Effect of Neuro-Linguistic Programming on Mental Toughness in Veteran and Disabled Athletes

Aims: Any success in sport contests depends on mental preparation, alongside the physical and technical readiness, in the veteran and disabled athletes. The aim of the study was to investigate the effectiveness of the neuro-linguistic programming strategies training courses on the mental toughness in the veteran and disabled athletes.
In the controlled pretest-posttest semi-experimental study, 30 male veteran and disabled athletes with physical-motor disabilities were studied in Tabriz in 2016. The subjects, selected via available sampling method from GFT Sitting Volleyball Team, were randomly divided into two groups including experimental (n=15 persons) and control (n=15 persons) groups. Data was collected by Sheard et al. Questionnaire for mental toughness. After the pretest, sixteen 30-minute training sessions of neuro-linguistic programming strategies were conducted in experimental group. Data was analyzed using multivariate ANCOVA.
Findings: At the posttest stage, the mean score of mental toughness in experimental group was significantly higher than control group (p=0.001). The mean scores of confidence (p=0.026) and control (p=0.001) in experimental group were significantly higher than control group. However, the groups were not significantly different in sustainability (p=0.673).
Improving their sport activities, teaching the neuro-linguistic programming strategies affects the mental toughness in the veteran and disabled athletes.