Relationship Between Mental Toughness, Sports Competition Anxiety and Performance among Women’s Hockey Team

Abstract

Psychological factors such as mental toughness and competition anxiety is important psychological attribute in determining success. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between mental toughness, sports competition anxiety and performance among women’s hockey team. Instruments used in this study were Mental Toughness Questionnaire, Sport Competition Anxiety Test, and basic skills test in hockey. Results showed that the players had low level of mental toughness and moderate to high level of anxiety. Pearson Correlation analysis revealed that overalls mental toughness was negatively related to competition anxiety. For the skill tests, results showed that players had high skills on Multi Target Push and moderate skills on Straight Drive Hit, and Shooting from 16 Yards. Analysis of correlation showed that there was no significant correlation between the mental toughness and competition anxiety with all the skill tests. In conclusion, the study showed that the players had low level of mental toughness, moderate to high level of anxiety and basic skills in hockey. This study suggests that the players need to undergo psychological skill training to improve their mental toughness and to ensure that anxiety is at an optimal level in order to achieve excellent performance in competitions. Keywords—mental toughness, competition anxiety, hockey.