The influence of mental toughness on responses to feedback in snooker: A real-time examination

Dewhurst, Stephen A.; Welsh, James; Perry, John L.

Abstract

Two experiments investigated whether mental toughness (MT) is associated with the ability to respond to and/or overcome unwanted information during real-time sport performance. Participants were male snooker players ranging from club to professional level, and MT was measured using the MTQ48 (Clough et al., 2002). In experiment 1, players performed five break-off shots and received deceptive feedback (either positive or negative) from the researcher about their performance relative to other players. Then they performed another five break-offs. Results showed a significant decline in performance following feedback, but no interaction with the nature of feedback or MT variables. In experiment 2, feedback was delivered by a coach and yielded a significant effect on performance. Specifically, negative feedback improved performance while positive feedback impaired performance. The Life Control subscale of the MTQ48 was a significant covariate. The results suggest that negative feedback, delivered constructively by a respected figure, may act as a catalyst for performance enhancement in snooker and that this is moderated by MT.

Citation

Dewhurst, S. A., Welsh, J., & Perry, J. L. (2023). The influence of mental toughness on responses to feedback in snooker: A real-time examination. Psychology of sport and exercise, 68, Article 102466. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2023.102466

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 14, 2023
• Online Publication Date: May 16, 2023
• Publication Date: Sep 1, 2023
• Deposit Date: May 15, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 2, 2023
• Journal: Psychology of Sport and Exercise
• Print ISSN: 1469-0292
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 68
• Article Number: 102466
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2023.102466
• Keywords: Closed-skill sport; Negative feedback; Coaching; Mental toughness
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4291045