Effects of a “body-mind” self-regulation program on the performance of junior soccer players

The effects of a “ body-mind ” self-regulation program considering individual differences on the performance of junior soccer players were investigated. Elementary school student-members of a soccer club （ N ＝ 20; Mean age: 11.0 ± 0 ） participated in this study. Firstly, the optimal psychological state for performing the long kick was iden-tified in individual players. Then, participants were divided into a control and an intervention group. Performance tests were conducted with one practice and one actual trial. Just before the actual trial, the intervention group practiced the self-regulation method to achieve their optimal psychological state. The results indicated that kick performance improved significantly in actual compared to practice trials in the intervention, but not in the control group. Moreover, there were no significant differences in the psychological state between the two groups. However, it was also indicated that the psychological condition was closer to the optimum state in the intervention group that practiced the self-regulation method （ Cohen ’ s d ＝ 1.0 ） . These findings suggest the importance of psychological support that considers individual differences.