The goal of this master thesis was to find out the psychological differences which are present in the training and competitive process of the Slovenian national ski jumping team compared to the juniors’ team. We examined what influence these differences have on the competitive success of our ski jumpers. We carried out a qualitative research through semi-structured interviews based on 17 former or actual Slovenian national ski jumping team members, aged 21 to 30 years, who were members of both aforementioned categories. We were interested in the relationship between the members and their coaches and co-competitors in both sections, the psychophysiological condition of both teams, availability, expert help support and the influence of media pressure on the individual’s success. The latter was directed towards the national team membership period. We determined that the first difference between the sections was apparent in the relationship with the coach, particularly when it comes to trusting the coach. The research results have shown that trust is more intense between the juniors’ team and their coach. The next difference between the sections we determined was a greater feeling of fatigue among the national ski jumping team members. The reasons for this can be attributed to slower regeneration with increasing age and low body weight maintenance, which is practically mandatory in ski jumping. The final difference between the sections we noticed was the success of national ski jumping team members who co-operated with a sport psychologist whilst in the juniors’ category. Even though the sample of ski jumpers who didn’t receive that kind of help is little, the difference in success between them and the other interviewees is apparent.
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