| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of three types
of thought patterns; positive thoughts, mood words, and task-relevant
content, on swimming performance in age group swimmers.
The major dependent variable was the time it took subjects to perform
each 100 metre segment of two 400 metre constant-effort swims and
the time taken for each 100 metre repeat in a set of eight 100 metre
swims.
A single subject analysis of performance data emphasized the
importance of the use of thought factors in improving swimming performances.
All subjects (N = 6) improved in at least two of the three treatment
conditions over normal thinking in each of the two performance tasks
while three subjects improved in all treatment conditions.
Group averages indicated that task-relevant content was the most
effective variable while mood words, and positive thinking followed in
order. The effects of the treatment conditions across the group for
both performance tasks were significantly greater than one would expect
by chance alone (alpha = .05).
The results of this study supported the importance of the thought
content for improving performance outcomes in the swimming training
environmento The need for more emphasis on mental training components
in training athletes was supported. | |
