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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Sports Act. Living
Sec. Sport Psychology
Volume 6 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fspor.2024.1456504
This article is part of the Research Topic Determinants of Achievement in Top Sport View all articles

Mental Preparation in Runners: Gender Differences, Competition Levels, and Psychological Training Effects on Performance

Provisionally accepted
Bence Kelemen Bence Kelemen 1*Renátó Tóth Renátó Tóth 1Ottó Benczenleitner Ottó Benczenleitner 2László Tóth László Tóth 1
  • 1 Hungarian University of Sports Science, Budapest, Hungary
  • 2 Eszterhazy Karoly Catholic University, Eger, Hungary

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The present study aimed to investigate the mental and sports psychological preparation, as well as tactical preparation, of distance runners for competition. We examined whether there are differences based on gender, competition level and various race disciplines, as well as how mental preparation influences sports skills applicable in different competitive situations. The sample consisted of 201 distance runners who completed the Sports Mental Training Questionnaire (SMTQ) alongside assessments of their sports psychology and race tactics. The results indicated that neither gender, competition level, nor race discipline had a significant impact on mental preparedness. However, women demonstrated notably higher scores in the use of self-talk as a mental technique. Additionally, participants who received training in sports psychology scored significantly higher across several mental skills, as well as on the overall mental preparedness score. This article validates the SMTQ and its association with mental readiness, as confirmatory factor analysis demonstrates adequate validity. Additionally, mental preparation was found to enhance performance and well-being among distance runners. Further research is needed to explore the impact of group interventions to broaden the reach of mental training programs.

    Keywords: Distance running, sport psychology, mental training, Mental skills, race tactics

    Received: 28 Jun 2024; Accepted: 29 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Kelemen, Tóth, Benczenleitner and Tóth. 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) or licensor 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.

    * Correspondence: Bence Kelemen, Hungarian University of Sports Science, Budapest, Hungary

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