Exploring the Relationship Between Mental Toughness, Motivation, and Physical Performance in Athletes

Sports

The current study sought to investigate the correlation between specific psychological variables—Self-Confidence, Motivation, Attention Control, Goal Setting, Visual & Imagery, Attitude Control, and Mental Toughness—and physical performance metrics, including Explosive Strength, Shoulder Strength, Agility, Foot Reaction, Hand Reaction, and a Composite Score. A total of 180 participants were evaluated, and Pearson's correlation coefficient was employed to examine the relationships among variables. The results showed that Shoulder Strength was strongly linked to Self Confidence (r = 0.171, p < 0.05), while Agility was strongly linked to Attention Control (r = -0.178, p < 0.05). Hand Reaction showed strong links to a number of psychological traits, such as Goal Setting (r = 0.205, p < 0.01), Visual & Imagery (r = -0.302, p < 0.01), and Mental Toughness (r = -0.336, p < 0.01). Other physical variables exhibited weak or insignificant correlations with psychological factors. The findings indicate that particular psychological skills, especially goal setting and mental toughness, may significantly impact reaction-based motor performance.

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