Psychological resources for overcoming stress at different stages of a sports career

Abstract

The article presents the problem of overcoming stress by athletes at different stages of their sports career. The study involved 76 athletes aged 18-23 years, competing in various sports teams. According to the results of the identification of personal and group coping resources in athletes, a cluster analysis was carried out. The purpose of clustering is to identify possible options for regulating individual and team coping strategies. A comparison of groups that united younger and older athletes showed that the success of overcoming stress at different stages of a sports career differs in determinants and the degree of their inclusion in the process of maintaining psychological stability. At the initial stage of their career, athletes randomly involve coping resources in the fight against stress, using mainly individual coping strategies. At the peak of a sports career, the relevance of the use of individual copings decreases and the importance of team copings increases, resources are used in a balanced and reasonable manner.