Psychological predisposition of Cuban heptathletes and decathletes, evidence of its association with competitive performance

Abstract

Psychological preparation for competitions is a process that enhances the capacities and qualities of the athlete during the preparation to reach the optimal state of mental predisposition. There are few researches that offer empirical evidence of the relationship between the state of mental predisposition and the competitive performance of athletes in combined events. The objective of this work was to determine how the state of psychological predisposition and the competitive performance of Cuban athletes in combined events are related. The research was non-experimental and cross-sectional. The sample was made up of eight athletes from the combined events of the Cuban national athletics team. The Questionnaire of Psychological Predisposition for Competition and the Performance Scale in the competition of combined tests were used. Goal clarity was positively and directly correlated with competitive performance in hurdles (.793 sig. = .019). The significance of the athletes' perceived competition was positively and directly correlated with hurdles and high jump (.826 sig. = .012 and .717 sig. = .045). As the clarity of objectives increased in the athletes studied, so did the performance perceived by their coaches in the hurdles races they carried out in the 2020 Cuba Cup. As the significance of the competition was greater, so was the performance in hurdle races and high jump.