in physical skills are controlled (Smith & Christensen, 1995).

'Please address correspondence to Evangelos Bebetsos, Ph.D., Department of Physical Educa- tion and Sport Sciences, Democritus University of Thrace, Komotini, Hellas, Greece or e-mail ([email protected]).

1290 E. BEBETSOS & P. ANTONIOU

In Greece, two studies have used a Greek version of this inventory (Goudas, Theodorakis, & Antoniou, 1996; Goudas, Theodorakis, & Kara- mousalidis, 1998). Both studies provided encouraging results. The structural validity of the questionnaire as assessed by confirmatory factor analysis was satisfactory, and each of the scales appeared to contribute substantially to the overall fit of the model. Further, the results indicated little multicolin- earity, confirming that these factors represent distinct subfacets of athletic psychological skills.

Research has shown that across sexes, skills, and ages, the most successful athletes tend to show a complex picture of being less depressed, less interpersonally sensitive, and yet more anxious and angry than their less successful athletes (Mahoney, et al., 1987; Mahoney, 1989; Mahoney, Cox, & Davis, 1989; Nideffer , 1993 ) . Other research indicated that more experi- enced athletes exhibited a more positive psychological profile than less expe- rienced athletes and had more confidence in their ability, reported that they used goal setting more often and rated their concentration higher during competitions than athletes competing at a lower level (Goudas, et al., 1998).

Research indicates that the difference between male and female athletes on psychological skills was the emphasis placed on the team (White, 1993). Mahoney, et dl. (1987) differentiated men and women on self-confidence, women having lower scores than men. Vealey (1988), in contrast, found no differences between sexes on any psychological characteristic for elite athletes. A study of Greek basketball players indicated differences on adversity (back-set) and confidence, with men having higher scores than women (Kara- mousalidis, 1997).

The results of another study between over- and underachieving athletes showed that the overachievers were significantly higher in their self-reported ability to profit from coaching, to manage stress and cope with adversity, and to control attentional focus (Smith, et al., 1995).

The aim of this study was to extend the research to another sport (badminton) and to assess psychological skills of Greek badminton players and possible age and sex differences. More specifically, the sport of badminton is rather new in Greece, so most of the badminton players in Greece, especial- ly the older players, have moved from other sports. As a consequence, experience is focused on the general aspects of sports rather than on the specific aspects of badminton (Antoniou, 1999; Antoniou & Mantis, 1999).

The examination of age and sex differences would help in deciding whether variations in training of psychological skills may be required. Based on previous studies, age differences were expected, with older athletes ex- hibiting more positive psychological profiles. No sex differences were expected.

CHARACTERISTICS OF BADMINTON ATHLETES

Sample and Procedure

Eighty-five badminton athletes (44 men and 41 women) completed the questionnaire voluntarily during participation in the 2002 Greek Men's and Women's (Open) National Badminton Championship Tournament. (Players were over 20 years of age with the best players of younger ages at tournaments.) Players were between the ages of 13 and 50 years old (M=22.3, SO = 7.6).

Questionnaire

The Greek version of the Athletic Coping Skills Inventory-28 (Goudas, et al., 1996, 1998) was used. Each item had a 6-point Likert-type scale with anchors of 1: Never and 6: Always. Examples of items are for Adversity, "When things turn bad during the game, I tell myself to relax and I manage"; for Peaking with pressure, "It is a challenge for me to play under pressure"; for Goal setting, "Every day, every week, I have very specific goals that lead me on what to do"; for Concentration, "On snag situations during the game, I know very well what to do"; for Freedom from worries, "When I worry how I will play (perform), I feel very stressed"; for Confidence, "During the game and before, I feel very sure that I will play well"; for Coachability, "I listen carefully to the advice and instructions of my coach." Athletes were also asked to indicate their sex and age.

To investigate differences between the age groups in both sexes for each variable of the questionnaire, two-way analyses of variance (2 x 3) were conducted. The post hoc multiple comparisons Scheffe test defined the statistically significant differences between the groups. The relation between the variables was tested using the Pearson correlation coefficient.

Scores and Internal Consistency

Table 1 presents descriptive statistics and internal consistency (coefficient alpha) for the seven subscales separately for men and women and for the whole sample. The scale means were computed as the total scores on items divided by the number of items. The fact that the subscales contained only four items and tapped broad psychological skills may account for the relatively low coefficients alpha of some of the subscales. The coefficients alpha reported in several studies (Smith, et al., 1995; Goudas, et al., 1998) were of comparable magnitude.

Psychometric Characteristics

Table 1 presents Pearson correlations between the seven factors. The correlations were moderate, indicating incomplete independence but only


TABLE 1 PEARSON CORRELATIONS OF SCORES ON SEVEN FACTORS (N= 85)

Factor 1 2 3 4 5 6 Scores a M SD

1. Coping With Adversity 3.4 .89 .70 2. Peaking Under Pressure .29t 3.1 .99 .70 3. Goal Setting/Mental Preparation .28t .42t 3.5 .91 .64 4. Concentration .38t .38t 301 3.5 1.01 .82 5. Freedom From Worries -.05 .07 .15 -.06 3.0 .78 .50 6. Confidence .47t .34t .41t .52t .10 3.5 .79 .51 7. Coachability .46t .28 .34t .54t -.02 .38t 3.6 .91 .69

tp < .01.

slight overlap between the factors. The factors seem to represent relatively independent psychological constructs, as found by Smith, et al. (1995) and Goudas, et al. (1998). The coefficients alpha are not large, but this is not surprising, given that the scales contain only four items and sample fairly broad coping skds (Pedhazur & Schmelkin, 1991). Cronbach (195 1) point- ed out that alpha is heavily influenced by test length. Given a small number of items per subscale, low alphas can provide a practical underestimate of subscale item intercorrelations, which are the basis of internal consistency (Nunnally & Bernstein , 1994).

Age and Sex Dgerences The sample with the matched-pair technique was divided into three dif-

ferent age groups: (a) from 13- to 18-yr.-old (35%), (b) from 19- to 24-yr.- old (32.5%), and (c) 25 yr. and older (32.5%). The sample was divided into these groups because, as the literature indicates, up until 18 years of age the athlete is going through development, from 18 to 25 years of age the athlete reaches peak athletic performance, and over the age of 25 the athlete stabi- lizes athletic performance (Martin, 1991).

The analysis of variance indicated a significant main effect for age groups on Adversity. The post hoc Scheffi: test showed that the differences were detected between the first and third age groups. Analysis showed a main effect of the age groups on Coachability, also. The post hoc Schefft: test showed that the differences were detected among all three age groups (Table 2).

Finally, the analysis gave no statistically significant differences between the sexes on any factor.

DISCUSSION The results showed older players were better prepared to cope with ad-

versity and similar destructive aspects. The researchers assume that older people generally cope better with destructive aspects in everyday life situa-

CHARACTERISTICS OF BADMINTON ATHLETES 1293


tions based on previous accumulated experience, so as a result they respond better in similar situations only in the sport domain. Researchers indicated that age categories tend to show differences between athletes, with the older persons being less depressed and less interpersonally sensitive than the younger ones (Mahoney, et al., 1987; Cox & Davis, 1989; Mahoney, 1989; Nidef- fer, 1993). The results also match previous findings that older and more ex- perienced athletes tend to use coaching well and cope with adversity (Smith, et al., 1995; Goudas, et dl., 1998).

The older individuals showed a more positive attitude toward comply- ing with the coach's decision(s) and advice. It was hypothesized that younger athletes are more skeptical and probably more negative about following directions or even taking into consideration possible advice from their coach on how to play. We have to mention that badminton is a sport with a dis- tinctive rule on coaching which cannot occur during the game but only between sets and only for 90 sec. (except in a tie set when it extends to 3 min.). Also, younger athletes' previous successful game experience and knowledge of the game might cause them to be carried away by the flow of the match (game), which influences their reactions and feelings.

Analysis indicated that, generally, male and female athletes score simi- larly (Table 1). In general, both men and women practice on the same courts with the same coaches. Badminton is a sport which has mixed doubles, and games for both men and women in all tournaments occur at the same time on the same courts. Furthermore, badminton is a very flexible and adaptive sport, generally independent from sex and age (Koutsogiannis, Grampsa, Antoniou, & Giannakopoulos, 2000; Antoniou, Athanasiou, Pilianidis, & Laparidis, 2001). This is probably the main reason why the study did not show any differences by sex. The results agree partially with findings of Vea- ley (1988). Several studies on another racquet sport, tennis, indicate that women have higher cognitive and somatic anxiety than men, and also lower self-confidence (Stavrou, Zervas, Kakkos, & Psichountaki, 1998; Mantis, Mavridis, Papavasiliou, & Patmanoglou, 2001).

Overall, numerous investigators have mentioned that further research is necessary (Smith, et al., 1995; Goudas, et al., 1998; Murphy & Tammen, 1998). The Athletic Coping Skllls Inventory-28 is not a measure of general psychological application, but measures aspects related to positive self-evaluation. Physical and psychological skills appear to be relatively independent of one another (Smith, et al., 1995). Also, the inventory might be a better measure of coping skills, rather than of psychological performance skills (Murphy & Tammen, 1998).

The possibility for socially desirable answers to the items might be a de- cisive reason for not using the questionnaire for selection purposes. Smith and his colleagues (1995) reported positive correlations among the seven fac-

CHARACTERISTICS O F BADMINTON ATHLETES 1295

tors from the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (Crowne & Mar- lowe, 1960). Some athletes may respond to the items by trying to project a more positive image. This might prevent practical decisions from being made using inventory scores. Nevertheless, given its validation, the inventory can further serve as a research tool in the study of psychological skills in badminton.

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Accepted November 14, 2003

psychological skills of greek badminton athletes

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