Effect of psychological skills training program on floor exercise performance

1. Effect of Psychological Skills Training Program On Floor Exercise
performance
ABSTRACT
The present experimental study aimed to evaluate the effect of six weeks Psychological Skills
Training (PST) Program on the Floor Exercise performance of the Artistic Gymnasts, for the
purpose a total number of 60 gymnasts were randomly divided into experimental and
controlled group (30 gymnasts in each group) Subjects voluntarily agreed to participate in a
training program, at the end of the training program only 52 subjects completed the entire
training schedule. The study was carried out at Bhoir’s Gymkhana, Dombivali, Mumbai from
16th August, 2012 to 30th September, 2012. The data was collected and statistically analysed
by employing the analysis of covariance. The level of significance was set at 0.05. Findings
revealed that there was a significant improvement in the performance of the gymnasts those
who underwent the PST program as compared to the gymnasts in controlled group.
INTRODUCTION
The floor exercise is a common apparatus for women's and men's artistic gymnastics event.
Gymnasts are required to do four or five tumbling passes in a routine, and the passes often
contain multiple flips and twists. Women perform both tumbling and dance skills on floor,
while men do tumbling and occasional strength moves or flairs and circles. The whole routine
must be performed with rhythm and harmony, and the gymnast must move in different
directions, using a major portion of the allotted area. The women’s event is similar to the
men’s, except that it is performed to music and lasts 70 to 90 seconds. (Amy Van Deusen,
About.com)
In the present age of competitive sports world, sports person are required to exhibit the
superb physical ability Similarly, in Gymnastics the performance on floor is the combination
of biomechanical applications to fulfil the great technical demand of the events, balance,
coordination, strength, agility, speed and endurance, ornamented with aesthetics, grace and
beauty to support the wondrous performance, but to perfect the skills, so they could be
exhibited efficiently at the time when it is most required, there is something extra which is
required to be trained to avoid the poor performance, i.e the mental side/ Psychological aspect
of the training. This can be supported under the shadow of the literature that the interface
between biomechanical (Hayes, 1982), physiological (Hasan, Enoka, & Stuart, 1985), and
peripheral (Zajac, 1993) and central nervous system (Behm & Sale, 1993; Wolpaw, 1994)
operation to coordination of movement (sports performance) are mediated by different facets
of psychological involvement (Bergenheim, Johansson, Granlund, & Pedersen, 1996). To
enhance the psychological component of physical movement, mental skills training has been
recognised as an effective method (Driskell, Copper, & Moran, 1994; Feltz & Landers,
1983). Primarily, mental skills training has developed from the necessity of the athlete to
learn more about their individual mental life to allow a degree of control in coordinating
effective movement through various psychological states of performance (Martens, 1987;
Rushall, 1992). There are many different methods and exercises to develop mental skills of
the athletes targeting the rise in the performance, and these methods can be separated into two

2. basic approaches, cognitive and somatic, by keeping this in mind in the present study the
targeted mental skills were Goal-setting, Relaxation, Self-talk, Imagery, Attention and
Confidence, Mahoney et al. (1983) identified confidence, concentration/attention, relaxation
and positive thinking as important mental skills and it has become necessary for the coaches
and sports psychologists to decide which psychological variables will be crucial for the
gymnasts performance. To accomplish the aim of the present study psychological skills
training was imparted in an efficient manner to assess the effect of PST on the Floor Exercise
performance among Artistic Gymnasts, as this could result in the motivation of the individual
to attain self-mastery, that is, a desire to control their individual psychological world. On the
basis of the background stated the research question emerges as:
Research Question
Is Psychological Skills Training Program effective to improve performance on floor ecercise
To test the research question following objectives were tested:
o To assess, the effect of PST program on the floor exercise performance among the
gymnasts.
o To compare the experimental and controlled groups performances.
o Does PST program effect differently to male and female Gymnasts?
METHODOLOGY
Sample
A total of 60 artistic male and female gymnasts, who accepted voluntarily to be the part of the
study, were selected as the subject from Bhoir’s Gymkhana, Dombivali, Mumbai. The
subjects were ranging from 9 to 17 years. The gymnasts were divided randomly into two
equal groups i.e Experimental Group, provided with the Psychological Skills Training along
with the regular physical training in which 28 (12 Female and 16 Male) Gymnasts completed
the study, Whereas, on the other hand controlled Group was not exposed to any treatments
other than the regular physical training in which only 24 (12 Female and 12 Male) gymnasts
completed the study process.
Criterion Measure
For the purpose of the study following criterion measures were used:
Code of point’s artistic Gymnastics (2009-12) of Federation of International Gymnastics
(FIG) was used to assess the Gymnastics performance of the gymnasts.
Preparation of the training Program
To achieve the objective of the study Psychological Skill Training Program was prepared in
consultation with the supervisor and other experts. Before implementing the training program
Rapport was developed with the subjects (gymnasts) by visiting the Gymnastics Centre to
communicate and observe the gymnasts. After conforming, Gymnastics performance of the

3. Subjects was evaluated as per code of points (2009-2012) to receive the Pre-data before
administering the Psychological Skills Training. Further, after collecting the Pre-data a six
weeks PST program was administered on the gymnasts. Successful Completion of the six
weeks training program was followed by a second assessment i.e Post-training Test of
Gymnastics performance evaluation of the Gymnasts. Gymnastics performance was
evaluated by qualified judges including research scholar herself, who is qualified FIG judge.
Administration of the Psychological skills
Skill Development program: PST program in self-talk, relaxation, concentration, goal-setting, imagery
and confidence was implemented in the form of 30- 45 minutes session for five days in a week to
develop areas / factors limiting the athlete’s present performance potential.
Application and Evaluation: PST was imparted to the gymnasts for six weeks Gymnasts were
made aware of the Psychological Skills and began to practice the techniques under the guidance
of the coach and researcher observed the training program. Evaluation of the gymnast’s
performance was obtained at two stages, Pre-data i.e in the beginning before starting the PST
Program and Post-data i.e after the completion of PST Program. Performance on Floor exercise
was evaluated by the three national qualified judges on the basis of FIG, code of points 2009-
2012.
Performance Scores
For the purpose of the study, the performance scores of the subjects were taken twice i.e
before starting the training program and after the completion of the training program:
Pre-test Performance:Before starting the PST Program, the selected subjects were judged on the basis of
FIG, code of points, 2009 by three qualified judges, and the researcher herself had also judged as scholar
is an international qualified judge. Though, the judging in the gymnastics is subjective in nature but FIG
has formulated and developed the code of points in such a manner that the objectivity has been ensured to
its optimum level while evaluating the performance.
Post-test Performance: After completion of the PST Program the gymnast’s performance was evaluated
by three qualified judges on the basis of the FIG, code of points, 2009.
Statistical Analysis
For the purpose of the present study data was analysed by employing ANCOVA to test
significant difference between the means of post performances of Experimental and Controlled
groups by covariating the pre performance of both the groups. When an ANCOVA is conducted
we look at the overall relationship between the outcome (dependent variable i.e post floor
exercise performance scores of the gymnasts belonging to the experimental and controlled
groups) and the covariate we fit the regression line to the entire data set, ignoring to which group
a person belongs (pre floor exercise performance scores of the gymnasts belonging to the
experimental and controlled groups) Miller G.A, Chapman, J.P, (2001).
The findings are presented in Table No. 1.

4. FINDINGS
Table 1: Descriptive Statistics of Gymnastics Performance on Floor exercise
Group Gender N Mean SD
Experimental Girls 12 10.05 1.36
Boys 16 8.62 3.29
Total 28 9.23 2.69
Control Girls 12 6.44 3.03
Boys 12 6.87 4.13
Total 24 6.65 3.55
Total Girls 24 8.24 2.95
Boys 28 7.87 3.71
Total 52 8.04 3.35
The above table reflects the mean value of the performance and number of girls and boys in
experimental and controlled groups, the mean value of all the gymnasts in experimental
group is 9.23; SD 2.69, whereas mean of girls (N=12) is 10.05; SD is 1.36 and boys (N=16)
is 8.63; SD 3.29.
Homogeneity of the group was tested by computing the levene’s test of equality, the findings
are presented in table No. 2.
Table 2: Levene’s Test of Equality of Error Variances
F df1 df2 Sig.
.879 3 48 .459
* Design: Intercept + Pre + group + gender + group * gender
Output shows the result of Levene’s test when pre PST program is included in the model as a
covariate. The Levene’s test is insignificant, indicating that the group variances are equal.
Hence, the assumption of homogeneity of variance has been met. The findings with regard to
ANCOVA are presented in table 3.
Table 3: Tests of Between-Subjects Effects
Source Type III Sum of
Squares
Df Mean Square F Sig.
Corrected Model 441.906a
4 110.48 39.78 0.00
Intercept 42.429 1 42.43 15.28 0.00
Pre Perform 341.009 1 341.00 122.81 0.00
Group 12.549 1 12.55 4.51 0.039
Gender 6.877 1 6.88 2.47 0.12
Group * Gender 1.187 1 1.19 .428 0.51
Error 130.503 47 2.78
Total 3938.920 52
Corrected Total 572.409 51
a. R Squared = .772 (Adjusted R Squared = .753)
b. P < 0.05

5. The above table shows the ANCOVA table with the covariate included. Looking first at the
significance value of Group it is clear that the result of F-test support the effect after
controlling for Pre performance, obtained F = 4.51 at p 0.039 < 0.05. Table further indicates
the interaction of group and gender, the attained f value is .428 at the p > 0.05.
Whereas in case of Gender, it can be revealed that p is 0.12 > 0.05, fails to support the
assumption of the regression homogeneity, F = 2.47, p > 0.05.
Table 4: Mean Difference Between Experimental And Controlled Group
(I) group (J) group Mean
Difference
(I-J)
Std.
Error
Sig.a
95% Confidence Interval for
Differencea
Lower Bound Upper Bound
Exp Control 1.039*
.489 .039 .056 2.022
Control Exp -1.039*
.489 .039 -2.022 -.056
*. The mean difference is significant at the.05 level.
Based on estimated marginal means
a. . Adjustment for multiple comparisons: Least Significant Difference (equivalent to no adjustments).
The above table exhibits that the mean difference among Experimental and Controlled group
is 1.03, significant at 0.039 < 0.05.
DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
Results of the present study reveals that the Psychological Skills Training Program composite
of Goal-setting, Relaxation, Imagery, Attention, Self-talk and Self-confidence has been most
useful in enhancing the Floor Exercise performance of the Artistic Gymnasts, if clubbed with
physical training. All the data collected offered to understand the scenario in the quantity and
created an overall picture of PST influence.
The result of the current study suggest that Gymnasts who engaged in Psychological Skills
Training program (performance enhancement Techniques) exhibited enhanced performance
on Floor Exercise when compared to participants in a controlled condition where, the
gymnasts did not participate in a PST program but regularly were undergoing physical
training program. Improvement in performance is supported by the findings given by
Calmels, C., & Fournier, J, (1999). A number of studies show that athletes who are strongly
confident in sport, concentrate better, have healthier emotions, and demonstrate better game
strategies, control of tempos, and performance than less confident athletes (Chi, 1996; Gould,
1981; Mahoney, Gabriel, & Perkin, 1987).
With an anticipation of enhancement in sports performance a combination of several
psychological skills was developed for the Artistic Gymnasts and the results of the present
study also supports the assumptions of the researcher, with the reference to the findins of
(Calmels etal. 2003). Much of the early research utilizing prescribed PST programs used
single PST methods and tested their effect on performance (Martin, Moritz & Hall, 1999;
Garza & Feltz, 1998). Thelwell and Greenlees (2001) argue that when implementing a PST
program, it is improbable that a single method will be employed by a sports psychologist.
Thelwell and Greenlees (2001) highlight that it is more effective to employ a combination of
mental skills that relate to the specific sport. The performance could elevate as the gymnasts
under experimentation could understand, learn and adapt the Psychological Skills and finally

6. applied that during the training and competition which helped them to concentrate better,
being more focussed, rehearse perfect technique, relaxing themselves during training or
competition, stopped negative thoughts and chanted positive statements etc. In consideration
to a great emphasis has been place on identification of numerous psychological skills and on
instruction of athletes in how to learn and apply them (Orlick, 1990, Nideffer, 1992,
Williams, 1093) psychological skills are related to a number of desired qualities such as
commitment to training, confidence and decreased pre competition anxiety (Williams and
Krane, 1992; White, 1993).
While there is ample evidence that PST enhances the sports performance, it is unable to
understand if PST influence differently to the males and females, after the examination of
data in the present study it has been revealed that there was no difference found in the
improvement in male and female Artistic gymnasts performance on Floor Exercise following
the PST program. In support of the former, analysis of 46 meta-analyses that were conducted
during the last two decades of the 20th century underscores that men and women are
basically alike in terms of personality, cognitive ability and leadership. Hyde, J. S. (2005)
supported by Halpern, D. F. (2000) & (2004). However, Research findings references from
previous studies, with regard to gender differences in psychological skills are conflicting.
Educational Implication
The current article reviews a PST program for the Indian Gymnasts that was successfully
implemented to improve the Gymnast's mental skills and performance.
CONCLUSIONS
1. Tailor made PST Program may be developed to enhance the performance of the
players.
2. There is significant difference between the Experimental and Control Group
performances.
3. Psychological skills training program has significantly improved the Floor Exercise
performance of the gymnasts.
4. The psychological skills training worked evenly for both male and female gymnasts
or in other words they adapted evenly.

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 (http://gymnastics.about.com/od/gymnasticsapparatus/p/gymnasticsfloorexercise.htm)