Mental Toughness: Trait or Developmental Capability? Effectiveness Evaluation of Psychological Skills Training

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of psychological skills training program on developing mental toughness among novice badminton players. Based on entrance criterias, 40 male novice badminton players were randomly assigned to experimental (20 participants) and placebo-control (20 participants) groups. Before and after interventions, participants completed sport mental toughness questionnaire (SMTQ). All participants take part in specific skills training badminton during 24 sessions over three months. Experimental group in addition to badminton learning received the specific package of psychological skills training but Placebo-control group was taught only general information about badminton. The results of MANCOVA showed that all components of SMTQ in experimental group were significantly higher than the placebo-control group, which indicates the effectiveness of PST on mental toughness development among male badminton novice players. These results supported the capability of developing mental toughness through systematical psychological skills training programs.