Perfil de habilidades psicológicas en taekwondistas universitarios y su relacín con el éxito en competición

Abstract

The paper presents the psychological profile of skills and its predictive power on sport success in a sample of university taekwondo competitors. To that end, a representative sample of 89 taekwondo athletes (50 men and 39 women) aged between 18 and 34 years (M = 22.2, SD = 3.34) participating at the Spanish University Taekwondo Championship (2011) was evaluated. The Psychological Inventory of Sports Performance (IPED) was administered. The sport success was measured by the amount of combats won by each athlete during the tournament. Multivariate analysis showed differences in relation to gender (men reported greater self- confidence, attentional control and negative coping) and whether they received psychological training or not (athletes who received mental training showed higher levels in visualimaginative control, positive coping and attitudinal control). No differences were found between experts and non-experts. Positive correlations were found between visual-imaginative control, motivational level, positive coping control, attitudinal control and sport success. Visual-imaginative control (for the total sample and men) and motivational level (for women) predicted sport success. Results and practical implications are discussed.