Mental Skills Training
Scotland’s talented young sportsmen and women now receive more physical, technical and tactical training than ever before. But the development of ‘mental toughness’ is often left to mature on its own.
In partnership with Scottish Rugby and the University of Birmingham, a Mental Skills Training programme was developed for today’s young rugby players – to build mental strength among the internationalists of tomorrow.
Piloted with 100 of Scotland’s leading under-15 and under-16 players, the initiative saw sports psychologist Professor Joan Duda become an important member of the coaching team. Each player received 25 hours of mental skills training during the season, focusing on goal setting, imagery, confidence, motivation, anxiety, relaxation and negative thought-stopping.
The lessons learned from this programme will be shared with Winning Scotland Foundation partners to help develop a ‘tool kit’ for all sports.
MST has had a significant impact on the international sport science community through journal and conference publications, including:
Published journal papers:
Holland, M. J. G., Woodcock, C., Cumming, J., & Duda, J. L. (2010).
Mental qualities and employed mental techniques of young elite team sport athletes. Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology, 4, 19-32.
Woodcock, C., Holland, M. J. G., Duda, J. L., & Cumming, J. (in press).
Psychological qualities of elite adolescent rugby players: Parents, coaches, and sport administration staff perceptions and supporting roles. The Sport Psychologist.
Woodcock, C., Duda, J. L., Cumming, J., Sharp, L., & Holland, M. J. G.
(in press). Assessing mental skill and technique use in applied
interventions: Recognizing and minimizing threats to the psychometric properties of the TOPS, The Sport Psychologist.
Published abstracts:
Holland, M. J. G., Sharp, L., Woodcock, C., Cumming, J., & Duda, J. L.
(2010). Validity and reliability of the Behavioral Regulation in Sport Questionnaire (BRSQ) with youth athletes. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 32, s175-s176.
Sharp, L., Woodcock, C., Holland, M. J. G., Duda, J. L., & Cumming, J.
(2010). Validation of the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire with youth athletes. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 32, s218-s219.
Woodcock, C., Holland, M. J. G., Sharp, L., Duda, J. L., & Cumming, J.
(2010). Psychological skill use in adolescents: Exploring the structural and temporal validity of the TOPS. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 32, s233.
Woodcock, C., Holland, M. J. G., Duda, J. L., & Cumming, J. (2008).
Player and coach perspectives of the psychological qualities relevant to elite pathway rugby. Journal of Sport Sciences, 26(S2), s42.