"Caracterização da robustez mental dos atletas de um clube de patinagem artística"

Abstract

The primary objective of this study was to identify the most impacting and differentiating psychological skills in figure skating athletes on wheels. Athletes were compared by competitive levels and years of training, in terms of mental robustness and cognitive orientation. Athletes were also compared for levels of commitment to training and years of training, as a function of mental robustness and cognitive orientation. It was intended to know which of the variables studied contributed the most to the titles of world, European and national champions. The sample consisted of 72 figure skating athletes from Rolar Matosinhos - Associação Desportiva, aged between 12 and 35 years. The athletes responded to a questionnaire that included the sociodemographic characterization of the sample, the Psychological Performance Profile (PPP), the Sports Mental Toughness Questionnaire (SMTQ) and the Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire (TEOSQ). As for the results, in the PPP it was found that psychological skills require specific intervention for their improvement. Regarding mental robustness, there were significant differences only at the level of the confidence variable, and in terms of cognitive orientation, the results corroborated those of the existing literature. In view of the apparently incongruous results, it was concluded that psychological skills must be worked on, and the added value of implementing a mental training program in the athletes' routines becomes evident.