Mental Toughness in Collegiate Strength and Conditioning: Widely Used, Widely Misunderstood

Andreas Stamatis, Eric L. Robinson, Grant B. Morgan

Abstract


Researchers explored the value of mental toughness (MT) for strength and conditioning coaches (SCC) for women’s basketball of a NCAA Division I conference. Eight SCCs completed a questionnaire and six participated in a semi-structured interview. Results showed that, while there is no agreement whether MT can be developed in student-athletes or about its key attributes, all coaches believe MT is of value. Further, none of the participants reported being aware of or using an instrument to measure MT. Conclusions are that MT is a widely-used but relatively unclear construct. Future research should focus on definition, measurement, and implementation issues.


Full Text:

PDF

References


Associated Press. (2014). William Lowe files suit vs. Iowa. Retrieved from http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/10588363/william-lowe-files-suit-rhabdo-injuries

Clough, P., Earle, K., & Sewell, D. (2002). Mental toughness: The concept and its measurement. In I. M. Cockerill (Ed.), Solutions in sport psychology (pp. 32-43). Longon, England: Thompson.

Connaughton, D., Hanton, S., & Jones, G. (2010). The development and maintenance of mental toughness in the world's best performers. Sport Psychologist, 24(2), 168-193. Retrieved from http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-77955892221&partnerID=40&md5=2d8c059529d2f9958d7f43eba6c66c71

Crust, L., & Azadi, K. (2010). Mental toughness and athletes' use of psychological strategies. European Journal of Sport Science, 10(1), 43-51. doi:10.1080/17461390903049972

Crust, L., & Keegan, R. (2010). Mental toughness and attitudes to risk-taking. Personality and Individual Differences, 49(3), 164-168. doi:Doi 10.1016/J.Paid.2010.03.026

Dohme, L.-C., Backhouse, S., Piggott, D., & Morgan, G. (2017). Categorising and defining popular psychological terms used within the youth athlete talent development literature: a systematic review. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 10(1), 134-163.

Gearity, B., & Moore, E. W. G. (2017). National Strength and Conditioning Association's Endorsement of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Sport Science Institute's “Mental Health Best Practices: Inter-Association Consensus Document: Best Practices for Understanding and Supporting Student-Athlete Mental Wellness”. Strength & Conditioning Journal, 39(4), 1-3.

Gibson, A. (1998). Mental toughness. New York, NY: Vantage Press.

Gucciardi, D. F., & Gordon, S. (2009). Development and preliminary validation of the Cricket Mental Toughness Inventory (CMTI). Journal of Sports Sciences, 27(12), 1293-1310. doi:10.1080/02640410903242306

Gucciardi, D. F., Gordon, S., & Dimmock, J. A. (2008). Towards an understanding of mental toughness in Australian football. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 20(3), 261-281. doi:10.1080/10413200801998556

Gucciardi, D. F., Gordon, S., & Dimmock, J. A. (2009). Evaluation of a mental toughness training program for youth-aged Australian footballers: I. A quantitative analysis. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 21(3), 307-323. doi:10.1080/10413200903026066

Gucciardi, D. F., Gordon, S., Dimmock, J. A., & Mallett, C. J. (2009). Understanding the coach's role in the development of mental toughness: perspectives of elite Australian football coaches. Journal of Sports Sciences, 27(13), 1483-1496. doi:10.1080/02640410903150475

Gucciardi, D. F., Hanton, S., & Fleming, S. (2017). Are mental toughness and mental health contradictory concepts in elite sport? A narrative review of theory and evidence. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 20(3), 307-311.

Gucciardi, D. F., Zhang, C.-Q., Ponnusamy, V., Si, G., & Stenling, A. (2016). Cross-cultural invariance of the mental toughness inventory among Australian, Chinese, and Malaysian athletes: a bayesian estimation approach. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 38(2), 187-202.

Jennings, C. (2017). Report: 3 Oregon football players hospitalized after 'grueling' workouts. Retrieved from http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/18491292/three-oregon-ducks-football-players-hospitalized-strength-conditioning-workouts

Jones, G., Hanton, S., & Connaughton, D. (2002). What is this thing called mental toughness? An investigation of elite sport performers. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 14(3), 205-218. doi:10.1080/10413200290103509

Jones, G., Hanton, S., & Connaughton, D. (2007). A framework of mental toughness in the world's best performers. Sport Psychologist, 21(2), 243-264. Retrieved from ://WOS:000247452000007

Loehr, J. E. (1986). Mental toughness training for sports: Achieving athletic excellence. Lexington, MA: Penguin Books.

Mack, M. G., & Ragan, B. G. (2008). Development of the mental, emotional, and bodily toughness inventory in collegiate athletes and nonathletes. Journal of Athletic Training, 43(2), 125-132. doi:10.4085/1062-6050-43.2.125

Nicholls, A. R., Polman, R. C. J., Levy, A. R., & Backhouse, S. H. (2009). Mental toughness in sport: Achievement level, gender, age, experience, and sport type differences. Personality and Individual Differences, 47(1), 73-75. doi:Doi 10.1016/J.Paid.2009.02.006

Oklahoma State University. (2015). Strength and Conditioning. Retrieved from http://www.okstate.com/sports/2015/3/17/GEN_2014010168.aspx

Oklahoma University. (2007). Oklahoma Men's Basketball Media Guide 2007-08. Retrieved from http://www.soonersports.com/fls/31000/old_site/pdf/m-baskbl/Recruiting.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=31000

Radcliffe, J. N., Comfort, P., & Fawcett, T. (2013). The perception of psychology and the frequency of psychological strategies used by strength and conditioning practitioners. Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 27(4), 1136-1146. doi:10.1519/JSC.0b013e3182606ddc

Rubin, H. J., & Rubin, I. S. (2012). Qualitative interviewing: The art of hearing data. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Seligman, M. E., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2014). Positive psychology: An introduction Flow and the foundations of positive psychology (pp. 279-298). New York, NY: Springer.

Sheard, M., Golby, J., & van Wersch, A. (2009). Progress Toward Construct Validation of the Sports Mental Toughness Questionnaire (SMTQ). European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 25(3), 186-193. doi:Doi 10.1027/1015-5759.25.3.186

Sijtsma, K. (2009). On the use, the misuse, and the very limited usefulness of cronbach's alpha. Psychometrika, 74(1), 107-120. doi:10.1007/s11336-008-9101-0

Solomon, J., & Dodd, D. (2017). The unregulated world of strength coaches and college football’s killing season. Retrieved from https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/the-unregulated-world-of-strength-coaches-and-college-footballs-killing-season/

Stamatis, A., Robinson, E. L., & Morgan, G. B. (2017). Mental Toughness in Strength and Conditioning Training: Is it really necessary? Perspectives of elite NCAA Strength and Conditioning coaches. Paper presented at the International Journal of Exercise Science: Conference Proceedings.

University of Notre Dame. (2015). Countable Hours. Retrieved from http://www3.nd.edu/~ncaacomp/countable_hours.shtml

Velasco, H. (2017). Few student-athletes with mental illness seek help. Retrieved from http://college.usatoday.com/2017/07/21/few-student-athletes-with-mental-illness-seek-help/

Weinberg, R., Butt, J., & Culp, B. (2011). Coaches' views of mental toughness and how it is built. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 9(2), 156-172.

West Virginia University. (2015). 2015 West Virginia University Volleyball Guide Retrieved from https://issuu.com/wvusportspub/docs/2015_west_virginia_university_volle




DOI: https://doi.org/10.5430/irhe.v3n2p35

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


International Research in Higher Education  ISSN 2380-9183 (Print)  ISSN 2380-9205 (Online)

Copyright © Sciedu Press

To make sure that you can receive messages from us, please add ‘sciedupress.com’ domain to your e-mail 'safe list'. If you do not receive e-mail in your 'inbox', please check your 'spam' or 'junk' folder.