Over the past 2 decades, mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) in sport have grown from a niche approach to performance excellence into a “mainstream option for sport psychologists across the globe” ( Gardner, 2016 , p. 147). Such interest is based on growing empirical research supporting the
Search Results
A Qualitative Exploration of Division I Tennis Players Completing the Mindfulness Meditation Training for Sport 2.0 Program
Trevor Cote, Amy Baltzell, and Robert Diehl
Using a Personal-Disclosure Mutual-Sharing Approach to Deliver a Team-Based Mindfulness Meditation Program to Enhance Cohesion
Piotr A. Piasecki, Todd M. Loughead, Kyle F. Paradis, and Krista J. Munroe-Chandler
enhanced closeness and connectedness, coupled with feelings of increased collective efficacy and invincibility ( Dunn & Holt, 2004 ). The PDMS approach was the means by which a team-based mindfulness meditation program was delivered in the current study. A team-based mindfulness meditation program was
Efficacy of a Brief Mindfulness Intervention to Prevent Athletic Task Performance Deterioration: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Joanne E. Perry, Michael Ross, Jeremiah Weinstock, and Terri Weaver
Research has supported mindfulness as a predictor of athletic success. This study used a parallel trial design to examine the benefit of a brief one-session mindfulness training for performance on an individual, nonpacing, closed skill athletic task (i.e., golf putting). All participants (N = 65) answered questionnaires and engaged in two trials of the putting task. Participants were randomly assigned to an intervention or control group using a simple randomization strategy. Between trials, the intervention group received a mindfulness intervention. Mindfulness intervention included psychoeducation, reflection upon previous sport experiences, an experiential exercise, and putting applications. Repeated-measures ANOVAs demonstrated that the intervention group exhibited more successful outcomes on objective putting performance, flow state experience, and state anxiety (p < .05). Results suggest mindfulness may prevent performance deterioration and could produce psychological benefits after a brief training session.
The Effect of Mindfulness Training on Attention and Performance in National-Level Swimmers: An Exploratory Investigation
Nick Mardon, Hugh Richards, and Amanda Martindale
This quasi-experimental intervention study investigated the impact of mindfulness training on attention and performance in swimmers. Following an 8-week intervention with six national-level university swimmers (M = 20 years), single case analysis of pre- and post- measurements for three of six participants showed large improvements in mindfulness and attention efficiency. Two participants showed a small increase in one of mindfulness or attention efficiency, and one showed no changes. Four participants improved performance times compared with season-best, and five participants improved self-rated performance. Athletes and coach positively evaluated mindfulness training. This study, with strong ecological validity, shows improvements in mindfulness, attention, and performance, consistent with theory that proposes attention as a mechanism for mindfulness based performance changes. Mindfulness training can be an effective and practical intervention. Further applied research is required utilizing designs to determine causality and further test the proposed mechanisms through which mindfulness may influence performance.
The Relationship Between Mindfulness and Life Stress in Student-Athletes: The Mediating Role of Coping Effectiveness and Decision Rumination
Mariana Kaiseler, Jamie M. Poolton, Susan H. Backhouse, and Nick Stanger
The role of dispositional mindfulness on stress in student-athletes and factors that mediate this relationship has yet to be examined. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between the facets of mindfulness and life stress in student-athletes and whether these relationships are mediated through coping effectiveness and decision rumination. Participants were 202 student-athletes who completed validated measures of dispositional mindfulness, student-athlete life stress, decision rumination and coping effectiveness in sport. Results indicated that the acting with awareness and nonjudging facets of mindfulness were negative predictors of life stress, whereas the observe facet was a positive predictor of life stress. Mediation analyses revealed that these relationships were mediated through coping effectiveness and decision rumination. Findings provide new insight into the role dispositional mindfulness plays on student-athlete perceptions of life stress and implications for practitioners are discussed.
Effects and Underlying Processes of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention With Young Elite Figure Skaters: Two Case Studies
Marjorie Bernier, Emilie Thienot, Emilie Pelosse, and Jean F. Fournier
This article examines the effects and underlying processes of a mindfulness-based intervention through two case studies. A one-season intervention designed according to the mindfulness approach was implemented with young elite figure skaters. Case studies were complemented with different measurement methods: a questionnaire assessing mindfulness skills, percent improvement on competition scores compared with a control group, and interviews with skaters and coaches during the intervention. The two case studies presented demonstrate how the young skaters developed their mindfulness skills and how these skills benefited their performance. They also show the limitations of this intervention type in young populations. Performance improvement and processes underlying the intervention are discussed in light of the results, and new perspectives are provided for adapting them to the particular needs of young athletes.
Effects of an Improvisation Intervention on Elite Figure Skaters’ Performance, Self Esteem, Creativity, and Mindfulness Skills
Véronique Richard, Wayne Halliwell, and Gershon Tenenbaum
The study examined the effect of an improvisation intervention on figure skating performance, self-esteem, creativity, and mindfulness skills. Nine elite figure skaters participated in a 10-session program based on Cirque du Soleil artistic principles. A mixed methodology using questionnaires, competition scores, and interviews was used to test the program effects on these variables. Descriptive statistics revealed small but imperative increases in competition performance, perceived artistic performance, self-esteem, creativity, and mindfulness. Significant (p < .05) effect of time was revealed only for creativity and artistic performance variables. Qualitative data supported these results. Skaters described verbally that movements were performed more freely, attention was better focused on performance, and they overcame shyness. Quantitative and qualitative data are discussed interactively in relation to performance enhancement and personal growth.
Predictors of Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Teaching Students With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in General Physical Education
Chunxiao Li, Justin A. Haegele, Ho Lun Au, and Kevin Wai Keung Kam
attitudes ( Anderson et al., 2012 ). The last perspective is related to psychological predictors. Psychological predictors of teachers’ attitudes toward inclusion has received little attention ( Tant & Watelain, 2016 ). The present study focuses on two psychological predictors, self-esteem and mindfulness
The Effects of an Exploratory Mindfulness Intervention on Collegiate Performance
Maya Trajkovski and Aubrey Newland
to increase athletes’ performance and control internal thoughts and emotions ( Hardy et al., 1996 ). However, proponents of mindfulness suggest that present-moment focus and acceptance—rather than controlling thoughts and emotions—can aid in athletic performance enhancement ( Birrer et al., 2012
Mindfulness, Contact Anxiety, and Attitudes Toward Students With Visual Impairments Among Certified Adapted Physical Educators
Justin A. Haegele, Chunxiao Li, and Wesley J. Wilson
process that is emerging as an important factor in forming and changing physical educators’ attitudes toward students with disabilities is mindfulness ( Li et al., 2019 ). Mindfulness can be described as the psychological process of bringing attention to the present moment without judgment and
