Comparison of mental toughness and anxiety based on skill level of professional athletes

In high-level competitions where athletes physical abilities and technical and tactical skills are closer, psychological factors play a decisive role in athletes success and excellence. The aim of this study was to compare the psychological factors of mental stubbornness and anxiety of successful and less successful karateka’s in the Iranian Karate Super League in ۲۰۱۹.For this purpose, ۶۰ men and women karate kai present in the country s karate super league, with an average age of ۲۱.۹ years, were randomly selected and divided into two successful groups (players of national karate teams with at least one Asian or world position) and less successful (the players in the Super League without a national record). For data collection, we used Shirad et al. s (۲۰۰۹) mental retardation questionnaire and Lerrer & Wolfek s anxiety questionnaire (۱۹۸۲) and data analysis was done by Dependent and independent t-test and variance analysis test.The first research findings showed that the mean mental toughness of the karate Super league reliability components was higher than the average reliability and hardiness of the semi-skilled karate players. According to research, Super League men had higher mental toughness than semi-skilled women and men, and also had higher mental toughness than men. Other results of this study indicated that there was a significant difference between all components of anxiety (physical, behavioral and cognitive) and skill levels based on gender. Anxiety is higher in women.It can be concluded that attending higher level competitions requires higher mental toughness. And in karateka’s women, lower mental toughness and higher anxiety than in karateka’s men Super League karate have been observed. Therefore, it is important to consider the use of sports psychology and further training to attend competitions, especially for women.

کلیدواژه ها:

Anxiety ، sports psychology ، mental toughness ، Karate ، professional athlete