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      Mental processes in professional football players

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          Abstract

          Objective

          Clear connections have been found between mental processes and performance in elite level football. Yet, few studies have investigated how professional football players’ experience the influence of mental processes on performance.

          Method

          This study used a qualitative research design and in-depth interview of six Norwegian professional football players at elite level with a mean age of 28, 3 years and represented five professional clubs. The aim of the study was to investigate how they perceived the importance of arousal regulation, mental toughness, and self-confidence, and that of the sport psychologist in developing these skills.

          Results

          The results revealed a complex and multifaceted link between mental processes and performance. All players, demonstrate a conscious awareness of how mental processes influence their performance. The use of a sport psychologist in working with mental processes emerges as a crucial factor for developing their mental skills. Another important aspect is the need for increased knowledge about mental training’s effect in elite football. Mental toughness emerges as the most significant mental process for players’ performance because it makes them capable of coping with challenging situations and periods.

          Conclusion

          This study shows that mental processes are important for performing, both related to arousal regulation, and self-confidence, and especially mental toughness. However, mental toughness was also considered a product of age and experience, where older players tend to have experience of more situations that enable them to handle adversity better than younger players. Interestingly, the youngest players seem to be most aware of the use of a sports psychologist.

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          Most cited references37

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          Using thematic analysis in psychology

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              Psychological Characteristics and Their Development in Olympic Champions

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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                URI : https://loop.frontiersin.org/people/2734816/overviewRole: Role: Role: Role: Role: Role:
                Role: Role: Role:
                URI : https://loop.frontiersin.org/people/1020135/overviewRole: Role: Role: Role: Role:
                Journal
                Front Psychol
                Front Psychol
                Front. Psychol.
                Frontiers in Psychology
                Frontiers Media S.A.
                1664-1078
                04 September 2024
                2024
                : 15
                : 1428892
                Affiliations
                [1] 1Department of Sociology and Political Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) , Trondheim, Norway
                [2] 2Performance Psychology Consultant, Learn To Improve , Aalborg, Denmark
                Author notes

                Edited by: Diogo Monteiro, Politécnico de Leiria, Portugal

                Reviewed by: Hajer Sahli, University of Jendouba, Tunisia

                Miguel Jacinto, Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, Portugal

                *Correspondence: Stig Arve Sæther, stigarve@ 123456ntnu.no
                Article
                10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1428892
                11409728
                39295762
                9a8b6330-07db-49e0-b30a-6718db7b3012
                Copyright © 2024 Grønset, Langagergaard and Sæther.

                This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

                History
                : 07 May 2024
                : 22 August 2024
                Page count
                Figures: 0, Tables: 1, Equations: 0, References: 37, Pages: 10, Words: 8581
                Funding
                The author(s) declare that no financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
                Categories
                Psychology
                Original Research
                Custom metadata
                Sport Psychology

                Clinical Psychology & Psychiatry
                mental processes,mental toughness,arousal regulation,self-confidence,professional footballer,sports psychologist

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