Original scientific paper

Marko Velickovski¹ , Borce Daskalovski² , Petar Mitic³ 

https://doi.org/10.46733/PESH2514129v

Abstract

The aim of this research is to research the differences in the psychological components of competition anxiety the cognitive anxiety, somatic anxiety and self-confidence in basketball players from teams of different rankings in the First and Second Macedonian Basketball League, as well as to analyse the differences in age and sports career experience. The research includes a selected sample of 60 active basketball players, organised in four subgroups according to their position on the table (the best and the worst placed teams in both of the aforesaid leagues). The standardized CSAI-2, measuring the three main psychological dimensions was applied in the evaluation of anxiety. The analysis of the results obtained through the un-variant ANOVA and LSD post-hoc test, demonstrated important differences in the variables of age and sport experience, but not in the psychological components of anxiety. Nevertheless, the trends in the arithmetic means demonstrate that the basketball players of the teams with lower placement on the table, especially the younger players of the second league, manifest higher levels of anxiety and lower self-confidence. This can be attributed to insufficient sport career experience, higher expectations and sensitivity to competitive stress. These findings have important practical implications for sport psychologists and coaches, indicating the need to continuous psychological education, development of emotional competencies and adjustment to the coaching style. The research also reveals the positive directions of individualized psychological interventions in young athletes, with the purpose of reducing their anxiety and inciting the stronger self-confidence in competition situations.

Key words: competitive anxiety, self-confidence, basketball

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