Psychological Tensions of Football Players: Reflections of Increasing
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15107061Keywords:
Sports psychology, Psychological tensions, FootballAbstract
This study aims to examine the psychological stress levels of university football players participating in the Turkish University Sports Federation football super league promotion competitions. The study evaluates the psychological effects of intense competition and increased workload on athletes. The sample of the study consists of university football players who compete every day for a week. The participants were administered the "Athlete Psychological Stress Scale (APSQ)" to determine their psychological stress levels. The findings revealed that intense competition periods cause athletes to exhibit psychological symptoms such as decreased motivation, increased training stress, anger, and anxiety. In particular, performance anxiety and future uncertainty were determined as the main factors that increase the psychological stress levels of athletes. Similar studies in the literature support the idea that intense competition and training load cause athletes to experience mental. The findings of the study indicate that strategies should be developed to increase the psychological resilience of athletes. In this context, it is recommended that coaches integrate stress management techniques into competition processes and provide athletes with access to psychological support mechanisms. In conclusion, this study contributes to the field of sports psychology and sheds light on strategies to protect athletes' psychological health during intense competitive periods.
References
Anderson, C. B., Covassin, T., & Kaminski, T. W. (2018). Psychological aspects of athletic performance: Examining the role of mental resilience. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 40(3), 215–230.
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control. Freeman.
Brink, M. S., Visscher, C., Coutts, A. J., Lemmink, K. A. P. M., & Kemper, H. C. G. (2010). Changes in perceived stress and recovery in overreached young elite soccer players. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 20(1), 56–62.
Büyüköztürk, Ş. (2007). Sosyal bilimler için veri analizi el kitabı. Pegem Akademi Yayıncılık, Ankara.
Dweck, C. (2006). Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. Random House.
Elferink-Gemser, M. T., Visscher, C., Lemmink, K. A. P. M., & Mulder, T. (2004). Relation between multidimensional performance characteristics and level of performance in talented youth field hockey players. Journal of Sports Sciences, 22(11–12), 1053–1063.
Field, A. (2018). Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS statistics. Sage.
Filaire, E., Sagnol, M., Ferrand, C., Maso, F., & Lac, G. (2001). Psychological stress and hormonal responses in team sports coaches: A review. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 85(1–2), 62–66.
Filho, E., Dobersek, U., Gershgoren, L., Becker, B., & Tenenbaum, G. (2014). The cohesion–performance relationship in sport: A 10-year retrospective meta-analysis. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 15(5), 551–562.
Gould, D., Dieffenbach, K., & Moffett, A. (2002). Psychological characteristics and their development in Olympic champions. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 14(3), 172–204.
Hanin, Y. (2000). Emotions in sport. Human Kinetics
Hooper, S. L., MacKinnon, L. T., Howard, A., Gordon, R. D., & Bachmann, A. W. (1995). Markers Hooper, S. L., MacKinnon, L. T., Howard, A., Gordon, R. D., & Bachmann, A. W. (1995). Markers for monitoring overtraining and recovery. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 27(1), 106–112.
Kais, K., & Raudsepp, L. (2005). Intensity and direction of competitive state anxiety, self-confidence and athletic performance. Kinesiology, 37(1), 13–20.
Kenttä, G., & Hassmén, P. (1998). Overtraining and recovery: A conceptual model. Sports Medicine, 26(1), 1–16.
Lima, Y., Öz, N. D., Denerel, N., Özkaya, Ö., Senışık, S., & Rice, S. (2022). Validity and reliability of the Turkish version of Athlete Psychological Strain Questionnaire (APSQ). Spor Hekimliği Dergisi, 57(3), 147–154.
Martens, R. (1977). Sport Competition Anxiety Test (SCAT). Human Kinetics.
Martens, R., Vealey, R. S., & Burton, D. (1990). Competitive Anxiety in Sport. Human Kinetics Publishers.
Meeusen, R., Watson, P., Hasegawa, H., Roelands, B., & Piacentini, M. F. (2006). Central fatigue: The serotonin hypothesis and beyond. Sports Medicine, 36(10), 881–909.
Nicholls, A. R., Polman, R. C. J., Levy, A. R., & Taylor, J. (2009). Stressors, coping, and coping effectiveness: Gender, type of sport, and skill differences. Journal of Sports Sciences, 27(7), 697–707.
Resnik, D. B. (2011). Scientific research and the public trust. Science and Engineering Ethics, 17, 399–409.
Rice, S. M., Parker, A. G., Mawren, D., Clifton, P., Harcourt, P., Lloyd, M., … & Purcell, R. (2020). Preliminary psychometric validation of a brief screening tool for athlete mental health among male elite athletes: The Athlete Psychological Strain Questionnaire. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 18(6), 850–865.
Rietjens, G., Kuipers, H., Adam, J., Saris, W., & Van Breda, E. (2005). Physiological, biochemical and psychological markers of strenuous training-induced fatigue. International Journal of Sports Medicine, 26(1), 16–26.
Scanlan, T. K., Russell, D. G., Beals, K. P., & Scanlan, L. A. (2005). Project on elite athlete commitment (PEAK): II. A direct test and expansion of the sport commitment model. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 27(3), 253–269.
Selmi, O., Haj-Sassi, R., Moalla, W., & Elloumi, M. (2018). Effect of competitive soccer matches on physiological and psychological parameters in elite players. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 32(6), 1602–1610.
Smith, J., & Johnson, K. (2020). Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology. Human Kinetics.
Twist, C., & Highton, J. (2013). Monitoring fatigue and recovery in rugby players. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 8(5), 467–474.
Weinberg, R. S., & Gould, D. (2023). Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology. Human Kinetics.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 InnovatioSports Journal
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
