Psychological Skills Training Applied to Soccer: A Systematic Review Based on Research Methodologies

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to provide a systematic review of studies on psychological skills training (PST) applied to soccer from 1980 until the end of 2012. A total of 28 studies were evaluated and reported in five sections: year overview and journals, research designs, data collection, sample characteristics and PST focus category. PST articles applied to soccer were spread throughout a wide range of journals and had a considerable growth during the 2008-12 period. Results also indicated that most of the research on PST applied to soccer was experimental, longitudinal and combined quantitative and qualitative data. Furthermore, the majority of studies focused on non-elite players with a age under 16 and were conducted in North American countries.Critical and innovative reflections were made in order to highlight potential research gaps and to suggest new perspectives for further investigation.

A Systematic Review of Psychological Studies Applied to Futsal

“…However, it should be highlighted that every researcher needs to know advantages and disadvantages of each design before deciding on one. Freitas et al (2013) stated that researchers must be critical about the advantages and disadvantages of each research methodology and decide on the most appropriate research tools to answer specific questions.…”

“…Other sources (e.g., dissertations, books, editorials, magazines and electronic resources) should not go unnoticed when seeking to understand or study an important subject (Freitas et al, 2013). However, “master’s theses and doctoral dissertations are not easily accessible, and a rigorous review process is not always required for books” (Gilbert and Trudel, 2004).…”

“…However, “master’s theses and doctoral dissertations are not easily accessible, and a rigorous review process is not always required for books” (Gilbert and Trudel, 2004). Finally, based on the inclusion criteria of previous systematic reviews (Freitas et al, 2013; Goodger et al, 2007; Tod et al, 2011), this analysis did not include studies that were published as an abstract or conference proceedings or were not written in English.…”

“…The content of studies that were relevant to the inclusion criteria was analyzed based on similar systemic review procedures used by other authors (Freitas et al, 2013; Goodger et al, 2007; Sallis et al, 2000; Tod et al, 2011). …”

Psychological Characteristics Sports Performance in Team Sports

“…Por ello es importante que para la dirección de futuros trabajos en la interacción de los deportistas se superponga el rol del entrenador, y desde este punto de vista puede darse una explicación de las diferencias observadas entre las deportistas femeninas y sus homólogos masculinos en materia de cohesión de equipo. En consecuencia, estos resultados respaldan dichas diferencias psicológicas, y suponen que la preparación psicológica de los deportistas es proporcional a las exigencias propias de cada deporte y la intervención psicológica que este a su vez precisa (Lorenzo, Gómez, Pujals & Lorenzo, 2012;Olmedilla et al, 2010), así como las perspectivas de futuras investigaciones en programas de entrenamiento de las habilidades psicológicas (Freitas, Dias, & Fonseca, 2013), inclusive se han reportado intervenciones psicológicas con efectos positivos desde edades tempranas (Munroe-Chandler, Hall, Fishburne, Murphy & Hall, 2012). Es importante alentar futuros trabajos en esta línea de investigación, que impliquen alcances de mayor control metodológico, y en este orden de ideas, estudiar el comportamiento de entrenadores, padres de familia en relación con los deportistas, así como variables deportivas entre posición de juego, experiencia deportiva en función de la afectación y variables psicológicas relacionadas con el rendimiento deportivo.…”