Mental Preparation of Iranian Elite Athletes

The purpose of the present study was to describe the state of mental preparation in Iranian elite athletes. Ottawa Mental Set Assessment Tool-3 to measure mental skill, Levenson test to measure attribution, Sport Motivation Scale to measure sport motivation, and Sheared test to measure mental toughness were administered on 295 athletes who attended various national team camps during year 2013. The results indicated that standard scores for basic mental skills were high, but for psychosomatic skills and cognitive skills were moderate. The Locus of Control for most athletes was internal. Both Internal and External motivation scores for most athletes were high and the score for amotivation was low. Standard scores for all components of mental toughness were average and above. Totally, it can be concluded the state of Attribution and Motivation is appropriate in Iranian elite athletes. They need to be educated in mental toughness concerns. Designing training programs for psychosomatic and cognitive components of mental skills seems also necessary.