Exploring the Relationship Between Hardiness and Performance in Collegiate Baseball Players

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of the individual personality characteristic of hardiness on trait anxiety and objective performance within NCAA Division I collegiate baseball players. An updated version of the PVS III-R was used to measure hardiness after a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted. Of the total 389 players that participated, 171 met inclusion criteria requirements and were split into two groupshitters (N=94) and pitchers (N=80)to identify differences in skills and how sub-constructs of hardiness affected performance through a descriptive correlational prospective design. The results show significant moderating effects of commitment for pitchers that accounted for the majority of variance in the relationship between perception of trait anxiety intensity and left on base percentage (LOB%) and wild pitches (WP). For hitters, significant moderating effects of control accounted for less variance in the relationship between perception of trait anxiety intensity on batting average on balls in play (BABIP) and double plays grounded into (GDP). The findings indicate there may be situational significance of hardiness' moderating effect on the relationship between trait anxiety and objective performance that may not be present until runners are on base. Practitioners could use these findings to target mental skills that could build up a pitcher's commitment or hitter's sense of control to moderate their performance within certain situations within collegiate baseball settings. Future studies could aim to replicate this study under normal NCAA collegiate baseball seasons when possible to corroborate situational findings and the utilization of updated PVS III-R scale.