A presente investigação teve por objectivo explorar as percepções de treinadores de Judo sobre os atributos de força psicológica, por referência à literatura intra-desporto actual. Nove treinadores de Judo portugueses, com diferentes níveis de realização (não-elite, sub-elite e elite) foram submetidos a uma entrevista semi-estruturada, cujo guião de perguntas alicerçámos nos corolários de sociabilidade e dicotomia da teoria Personal Construct Psychology proposta por Kelly (1991). Das entrevistas realizadas resultaram 162 páginas de dados transcritos verbatim, com base nos quais emergiram as propriedades e dimensões de cada categoria conceptual. A análise indutiva de conteúdo revelou 22 atributos de força psicológica no judoca competidor. Dos quais oito foram relatados por todos os treinadores da amostra: resiliência, automotivação, auto-confiança, auto-aperfeiçoamento, disciplina de trabalho, regulação da atenção, regulação emocional e competitividade. Em relação a pesquisas anteriores que exploraram as características de força psicológica num só desporto, os resultados ora obtidos no Judo reforçaram a existência de grandes semelhanças entre os vários desportos. Não obstante a constatação de diferenças no Judo discutidas em relação a três características de força psicológica não identificadas anteriormente na literatura: combatividade, auto-estima e adaptabilidade. E, concomitantemente, a identificação de atributos que não sendo exclusivos ao Judo julgámos serem-lhe peculiares, dado a sua forma de manifestação: con foi porém o único atributo que se de sciência táctica, combatividade e regulação da auto-apresentação. A combatividade stacou como sendo singular ao Judo.

Researchers who examine existing models of choking under pressure are beginning to explore the antecedents that predispose individuals to increased anxiety. Irrational beliefs (IBs) may be one such antecedent to "choking", given that irrational beliefs are closely associated with anxiety intensity. This study aimed to investigate whether IBs influenced anxiety and performance under pressure. Experienced Australian football players (N=35) completed an IBs questionnaire prior to an Australian football set shot experiment with low-and high-pressure.During both pressure conditions, participants completed a state anxiety questionnaire prior to completing 15 set shots on goal. Results indicated that cognitive and somatic anxiety increased from low-to high-pressure. For somatic anxiety, an IBs main effect approached significance, indicating higher somatic anxiety with increases in IBs. A marginally significant Condition main effect was found for performance, which decreased from low-to high-pressure, with no other effects for performance evident. Follow-up correlation analysis of seven athletes who likely experienced choking (i.e., greater than 15-point performance decrease) indicated a strong negative correlation between IBs and change in performance from low-to high-pressure. Further analyses for "chokers" indicated a significant IBs x Condition interaction, with performance tending to increase with increasing IBs under low-pressure and decrease with increasing IBs under high-pressure. This study provides initial, tentative support that IBs associated with performance trends of "chokers" under different pressure conditions may be dissimilar to those of "underperformers" or "clutch" performers. Applied implications for sport psychologists working with athletes are discussed.

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When athletes fail to perform at an expected level during an important moment, it is implied the athletes have experienced "choking under pressure" (i.e., choking). Researchers have reported that persistent left-hemispheric activation patterns occur when an athlete experiences considerable performance deteriorations under pressure. Researchers have also observed differences in brain activation patterns between left-and right-handed people on a variety of physical and cognitive tests, with the left-hemispheric activation more pronounced in right-handed participants. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether athletes' handedness may be linked to choking-susceptibility (i.e., likelihood to experience performance decline under pressure). Method: Twenty right-handed and 13 left-handed experienced Australian football players completed 15 shot attempts, in both a low-pressure and a high-pressure condition. Both groups displayed equal state anxiety increases due to the pressure manipulation, indicating similar increases in anxiety in both handedness groups. Results: Results also indicated differences in performance between the left-and right-handed groups during the high-pressure condition, with the left-handed group maintaining, and the right-handed participants declining, performance. Conclusion: Future electroencephalogram (EEG) research investigating this link may clarify the effect between handedness and choking.