Volume : 2, Issue : 11, NOV 2016

COMPARATIVE STUDY ON MENTAL TOUGHNESS AMONG THE ARCHERS AND SHOOTERS

Dr. Kshetrimayum Rojeet Singh, Dr. Anil Mili

Abstract

Objective of the study is to assess the mental toughness level of the archers and shooter and to compare the mental toughness level between the two sports athletes i.e., archers and shooters. Methods: For the purpose of the study twenty four (24) Archers (16 boys and 8 girls) and (24) Shooters (16 boys and 8 girls) were selected from Amritsar, Punjab and Imphal, Manipur were selected for the purpose of the study. The age of the athletes were ranged from 21 to 27 years. And to assess the mental toughness of the athletes of the selected sports i.e., Archery and Shooting the Mental Toughness Questionnaire by Dr. Alan Goldberg was used. The descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation, std. error mean etc. was used and for the comparison between the two sports on the factor of mental toughness the independent “t-test” was used. Results: The mean and standard deviation of the factors of mental toughness for shooters and archers are Rebound Ability (3.375 ± 1.209) and (4.042 ± 1.233), Handle Pressure (4.208 ± 1.285) and (3.833 ± 1.129), Concentration Ability (3.917 ± 1.176) and (4.167 ± 1.007), Level of Confidence (4.458 ± 1.179) and (2.917 ± 1.381) and Motivation (4.458 ± 0.779) and (4.792 ± 1.103) respectively. The “t-test” results shows that out of all the selected factors exists a significant difference in level of confidence (p = .000), as the obtain p value was less than 0.05 (p ? .05). This implies that in spite of similarities in nature of sports events there exists differences, or there are special requirements for participation in these sports. The existence of similarities in between triathletes and cyclists is prevalent in rebound ability (p = .065), handle pressure (p = .288), concentration ability (p = .433) and motivation (p = .233), as their obtained p values were less than 0.05 (p ? .05). Conclusion: the present study shows that archers are bit better in confidence level than shooters and rest of the factors of mental toughness are similar. It must be noted that the present research was solely a comparison in nature and that future studies would be needed to assess how athletes actually interpret behavior in competitive sports situations. And again additional research is needed to find out the real reason of similarities and difference exists in the present study.

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