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14th ITF Worldwide Coa ches Works hop, Turkey 2005 - Quality Coa ching for the FutureThe Interna tiona l Tennis Federa tion

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The M en t a l T ra in i ng o f a Tenn i s P lay e r us ing B io f eedbac k P r el im in a r y Cas e S t udy

Karolina Wilinska , Malgorza ta Walczak, Jacek Gracz a nd P iotr UnierzyskiUn i v e r s i t y Sc h o o l o f Ph y s i c a l Ed u c a t i o n , Po zn a n, Po la n d

Director: Prof Dr Hab Jacek Gracz

I n t r o d u c t i o n

The poss ibility of measuring a nd controlling tennis players menta l sta te (e.g. concentration) appeared as

being beyond control until recently. Reaching awareness of changes in ones physiology and the

poss ibility of obs erving results of a uto-regulat ion is pos sible with the help of highly precise techniques of

measurement - Biofeedback. NeuroHarmony, the first portable neurofeedback system, is used in

numerous s port disciplines b ut its us e is new in tennis. Theoretically the usa ge o f biofeedba ck should

improve the sportsmans ability to focus on the given task (but also the ability to relax) and to steer the

emotional st ate (Blecharz, 2002). Therefore, we believed tha t it wa s worth resea rching if training with the

help of biofeedba ck influences the efficiency of tennis performance. The deta iled aim was to measure if

the menta l training ba sed on use of feedba ck improved the q uality of the serve.

M a t e r ia l a n d m e t h o d

An elite, 17 yea r old tennis player volunta rily took pa rt in the resea rch. In the first pa rt of the resea rch the

player performed a test of s erving precision designed by Krlak (1997), w hich consisted of forty s trokes,

ten for ea ch ta rget placed in corners of the s ervice boxes. Following this procedure the pla yer participated

in eight 20 min sessions of neurofeedba ck mental training during a 3 week period. S ess ions were focused

on creating and controlling the optimal a ctivity of the brainwaves in order to regulate the s ta te of a ttention

during s erving. The s erve precision test wa s repeated after the 3 week training period.

Res u l t s and D i s c us s ion

The results of the res ea rch (before a nd a fter the biofeedba ck tra ining sess ion) a re presented on Figure. 1

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Target A Target B Target C Target D All together

I trial

II trial

Fig u r e 1 . Re s u l t s o f s e r v i c e t e s t s - b e f o r e b i o f e e d b a c k t r a i n i n g ( I t r i a l) a n d

a f t e r b i o f e e d b a c k t r a i n i n g ( II t r i a l )

Following the experimental mental training procedure, there was an improvement in serve precision.

Therefore, it can b e proposed tha t neurofeedba ck menta l training had a positive influence on the

efficiency of the players serve. It must b e considered tha t the study concerns only one individual cas e, but

certainly results encourage further investigat ion. Bas ed on this experience neurofeedback mental training

procedures are being modified a nd new, more comprehensive research planned.

References

Blecharz, J. (2002). Menta l training with the usa ge of b iofeedba ck method of improving at tention. S p o r t P s y c h o l o g y ,Tom III, PTNKF, Warsza wa.

Krla k, A. (1997). Tes ts for tennis pla yers . CO S, RCMSKFiS, Warszawa .