Psychological preparation is a key factor for the athlete's success. Fighting sports, including kickboxing, have been gaining popularity in recent years. Due to growing competition, athletes and their trainers began to be aware of the importance of psychological preparation.
The research covered 12 male and 8 female kickboxers. Most of these competitors competed or they still compete for the Slovenian kickboxing team. They all have several years of competitive experience from national and international competitions. Some of them also achieved good results at European and World Championships.
The aim of this study was to determine the way in which athletes struggle with stress before competitions, which psychological techniques are used to cope with stress and how their use affects their competitive performance. We were also interested in whether there are differences in psychological preparation among elite and less successful competitors, whether there are differences between men and women and whether we can define common elements of psychological preparation.
The research is based on my own questionnaire, which is given in the annex. The participants were given the questionnaire on practices of psychological preparation. The beginning of the questionnaire contains an introductory part which includes data on sex, age, discipline, the three greatest achievements and past experiences with a sports psychologist. There are 40 questions that relate to the athlete's mental preparation for the performance. For each question, 5 responses were offered, from 1 (the statement is not true at all) up to 5 (the statement is completely true).
We have found that there are differences in psychological preparation among elite and less successful athletes, that there are statistically significant differences between men and women and that we can define common elements of mental preparation.
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