Psychological skills and self-confidence among male soccer players in tertiary institutions in Ebonyi state

Abstract

This study determined the perceived impact of psychological Skills and self-confidence among male soccer players in tertiary institutions in Ebonyi State. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population for the study was one hundred and forty (140) respondents (38 Coaches and 102 Soccer players). The same number served as the sample for the study due to smallness of size. A structured questionnaire was the instrument used for data collection. The instrument had a reliability coefficient of 0.89. Two research questions guided the study and two null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while t-test was used to test the hypotheses. The result of the study revealed that both self-talk and imagery training impact self-confidence of male soccer players in tertiary institutions in Ebonyi State. The hypotheses tested were significant. Based on the findings, the study concluded that stakeholders in sports development in the tertiary institutions in Ebonyi State should facilitate the provision of environment that would encourage self-talk, and imagery training before and during soccer events.