Performance Optimization in Racket Sports: the Influence of Psychological Techniques, Factors, and Strategies

Research and empirical work have revealed the importance of psychological/mental skills, factors, and strategies in improving athletic performance, especially in racket sports. High levels of self-confidence, commitment, motivation as well as the ability to imagine, self-regulate, set and achieved goals, control emotion, stress, and anxiety facilitate the ability of the racket sport players to achieve peak performance. For example, players and coaches recognize that the mental or psychological factor should be considered and trained in the same way as the technical or physical components.

The aim of this Research Topic is to bring together articles in which psychological techniques, factors, or strategies are discussed, used, or tested in order to improve the performance of racket sport players such as tennis, table tennis, badminton, or squash, and also in new activities such as racketlon, paddle or beach tennis.

Topics of primary interest include, but are not limited to:
• Mental training for racket sports;
• The role of mental coach in racket sports;
• Psychological strategies to improve the performance in racket sports;
• Relationship between performance and psychological factors;
• Applied performance enhancement by means of psychological technics;
• Measures of psychological variables in racket sport players;
• Training of psychological skills for performance improvement in racket sport.

We welcome many different article types, such as original research, systematic review, methods, review, mini-review, perspective, case report, brief research report, general commentary, opinion, study protocol, and registered report.