EQOL Journal (2019) 11(1):
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
The effects of
Seyed Mohammad Zadkhosh 1✉ • Hassan Gharayagh Zandi 1 • Majid Ghorbannejad 2
Received: 21st December, 2019 |
DOI: 10.31382/eqol.190601 |
Accepted: 30th January, 2019 |
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© The Author(s) 2019. This article is published with open access. |
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Abstract
The aim of this study was to examine the effect of
✉mohamadzadkhosh@gmail.com
1University of Tehran, Department of Sport Psychology, Tehran, Iran
2Islamic Azad University, Department of Clinical Psychology, Science and Research Branch of Rasht, Gilan, Iran
Keywords mindfulness • cognitive skills • Ottawa mental skills assessment tool actions • soccer players.
Introduction
Professional athletes are usually motivated to perform at an optimal level in order to have a clear mind and only that take the move in the moment. Although this process seems simple, but athletes often need to skillfully control their minds to succeed. Practicing mindfulness techniques can be a way through which athletes can fight the effects of damage and distractions in exercise. In particular, mindfulness may be a way to help athletes to know more about external and internal stimuli, and to allow interventions that accompany their performance do not respond. Modern approaches to studying mindfulness are rooted in Eastern philosophy and psychology of consciousness.
A mindfulness exercise approach was introduced in the 1970s by
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EQOL Journal (2019) 11(1):
usness that is guided by satisfaction (Brown & Ryan, 2003). An ordinary description, entitled "Awareness through consideration of the goal, is at the present moment and without judgment for the experience of detection" (Kabat‐Zinn, 2003). Intervention of mindfulness exercises can be formulated in a wide range of studies, such as those with chronic stress and chronic pain
According to the relationship between mindfulness and other traditionally measured exercise skills, Kee and Wang (2008) find a relationship between tendency to have mindfulness and the use of more attention control, emotional control and
Mindfulness has important implications for sports psychology. This new intervention has been developed in applied psychology over the past ten years, and has recently focused on the center of
mindfulness interventions and performance enhancement among athletes. At present, theoretically, interventions are in the middle of the
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psychology of sports literature. In the review of the history of recent literature, the study of mindfulness interventions in sports psychology studies concluded that a strong theoretical foundation and empirical support were obtained (Gardner & Moore, 2012). Mindfulness focuses on improving the performance of psychological skills training at attention and optimal performance (Moore, 2009). An increasing number of studies have shown the empirical evidences of this intervention in sport, which are discussed below.
By developing an intervention called mindfulness acceptance commitment, Gardner and Moore (2004) introduced the first research in sports psychology to introduce mindfulness as a way to increase exercise performance. Moazam (2015) during a research showed that mindfulness exercises can be effective in enhancing free throwing skills. Nabilpour and Aghababa (2015) found a significant relationship between mental toughness and some subscales of mindfulness and physiological profiles among young soccer players. In another research, Zadkhosh, Gharayagh Zandi, and Hemayattalab (2018) indicated that neurofeedback and mindfulness exercises reducing anxiety and increasing the performance of athletes.
In general, research on mindfulness and sports is in the early stages. Today there are empirical evidence that mindfulness may affect performance (Gardner & Moore, 2012). In addition, there is no evidence that professional athletes use their own mindfulness processes, and there is no data to explain how it is optimal for athletes to use mindfulness processes.
Considering the many studies that have been done on the effect of psychological training on athletes, studies show this point that athletes need more training in their cognitive skills than other skills (Vaez Mousavi, Shams, Bahrami, Farsi, & Abdoli, 2015). On the other hand, studies on mindfulness interventions show the effect of these exercises on the cognitive dimension of individuals. In addition, quantitative studies have been done on the effect of mindfulness exercises on athletes, and considering the effect of mental fitness on the performance and performance of athletes, and since dynamics and presence at the moment are an important factor in controlling competition and achieving the desired outcome at the end of a race. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate the effect of mindfulness training on the cognitive skills components of young soccer players. The question expressed in this study
EQOL Journal (2019) 11(1):
is whether mindfulness trainings can increase cognitive skills level of soccer players?
Method
The present study is a
A
Session 1: Automatic pilot
At first, the mindfulness Group had an initial acquaintance with the intervener and his colleagues.
The meeting was briefed on the upcoming program for members. Explained about the practice of traditional mindfulness meditation. Then, in relation to the cognitive errors, an explanation was made and then eating a raisin with mindfulness training took place. The meeting outlined the goals and expectations of members for the program. Teaching and practicing body scan meditation. The practice of home was presented, i.e. body scan meditation and eating with mindfulness.
Session 2: Removing obstacles
The meeting began with a review of the previous session assignments and the obstacles to its implementation and explanations to overcome the barriers. The continuation of cognitive errors was then followed by body scan and breathing mindfulness meditation exercises. As a homework, body scan meditation examination and
Session 3: Breathing with Mindfulness (physical movements using this technique)
The content of the third session was motor exercises with mindfulness; therefore, the session was initiated with ten minutes breathing, followed by sitting meditation and members discovered their wandering thoughts through body scan and breathing meditation. Then it was discussed about the pleasant experiences of the day. Training and practice walking with mindfulness.
Session 4: Stay at the moment
In the content of this meeting was staying at the moment. The session began with body scan meditation. Then 5 minutes to see or hear with mindfulness (consciousness of breathing, organs, sounds, thoughts and informed choices), and discovering unpleasant experiences as well as recording pleasant and unpleasant events. Then, the
Session 5: Allowing and Accepting
The fifth session began with the acceptance and allowing of sitting with meditation. Then three minutes breathing was done and
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EQOL Journal (2019) 11(1):
obtained; 5. Develop a practical plan for implementing the solution. The homework was a sitting meditation and breathing normally for three minutes.
Session 6: Thoughts do not have a real origin
Sixth week were done with thoughts that have no real origins and by reviewing the problems of people during the homework and the emotions and excitement that they had during the exercises. The body scan exercise was conducted and a review of the topic of unrealistic thoughts. Mindful breathing and identifying activities that keep being in the moment. The
Session 7: How to best care for ourselves?
Seventh session was done with content how to best care for ourselves with sitting meditation or four- dimensional meditation. Then the discovery of the relationship between mood and activity and the preparation of a list of desirable daily activities and activities that give an unpleasant feeling to the individual. Discussions about how useful activities can be enhanced and activities that keep us away from being in the moment. The session was followed by a
Session 8: Conclusion
The eighth week session was completed with a three- minute breathing meditation. Then, what was learned over the course was reviewed. Then, questions were raised about the whole sessions, such as whether the individuals reached their expectations during the course.
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The third version of the Ottawa Mental Skills Assessment Tool, was designed in 2001 by Professor
The questionnaire contains 48 questions that assess 12 mental skills each with four questions. Each question has seven options based on the Likert scale as follows: Strongly disagree - Disagree - More or less disagree – Neither agree nor disagree - More or less agree - Agree - Strongly agree. Each option is also awarded from one to seven points, respectively. Of course, there are four questions: stress response, fear control, focusing, and refocusing are inversely rewarded. As a result, the highest score for each question is seven and the sum of the highest scores for each of the 12 mental skills is 28. In this research we evaluated cognitive skill factors (focusing, refocusing, imagery, mental practice, and competition planning).
Data was analyzed using SPSS software, version
22.A
Results
As shown in Table 1, to evaluate the significance of these changes in different groups, mixed analysis of variance was used. It can be stated that the main effect of intervention has been due to significant changes in the levels of cognitive skills.
EQOL Journal (2019) 11(1):
Table 1. Tests of
Factor |
Source |
df |
Mean sq. |
F |
p |
η2 |
|
Focusing |
1 |
116.033 |
27.317 |
.001 |
.494 |
Focusing |
Focusing * Group |
1 |
32.033 |
7.541 |
.010 |
.212 |
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Error (Focusing) |
28 |
4.248 |
|
|
|
|
Refocusing |
1 |
83.333 |
9.701 |
.004 |
.257 |
Refocusing |
Refocusing * Group |
1 |
160.167 |
13.053 |
.001 |
.318 |
|
Error (Refocusing) |
28 |
8.590 |
|
|
|
|
Imagery |
1 |
108.300 |
30.985 |
.001 |
.525 |
Imagery |
Imagery * Group |
1 |
40.833 |
11.683 |
.002 |
.294 |
|
Error (Imagery) |
28 |
3.495 |
|
|
|
|
Mental practice |
1 |
112.133 |
45.025 |
.001 |
.617 |
Mental practice |
Mental practice * Group |
1 |
34.133 |
13.706 |
.001 |
.329 |
|
Error (Mental practice) |
28 |
2.490 |
|
|
|
|
Competition planning |
1 |
182.533 |
52.726 |
.001 |
.653 |
Competition planning |
Competition planning * Group |
1 |
70.533 |
20.374 |
.001 |
.421 |
|
Error (Competition planning) |
28 |
3.462 |
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|
|
|
|
|
|
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As shown in Table 2, the main effect of intervention on the levels of cognitive skills of athletes was significant and the interactive effect of intervention in mindfulness group was significant on cognitive skills levels. The following Table 2 shows the difference between the mean of mindfulness and control groups in the pretest and posttest, it was found that there was no significant difference in the level of
Table 2. Tests of
cognitive skills in the control group over time and intervention. But in the mindfulness group, the level of all
Factor |
Source |
Type III |
df |
Mean sq. |
F |
p |
η2 |
|
Ʃ2 |
||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Intercept |
13717.40 |
1 |
13717.40 |
611.929 |
.000 |
.956 |
|
Focusing |
Group |
21.675 |
1 |
21.675 |
.967 |
.334 |
.033 |
|
|
Error |
627.667 |
28 |
22.417 |
|
|
|
|
|
Intercept |
10378.80 |
1 |
10378.80 |
852.052 |
.000 |
.968 |
|
Refocusing |
Group |
34.133 |
1 |
34.133 |
2.802 |
.105 |
.091 |
|
|
Error |
341.067 |
28 |
12.181 |
|
|
|
|
|
Intercept |
17112.40 |
1 |
17112.40 |
2109.543 |
.000 |
.987 |
|
Imagery |
Group |
25.208 |
1 |
25.208 |
3.108 |
.089 |
.100 |
|
|
Error |
227.133 |
28 |
8.112 |
|
|
|
|
|
Intercept |
15686.53 |
1 |
15686.53 |
2291.997 |
.000 |
.988 |
|
Mental practice |
Group |
40.833 |
1 |
40.833 |
5.966 |
.021 |
.176 |
|
|
Error |
191.633 |
28 |
6.844 |
|
|
|
|
|
Intercept |
14213.63 |
1 |
14213.63 |
1014.311 |
.000 |
.973 |
|
Competition planning |
Group |
7.500 |
1 |
7.500 |
.535 |
.471 |
.019 |
|
|
Error |
392.367 |
28 |
14.013 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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EQOL Journal (2019) 11(1):
Discussion
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a period of
There are limited researches in the field of mindfulness meditation training with different goals and plans. Therefore, different results have been obtained, some of them are in line with the results of this study and some are in contradiction with the results of the present study.
Considering the few studies that have been done in the field of mindfulness in sport, and although other studies have different goals, results of this research is similar to research findings such as Aherne, Moran, and Lonsdale (2011);
According to Scott‐Hamilton et al. (2016), the effect
of eight weeks of mindfulness training reduced sport anxiety, and facilitating athletic experiences on competitive cyclists. In another research, Zadkhosh et al. (2018) studied the effect of neurofeedback and mindfulness trainings on the performance and anxiety of young soccer players. The results of this study showed the positive effect of neurofeedback and mindfulness exercises on anxiety reduction and increasing exercise performance of players. Kee et al. (2012) also examined the effect of nine weeks of Mindfulness training on 32 males, which results show the positive effects of mindfulness induction motor control and balance the experimental group compared to the control group. In one of the first researches in the field of sports,
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other psychological aspects of athletes. Therefore, the use of this program is recommended to group and individual sports by sports psychologists and mental skill trainers.
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How to cite this article:
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R.(2012). Mindfulness
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Zadkhosh , S. M., Zandi, H. G., & Ghorbannejad, M. (2019). The effects of |
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APA: |
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young soccer players. Exercise and Quality of Life, 11(1), |
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doi:10.31382/eqol.190601 |
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Zadkhosh , Seyed Mohammad , Hassan Gharayagh Zandi and Majid |
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MLA: |
Ghorbannejad. "The effects of |
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(MBCT) on cognitive skills in young soccer players." Exercise and Quality |
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of Life 11.1 (2019): |
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Zadkhosh , Seyed Mohammad , Hassan Gharayagh Zandi, and Majid |
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Chicago: |
Ghorbannejad. "The effects of |
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(MBCT) on cognitive skills in young soccer players." Exercise and Quality |
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