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Costs over benefits: mind wandering in sporting performance.

Jieling Li^1,2,3, Yafang Liu⁴, Shuangpeng Xue¹

¹School of Physical Education, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, China.

Frontiers in Psychology

|July 17, 2024

Summary

Mind wandering in athletes during competition has both benefits and drawbacks. Understanding its sources and content is key to managing its impact on sporting performance.

Keywords:

athlete grounded theory mind wandering performance systems thinking

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Area of Science:

Sports Psychology
Cognitive Science

Background:

Mind wandering in athletes during competition presents complex effects.
Understanding these bidirectional influences is crucial for performance optimization.

Purpose of the Study:

To explore the reasons behind the positive and negative effects of athletes' mind wandering during competition.
To develop a theoretical framework explaining mind wandering in sporting performance.

Main Methods:

Conducted semi-structured interviews with 51 athletes from China.
Employed grounded theory and systems thinking for data analysis and theory construction.

Main Results:

Identified key factors influencing mind wandering: source, competition anxiety, content, attentional resources, and control.
Developed the theory of "mind wandering in sporting performance" (MWSP).

Conclusions:

Mind wandering's impact is dynamic, influenced by multiple cognitive and emotional factors.
Strategies are needed to mitigate negative effects and leverage positive aspects of mind wandering in athletes.