Assessing the Contribution of Psychological Readiness to Performance Enhancement in Athletics: Analysing Cognitive and Emotional Factors Influencing Athletics Achievement and Developing Interventions for Optimal Performance in Sierra Leone
Keywords:
Athletics, Performance, Training, Motivation, Psychological ReadinessAbstract
Athletics includes a variety of sports events, such as running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most popular athletic competitions are track and field, road running, cross-country running, and race walking. Due to its simplicity and low equipment costs, athletics is one of the most widely practiced sports worldwide. In Sierra Leone, it is the second most popular sport after football.
Valuable insights were obtained from a range of sources using different data collection techniques, such as interviews and survey guides. Additionally, a comprehensive review of relevant literature strengthened the study's foundation. The findings revealed the presence of self-talk, distraction, motivation, and anxiety in both male and female elite athletes. These results point to the need for specialized motivational approaches for female athletes and emphasize the importance of addressing the prevalent anxiety issue, which should be a major focus for the Sierra Leone Athletics Association.
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