Correlation of Selected Psychological Skills and Sports Performance Enhancement among Government Secondary School Students in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Lga of Rivers State

Abstract

This research investigated the correlation of selected psychological skills and sports performance enhancement among government secondary school students in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGA of Rivers State. The study was guided by five (5) objectives while five (5) research questions were answered. The correlational research design was used for the study. The population of the study consisted all public secondary school students in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni local government area of Rivers State. A sample size of 450 secondary school students was used for the study. The proportionate stratified random sampling technique was used with 30% of the population of each of the selected school to draw the sample. The instrument for data collection was a 30-item self-structured questionnaire with reliability co-efficient of 0.72. Mean, standard deviation and Pearson Product Moment correlation were used for data analysis. The study revealed that motivation self-confidence, concentration, goal setting, and stress management had positive and significant relationship with sports performance enhancement among government secondary school students in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni local government area of Rivers State. The researcher recommended among others that sports administrators and coaches should integrate training modules on motivation, self-confidence, concentration, goal-setting, and stress management into their regular training programs as these skills will aid athlete development. Sports masters and coaches should also implement a system for regularly monitoring and evaluating the psychological skill development of student-athletes. This can help in identifying areas that need further improvement and in tailoring training programs to meet the specific needs of the athletes