Are Self-Talk and Mental Toughness Level Prerequisites Besides the Kick Boxing Education Level in Athletes?

Abstract

The aim of this study is to determine the relationship between self-talk and mental toughness levels of kickboxers and to compare the differences between the self-talk and mental toughness of the athletes according to the independent variables obtained from the personal information of the athletes participating in the research. The study group of the research consists of athletes who participated in kickboxing competitions in Turkey (n=223). 120 (53.8%) of the athletes are women and 103 (46.2%) are men. In the study, the “Self-Talk Questionnaire” adapted to the Turkish athlete population by Engür (2011) and the “Sport Mental Toughness Questionnaire” adapted to Turkish by Altıntaş and Bayar Koruç (2016) is used. It is decided whether the data met the prerequisites of the parametric tests by examining the Skewness and Kurtosis values (normal distribution of the data) and the Levene test (equality of variance) results. As a result, correlation analysis is used to determine the relationships between the variables, and t-test and ANOVA analyses are used to determine the differences. As a result of the research, it is determined that there is a positive and significant relationship between self-talk and mental toughness. Mental toughness is accepted as a term that trainers, managers and athletes attach importance to, and it is considered a prerequisite for sportive success. The fact that there is a positive and significant relationship between self-talk and mental toughness suggests that self-talk is also a predictor of performance. At the point of achieving success, the inner messages that the athlete will give themselves will increase their mental toughness and will be reflected in the sports environment, training or competition.