ABSTRACT
This study was carried out to investigate the role of sports psychology in enhancing performance of athletes in the University of Benin. To guide the study, seven research questions were raised, out of which four were hypothesized and tested at 0.05 level of significance.
The descriptive survey research design was adopted in this study. The population of this study was made up of 268 NUGA athletes. The sample size of 137 was selected using the simple random sampling technique to select 50 percent of student athletes from each faculty in the university. The research instrument used for data gathering in the study was a self-structured questionnaire. The instrument was validated by the researcher’s supervisor and two other experts in the Department of Human Kinetics and Sports Science. The cronbach alpha statistics was used to establish the reliability of the instrument and the r-value of 0.77 was obtained. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics of frequency and percentage for their bio-data, inferential statistics of Pearson correlation statistics was used in testing hypothesis 1 in relation to research question 1, Linear regression was used to test hypothesis 2 in relation to research question 2, Chi-square statistics was used to test hypotheses 3 and 4 corresponding to research questions 3 and 4, while descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation was used for analyzing research questions 5, 6 and 7. The formulated hypotheses tested was set at 0.05 alpha level..
The findings revealed that there was a positive weak relationship between roles/objectives of sports psychology and perceived athletes performance, but not significant; age and gender predict mental imagery as related to perceived athletes performance; mental imagery does not significantly influence perceived athletes performance; there is no significant influence/relationship between visualization technique and perceived athletes performance; there are psychological problems faced by athletes in relation to sports performance such as proper time management, performance difficulties, unhealthy coping behaviours, conflict with coaches, teammates, lecturers, as well as pressure from significant others; sports psychology has immense benefits on athletes performance, such as improving focus, self confidence, developing coping skills, and cultivating communication skills; sports psychology intervention does ameliorate psychological problems of athletes. It was concluded that there was a positive weak relationship between objectives/roles of sports psychology and perceived athletes performance. Also, age and gender predicted mental imagery in relation to perceived athletes performance. Athletes were also faced with psychological problems in relation to sports performance, such as proper time management; performance difficulties; unhealthy coping behaviours; conflict with coaches, teammates, lecturers; as well as pressure from significant others. On the other hand, sports psychology had immense benefits on athletes performance, such as improving focus, self confidence, developing coping skills, and cultivating communication skills; just as sports psychology intervention does ameliorate psychological problems of athletes. It was recommended that the roles of the sport psychologist if when implemented would improve sports performance of athletes; the ‘catch them young’ philosophy should be cash in on so as to get athletes (boys and girls) to gain proficiency in their respective motor skills thereby acquiring early experience; coaches should encourage athletes to employ the psychological instruments of mental imagery and visualization in order to improve their sports performance; experienced sport psychologists should be hired to help athletes faced with any kind of psychological problems in order to bring out the best in them.
