Exploring the Psychological Skills of Indonesian Pencak Silat Athletes at the 18thAsian Games

Background. This is a study of the outstanding achievements of the Indonesian Pencak Silat athletes at the 18th Asian Games (AG) sporting event. There are many aspects that determine sports success; one of which is the athletes’ psychological skills factor. The purpose of this study is to explore psychological skills of Indonesian Pencak Silat athletes at the 18th Asian Games. Method. This study employed a retrospectives causal-comparative design method. The psychological aspects and achievements of Pencak Silat athletes are not yet available, and it therefore became an interesting exploration of Pencak Silat athletes’ psychological skills. The sample was 22 Pencak Silat athletes, with an average age of 22.8 years. The instrument employed was The Psychological Skills Inventory for Sports (PSIS). The data analysis techniques employed were descriptive statistics and document analysis. Results. The results show that the psychological skills of motivation, confidence, anxiety control, mental preparation, team emphasis, and concentration in a Pencak Silat athlete are high. Conclusion. The results show that the six aspects of a Pencak Silat athlete’s psychological skills are high. This is new evidence that strengthens the theory that a Pencak Silat athlete’s psychological skills, which are special elements of sports psychology, contribute to achieving success. © Idōkan Poland Association “IDO MOVEMENT FOR CULTURE. Journal of Martial Arts Anthropology”, Vol. 20, no. 2 (2020), pp. 10–16 DOI: 10.14589/ido.20.2.2