Researchwww.22.com

RESEARCHOpenAccessAsurveyof"mentalhardiness"and"mentaltoughness"inprofessionalmalefootballplayersRainerWieser1*andHaymoThiel2AbstractBackground:Itisnotuncommonforchiropractorstobeassociatedwithsportsteamsforinjuryprevention,treatment,orperformanceenhancement.
Thereisincreasingacceptanceoftheimportanceofsportspsychologyintheoverallmanagementofathletes.
Recentfindingsindicatementalhardinesscanbedeterminedreliablyusingspecificself-assessmentquestionnaires.
Thisstudysetouttoinvestigatethehardinessscoresofprofessionalfootballersandexaminethecorrelationbetweentwoquestionnaires.
Italsoincludedamentalhardinessratingofplayersbytwocoaches,andexamineddifferencesinhardinessandmentaltoughnessbetweennationalandinternationalplayers.
Methods:Twoself-assessmentquestionnaires(modifiedSportsMentalToughnessQuestionnaire[SMTQ-M]andPsychologicalPerformanceInventory[PPI-A])werecompletedby20maleprofessionalfootballers.
Twocoaches,independentlyratedeachplayer.
Apercentagescorefromeachquestionnairewasawardedeachplayerandanaveragescorewascalculated({SMTQ-M%+PPI-A%}÷2).
ThePPI-AandSMTQ-MscoresobtainedforeachplayerwereanalysedforcorrelationwithPearson'scorrelationcoefficient.
Cohen'skappainter-reliabilitycoefficientwasusedtodetermineagreementbetweencoaches,andbetweentheplayers'hardinessscoresandcoaches'ratings.
Theindependentt-testwasusedtoexaminedifferencesbetweennationalandinternationalplayers.
Results:Theplayers'scoresobtainedfromPPI-AandSMTQ-Mcorrelatedwell(r=0.
709,p<0.
001).
Thecoachesratingsshowedsignificant,weaktomoderateagreement(Cohen'skappa=0.
33).
Nosignificantagreementwasfoundbetweenplayerself-assessmentsandcoaches'ratings.
Theaverage({SMTQ-M%+PPI-A%}÷2)meanscorewas77%(SD=7.
98)withinternationalplayersscoring7.
4%(p=0.
04)higherthannon-internationalplayers.
Conclusions:Thequestionnaires(SMTQ-MandPPI-A)correlatedwellintheiroutcomescores.
Thesefindingssuggestthatcoachesmoderatelyagreewhenassessingthelevelofmentalhardinessoffootballplayers.
Therewasnoagreementbetweenplayerself-assessmentandratingsbycoaches.
Footballerswhoplayorhadplayedfornationalteamsachievedslightlyhighermentalhardinessscores.
Eitherquestionnairecanoffertheclinicianacost-effective,valuablemeasureofanindividual'spsychologicalattributes,whichcouldberelevantwithinthewidercontextofbio-psycho-socialmodelofcare.
Keywords:Mentaltoughness,Mentalhardiness,Survey,MaleprofessionalfootballplayersBackgroundOptimalsportsperformancedependsonphysicalandpsy-chologicalcomponents.
Often,millimetersandmicro-secondsaredecisivefactorsbetweensuccessorfailure.
Whenathletes,especiallytopperformersofsimilarphys-icalability,havereachedtheiroptimalphysicallimits,theonlydifferencefortheirsuccesscoulddependonpsycho-logicalcomponents.
Oneassumesthatthecompetitorwithgreatercontroloverhisorhermindwillemergeasthevictor.
Inprofessionalfootballoverrecentyears,ex-pectationsofcoachesandplayershaveincreaseddramat-ically.
Ever-growingdemandstowin,thefearoffailure,andtargetswhichareoftensettoohigh,arecommoncausestoleadtopsychologicalstress.
However,itappearsthatsomeplayersorcoachesareabletohandledifficult*Correspondence:rainer@c3chiropractic.
co.
uk1C3ChiropracticClinic,223-225PantbachRoad,Rhiwbina,Cardiff,WalesCF146AE,UKFulllistofauthorinformationisavailableattheendofthearticleCHIROPRACTIC&MANUALTHERAPIES2014WieserandThiel;licenseeBioMedCentralLtd.
ThisisanOpenAccessarticledistributedunderthetermsoftheCreativeCommonsAttributionLicense(http://creativecommons.
org/licenses/by/2.
0),whichpermitsunrestricteduse,distribution,andreproductioninanymedium,providedtheoriginalworkisproperlycredited.
WieserandThielChiropractic&ManualTherapies2014,22:17http://www.
chiromt.
com/content/22/1/17andstressfulsituationsbetterthanothers.
Dotheyhavecertaincharacteristicsormentalattributeswhichenablethemtocopebetterwithoreventhriveunderstress,andhowcanonmeasurethesementalfeaturesConsequently,adeeperunderstandingofthecontribu-tionofcertainelementsofsportspsychologyintheoveralltreatmentandmanagementofathletescanbeverybeneficialforphysiotherapists,chiropractorsandotherhealthcareprofessionalswhodealwithsportsin-jurymanagement.
Oneoftheauthors(RW)hadbeenworkingwiththelocalchampionshipfootballteamasasportschiropractorforthepastsevenyears,andduringthisperiodhadcomeacrosstheconceptof"mentalhardiness"anditspossiblerelevancewithinthecontextofsportsperformance.
Theconceptsofmentalhardiness[1,2]andmentaltoughness[3,4]arecloselylinkedtotheconstructofwhathasbeentermed"positivepsychology"bySeligmanandCsikszentmihalyi[5].
Acentraltenetofthepositivepsychologyparadigmisthatstressorsandotherinordin-atedemandsareinherenttothehumancondition.
How-ever,theparadigmalsoassumesthattheycanbesourcesofstrength,throughwhichadversitycanbeenduredandeventranscended.
Physical,emotional,andsocialstressorscanfurtherpersonaldevelopmentandenhancementalstrengthinsomeindividuals.
Suchpeopleareoftenabletotapintopreviouslyunknowncapacities,perspectives,andvirtues[6].
Theconceptof"hardiness"wasfirstintroducedbyKobasa[1]bytryingtofindalinkbetweenstressfullifeeventsandtheonsetofillness.
Thestudyreportedontwogroupsofindividualswhofacedsimilarstressfullifeevents,onegroupbecameillaftertheirstressfulexperi-encewhilsttheotherremainedhealthy.
Itwasproposedthatthereasonwhyindividualsreacteddifferentlytosimilarstressfuleventswasapersonalitydifference,bestdescribedashardiness.
Theresearchfoundthattheindi-vidualswhoremainedhealthyshowedmorehardinessthantheindividualswhofellill.
Thepersonalitycon-structofhardinessemergedfromexistentialpsychology:aviewpointthatproposesthatmeaninginlifeiscreatedthroughthedecisionspeoplemake.
Itiscomposedofthe"threeC's-Commitment,ControlandChallenge"[2].
Commitmentisthepredispositiontobeinvolvedwithpeopleandevents,ratherthantobeisolatedanddetached[7,8].
Controlisthebeliefthatonecaninflu-enceoutcomes,ratherthanfeelingpowerlesstochangeanything.
Finally,Challengeistheattitudethatchangeisnotonlyinevitable,butbeneficial,andthatitoffersin-centivestolearnanddevelop,ratherthanservingasathreat.
ResearchconductedattheU.
S.
MilitaryAcademyatWestPointfoundthatmentalhardinessprotectedArmyreservepersonnelmobilisedforthePersianGulfWar[9].
Inthisstudy,thehigherthehardinesslevel,thegreatertheabilityofsoldierstoexperiencelife-andcombat-relatedstresswithoutapparentnegativehealthconsequences,suchaspost-traumaticstressdisorderordepression.
Themostimportantskillsandtechniquesappliedincontemporarysportspsychologyare:imagery,goalset-ting,self-talk,stressmanagement,teambuilding,efficacymanagement,attentioncontrol,emotionregulationandmentaltoughness[10].
Awinningmentalityanddesirehavebeenidentifiedaskeyattributesofmentallytoughsoccerplayersinadditiontootherpreviouslyreportedqualitiessuchasself-belief,physicaltoughness,workethic/motivation,andresilience[11].
Keycognitionsre-portedbymentallytoughsoccerplayersenablethemtoremainfocusedandcompetitiveduringtrainingandmatches,whichreflectsthatpositiveself-talkcanhelpsomeplayersindealingwithchallengingsituations[6].
Sheardandcolleagues[4]identifiedmentaltoughnessasacrucialattributeforsuccessinsport.
Therearesevencomponentstomentaltoughness,suchasconfidence,constancy,control,determination,self-belief,positivecog-nitionandvisualisation.
Thesecomponentscanbemea-suredwithself-assessmentquestionnairessuchastheSportsMentalToughnessQuestionnaire(SMTQ)andthePsychologicalPerformanceInventory(PPI-A)[12,13].
Morespecifically,theSMTQmeasuresconfidence,con-stancyandcontrol,whereashePPI-Ameasuresdetermin-ation,self-belief,positivecognitionandvisualisation.
Bothquestionnaireshavebeentriedonlargersamplesizesofathletes[4,14].
Inanswertothequestion,"doesascreen-ingtestaccuratelydetectahardinessscore"previousre-searchhasestablishedthatthesetestsarereliableandconsistentinstrumentsforself-assessment[14,15].
Across-nationalanalysisofmentaltoughnessandhardinessineliteuniversityrugbyleagueteamsrevealedthatAus-tralianUniversityplayershadsignificantlyhighermeanscoresonpositivecognition,visualisation,mentaltough-nessandchallengethantheiropponentsfromGreatBrit-ain[13].
Ithasalsobeenshownthatindividualswithgreaterhardinessscoresarelesslikelytoreportinjuries[2],andthatplayerswithhighermentaltoughnesshave"greaterpaintoleranceandthereforeunder-reportinjuryandareoftennotcompliantwiththeirtreatment"[16].
ThefirstaimofthepresentstudywastoinvestigatethehardinessscoresofprofessionalfootballersandexaminethecorrelationbetweentheoutcomescoresofaslightlymodifiedSMTQ(SMTQ-M)andthePPI-A.
Aspreviousresearchhasbeenprimarilybasedonself-assessmentscoresprovidedbyathletesonly,thesecondaimofthisstudywastoasktwocoachestoindepend-entlyassignahardinessscoretoeachplayer,andthentoexamineforthelevelofagreementbetweenthecoaches'andplayers'scores,andalsobetweenthetwocoachesthemselves.
WieserandThielChiropractic&ManualTherapies2014,22:17Page2of6http://www.
chiromt.
com/content/22/1/17MethodsStudydesignThisstudywasaquantitativesurveybasedonnumeric-allyderiveddatascoresfromtwoestablishedpsychologyquestionnairesadaptedandslightlymodifiedforprofes-sionalfootballers.
EthicalapprovalEthicsapprovalwasobtainedthroughtheResearchandEthicsSub-CommitteeoftheAnglo-EuropeanCollegeofChiropractic,Bournemouth,UnitedKingdom.
RecruitmentofsubjectsThesubjectswereaconveniencesampleoffootballplayers.
Thisconsistedof20playersofalocalprofes-sionalWelshfootballteam.
RWhadbeenthechiroprac-tortothefootballteamformorethansevenyears.
SettingThedatacollectiontookplaceatthetraininggroundsofCardiffCityFootballClub,SouthGlamorgan,Wales.
Datacollection-playersAshortplayerprofiledatacollectiontoolcapturedde-tailsonaplayer'snationality,age,yearsofprofessionalexperience,highestlevelofperformanceandcriteriaforreportinganinjury.
TheSMTQandthePPI-Awereslightlymodifiedbyremovingnumbersandlettersacrosstheoptionsandreplacingthemwithtickboxessoasnottoinfluencethechoiceofresponse.
Afurtheral-terationwasmadetotheSMTQ,inthatquestiononeandfiveweremadeidentical.
Thiswasdonetoassessforconsistencyofresponses.
Theplayersweregivenaninformationsheetaboutthestudyandaskedtocompleteaconsentform.
RWwasonsitetogivefurtherclarifica-tiononhowtocompletethequestionnairesifrequired.
Datacollection-coachesTwoexperiencedcoaches,whohadbeenwiththeclubformorethanfiveyearswereaskedtoindependentlyratealloftheplayersformentalhardinessusingthefol-lowingscoringkey:aboveaverage=1,average=2,belowaverage=3.
DataanalysisAsthequestionnaireswerebasedondifferentscales,theiroverallnumericalscoreswereconvertedintopercentagescorestoallowcomparisonbetweendatasets.
Theaveragepercentagescoreforeachfootballer({SMTQ-M%+PPI-A%}÷2)andameanscoreforthewholesampleofplayerswasestablished.
Pearson'scor-relationcoefficientwasusedtodeterminethestrengthoflineardependencebetweentheSMTQ-MandthePPI-Ascores.
Cohen'skappainter-reliabilitycoefficientwasusedtodeterminethelevelofagreementbetweenthetwofootballcoaches.
Inordertoassessthelevelofagreementbetweentheplayers'self-ratingswiththecoaches'ratings,eachindividualplayer'sscorewascon-vertedintocategoricaldatatobeinlinewiththecoa-chesscoringkey.
Theindependentt-testwasusedtoexaminedifferencesintheaveragepercentagescoresbetweennationalandinternationalplayers.
PASWSta-tistics(version18)softwareforapplemaccomputerswasusedfordataanalysis.
ResultsThefootballers'agesrangedfrom18to33years(mean=24.
8years,SD=4.
63),andthelengthoftheirprofessionalexperiencefromoneto15years(mean=7.
7years,SD=4.
84).
Elevenplayers(55%)respondedthattheyreportin-juryimmediatelyafterithadoccurred,whilstsixindicatedthattheyreportinjurywhentheyexperiencemildpainandthreewhentheyexperienceseverepainonly.
Threeplayerswerecurrentlyinjuredandwerethereforenotplayingatthetimeofdatacollection.
Sixplayershadbeenplayingforlessthanoneyearforthefootballclub,11playersforonetofiveyears,andthreeplayersformorethanfiveyears.
Eightplayerseitherhadbeenorweremembersofanationalteam,twoplayershadplayedinthePremierLeagueinthepast,and10playedatChampion-shiplevel.
Twoplayerswereofforeignorigin,andEnglishwasthereforetheirsecondlanguage.
Figure1showsthemeangrouppercentagescoresofbothquestionnaires(PPI-AandSMTQ-M).
TherewasaslightlyoverallhigherscoreonthePPI-Aquestionnaire,withameanof78%(SD=8.
69)comparedtotheSMTQ-Mwithameanof75%(SD=8.
37),butthisdifferencewasnotstatisticallysignificant.
Therewasasignificantdif-ference(independentt-test,p=0.
04)intheaveragemeanscorebetweeninternationalandnon-internationalplayers,withtheinternationalplayersscoring7.
4%higher(4.
7%-14.
4%;95%CI).
Thesub-groupofeightinternationalplayersachievedanaveragemeanscoreof81%(SD=4.
88)comparedtotheoverallmeanscoreofthe12Non-Internationals,whohadalowermeanscoreof74%(SD=8.
41).
ThePearson'scorrelationrevealedthattherewasasignificantlinearrelationshipbetweentheSMTQ-MandthePPI-Ascores(r=0.
709,p<0.
001)(Figure2).
Inter-reliabilitybetweenthetwocoacheswhenratingtheplayerswasweaktomoderate(k=0.
33),whilsttherewasnoagreementbetweenthecoaches'ratingsandtheaverageplayerself-ratings(CoachA:k=-0.
17,CoachB:k=-0.
07).
Comparisonofthesample'smeanpercentagescoresforthesevenhardinesscomponentsrevealedhighscoresforcontrolanddetermination,withconfidenceandvisu-alisationachievingthelowestscores(Figure3).
TheWieserandThielChiropractic&ManualTherapies2014,22:17Page3of6http://www.
chiromt.
com/content/22/1/17analysisoftheteam'smeanpercentagescoresofthe7hardinesscomponentsrevealedthatatthetimeofthedatacollectiontheteamscoredwellonthemeandeter-mination(88%,SD=10.
11)andconstancy(88%,SD=8.
81)scores.
However,theteam'smeanconfidence(69%,SD=12.
36),self-belief(76%,SD=10.
24)andpositivecognition(75%,SD=9.
30)scoreswererelativelylow.
Themeanvisualisationscorewas71%(SD=16.
50)andthemeancontrolscore72%(SD=13.
83).
DiscussionIncontrasttomoststudies,whichhavefocusedonacad-emyplayers,thisstudyresearchedmentalhardinessinprofessionalfootballers.
Aninterestingfindingofthisstudyisthat45%ofprofessionalfootballplayerswillre-portinjurywhentheyexperiencesomeformofpain,30%willreportwhentheyexperiencemildpain,with15%onlyreportingseverepain.
Oneofthemostlikelyreasonsforbeingreluctantinreportinginjuriescouldbeaplayer'sfearoflosinghisplaceinthefirstteam.
De-layedreportingmakesitdifficultfortheteamdoctorandphysiotherapisttodealwithinjurieseffectively.
Latediagnosisanddelayedmonitoringofapossibleinjuryin-creasesthechanceofre-injuryandcouldleadtomoresevereandchronicinjuries.
Aself-centeredmindsetofamentallytoughperformercouldthereforebeadisadvan-tagetothewholefootballteam.
Theinterestoftheteamshouldalwaystakepriorityoverpersonalachievement.
Someoftheotherfindingsinthisstudy,suchasthecor-relationbetweenSMTQ-MandPPI-Ascores,thestatisti-callysignificanthigherhardinessscoresofinternationalfootballplayersconcurwithpreviousresearch[14,17].
However,toourbestknowledgenopreviousstudyhasutilisedthetwoquestionnairesinacombinedfashioninordertoarriveatonenumericalscoreformentalhardi-ness.
Wefeelthatthisapproachprovidesforagoodover-allindicatorofmentalhardinessortoughness,asitcombinesmostofthesub-componentspreviouslyreferredtowithintheliterature.
Previousworkhadalsofoundthatathletesperformingataninternationallevelscorehigherinrelationtomen-talhardiness[4,14].
Similarfindingsweredemonstratedinthisstudy,withthesub-groupofeightinternationalplayersachievinganaveragemeanscorewhichwas7%abovethatofnon-internationals.
Theanalysisoftheteam'smeanpercentagescoresofthesevenhardinesscomponentsrevealedthatatthetimeofthedatacollectiontheteamscoredwellonthemeandeterminationscoreandconstancy.
However,theteam'smeanconfidence,self-beliefandpositivecogni-tionscoreswererelativelylowandwouldthereforeindi-cateroomforimprovement.
ThemeanvisualisationscorewasalsolowandasonlycertainplayersusethisFigure2ScatterplotbetweenSMTQ-MandPPI-A(r=0.
709,p<0.
001).
78750102030405060708090PPI-A(SD=8.
69)SMTQ-M(SD=8.
37)PercentQuestionnaireScoresFigure1MeangrouppercentagescoresforPPI-AandSMTQ-M.
WieserandThielChiropractic&ManualTherapies2014,22:17Page4of6http://www.
chiromt.
com/content/22/1/17technique,therewouldbenoneedtoaddressthisissueforthebenefitoftheteam.
Thisstudyalsoshowedthattherewasastrongsignifi-cantlinearcorrelationbetweentheSMTQ-MandthePPI-Aquestionnaires,whichconcurswithpreviousre-searchbySheard[11,15].
ArecentpaperbyCrustandSwann[17]measuredthecorrelationbetweentheSMTQandtheMentalToughnessQuestionnaire(MTQ48)onasampleof110maleathletesandalsofoundthattherewasasignificantpositivecorrelationinhigherordermentaltoughnessscores(r=0.
75;p<0.
001).
Thiscompareswelltothefindingsofthepresentstudyandshowsthatthesetoolsproduceconsistentresultsevenwhenslightlymodified.
Theratingsoftheplayersbythetwocoachesshowedweaktomoderateagreement(Cohen'skappa=0.
33)andnoagreementwasfoundbetweenplayerself-assessmentsandtheratingsgivenbythecoaches.
Thesefindingsagreewiththoseofanotherstudy[18]whichalsoinvestigatedtheinter-rateragreementoftwocoaches,whotookrepeti-tivemeasurementson21professionalacademyplayersusingtwodifferentquestionnaires.
Thissuggeststhatevenamongstprofessionalfootballcoaches,thereareconsider-abledifferencesininterpretingthebehavioursandcharac-teristicsofplayersandthattheirjudgmentsaresubjective.
Individualcoachesarelikelytohavetheirowninterpret-ationofmentaltoughnessasacommonanagreeddefin-itiondoesnotreallyexist[19].
Similarlythepresentstudyreflectedthefindingsofpreviouswork[18,20]inthattherewasnosignificantagreementbetweenthecoaches'scoresandtheplayerself-assessmentscores.
However,eventhoughtheresultsshowedlittleagreementbetweentheindividualcoaches,andbetweenthecoaches'andtheplayerself-assessmentscores,thescoresprovidedforagoodplatformforplayerfeedbackandmakingindividualsmoreself-awareoftheirvarioustraitsinrelationtomentalhardiness.
Themeanscorewasusedasanindicatorforoverallteamspirit.
Withthisadditionalinformation,fur-theroptionswerenowavailabletothecoachesandplayerstoeitheraddressweakareas,focusonstrongpsycho-logicalsub-components,orboth,overallaimingforamoreholisticplayerdevelopment.
Theseoutcomescouldbeveryuseful,aslongasplayersarewillingtoadapttheirbehaviour,andcoachesarewillingtoaddressanddevelopthesecomponentswithintheircoachingmethods.
LimitationsofstudyandsuggestionsforfurtherresearchThedatawerecollectedonthebasisofresponsesmadeatasinglepointintime.
Assuchtheresultscouldhavebeenstronglyinfluencedbyhowtheplayerswerefeelingatthetime,especiallyastheyhadlostanumberofprecedinggames.
Itwasessentialthattheplayersansweredtheques-tionshonestly,theymayhaveover-estimatedtheirabilitiesintheirresponses.
Someplayedatseverallevelsindifferentleaguesduringtheircareer.
However,theplayer'squestion-naireonlytookintoaccountthehighestlevelofplaythroughouttheircareer,eveniftheywerenotatthishigh-estlevelcurrently.
Althoughthesamplerepresentedarela-tivelyhomogenousgroupofprofessionalfootballers,itwasofasmallsizeandassuchitsfindingscannotbegeneral-isedtootherfootballteams.
Furthermore,thereisariskofType1andType2errors.
Althoughthecoacheshadbeeninstructedtocompletetheirquestionnairesindependentlyfromeachother,theresearcherhadnocontroloverthistoensurethatitactuallyhappened.
Whenthecoachescon-sideredaplayertheymayhavesub-consciouslyincludedinFigure3Theteamsmeanpercentagescoresofthe7hardinesscomponents.
WieserandThielChiropractic&ManualTherapies2014,22:17Page5of6http://www.
chiromt.
com/content/22/1/17theirassessmentdifferentcomponentssuchastalent,skillandpastperformance.
Futureresearchcouldincludeamorephenomenologicalapproachtopersonalityresearch.
Morelongitudinalresearchintomentalhardinessincontextsoutsidesportsperform-anceisrequired.
Anotherinterestinginvestigationcouldde-terminehowintellectualskillsinfluencetheoutcomescoresonsurveys,asitispossiblethatpeoplewithabettereduca-tionalbackgroundwillachievehigherhardinessscores.
ConclusionPersonalityisamixtureofgeneticpredispositionandenvir-onmentalinfluences.
Individualtraitsandtheenvironmentcanactasco-determinantsofbehaviour.
Personalitystructureinvolvesbothastablecoreofattitudes,valuesandbeliefsaboutself,whichremainrelativelyunchangedafterearlychildhood.
Exploringthesecharacteristicsthroughselfandexternalassessmentcanbeavaluableexperienceforafoot-baller,evenifatpresent,thereisnoevidenceuponwhichonecandirectlylinkmentalhardinesswithsuccessinfootball.
Thepresentstudycouldonlyexploresomecomponentsoftheconstructandwasfocusedonthequantitativemeas-urementofmentalhardiness.
Therewasgoodcorrelationbetweenthetwoquestionnairesandbothareequallysuffi-cienttomeasurecharacteristicsofmentalhardiness.
Theadvantageofcombiningthequestionnairestoachieveanoverallmeanscoremaylieinprovidingamorecomprehen-siveassessmentofanindividual'smentalhardiness.
How-ever,ifduetopracticalortimesavingreasons,onechoosestouseonlyoneofthequestionnaires,theauthorsrecom-mendthePPI-AasitmeasuresslightlymorecomponentscomparedtotheSMTQ-M.
Theresultsshowedthatevenamongstelitelevelprofes-sionalsoccercoaches,thereislittleagreementwhenjudg-ingthementalhardinessoftheirplayersandtheplayersthemselveshaveadifferentself-judgmentcomparedwiththecoaches'ratings.
However,throughenhancedself-knowledgeandfeedbackviathecoachonecouldconceiv-ablyaddresscertainweaknessesandbuildonstrengths.
Theunderstandingoftheconceptofmentalhardinessisstillevolvingandthecomplexitiesofhumanpsychologyanditsnaturearesuchthatitisdifficulttocondensethemeasilyintodiscretesub-components.
However,inthepresentstudythecombinationofthesesub-componentsappearedtobeagoodindicatorofanoverallsenseofthe"teamspirit".
"Knowingothersisclever.
Knowingyourselfisenlight-enment.
Controllingothersrequiresforce.
Controllingyourselfrequiresstrength"(LaoTzu).
CompetinginterestsTheauthorsdeclarethattheyhavenocompetinginterests.
Authors'contributionsRW:Conceptanddesignofthestudy,collectionandentryofdata,analysisandinterpretationofthemanuscript,finalapprovalofthemanuscript.
HT:Conceptanddesignofthestudy,draftingandrevisingthemanuscriptandfinalapprovalofthemanuscript.
Bothauthorsreadandapprovedthefinalmanuscript.
AcknowledgementsTheauthorsthanktheplayersandcoachesofCardiffCityFCforparticipatinginthestudy.
Authordetails1C3ChiropracticClinic,223-225PantbachRoad,Rhiwbina,Cardiff,WalesCF146AE,UK.
2Anglo-EuropeanCollegeofChiropractic,13-15ParkwoodRoad,Bournemouth,DorsetBH52DF,UK.
Received:12July2013Accepted:24March2014Published:15April2014References1.
KobasaS:Stressfullifeevents,personalityandhealth:Aninquiryintohardiness.
JPersSocPsychol1979,37:1–11.
2.
KobasaS,MaddiS,KhanS:Hardinessandhealth:Aprospectivestudy.
JPersSocPsychol1982,42:168–177.
3.
GolbyJ,SheardM,LavalleeD:Acognitive-behaviouralanalysisofmentaltoughnessinnationalrugbyleaguefootballteams.
PerceptMotSkills2003,96(2):455–462.
4.
GolbyJ,SheardM,vanWerschA:EvaluatingthefactorstructureofthePsychologicalPerformanceInventory.
PerceptMotSkills2007,105(1):309–325.
5.
SeligmanM,CsikszentmihalyiM:Positivepsychology:Anintroduction.
AmPsychol2000,55:5–14.
6.
CoulterT,MallettC,GucciardiD:UnderstandingmentaltoughnessinAustraliansoccer:perceptionsofplayers,parents,andcoaches.
JSportsSci2010,28(7):699–716.
7.
MaddiS:TheStoryofhardiness:Twentyyearsoftheorizing,researchandpractice.
ConsultPsycholJ2002,54:173–185.
8.
MaddiS:Buildinganintegratedpositivepsychology.
JPositPsychol2006,1:226–229.
9.
BartoneP:Hardinessprotectsagainstwar-relatedstressinarmyreserveforces.
ConsultPsycholJ1999,51:72–82.
10.
MellalieuS,HantonS:AdvancesinAppliedSportPsychology.
London:Routledge;2009.
11.
SheardM:MentalToughnessTheMindsetBehindSportingAchievement.
NewYork:Routledge;2010.
12.
SheardM:Across-nationalanalysisofmentaltoughnessandhardinessineliteuniversityrugbyleagueteams.
PerceptMotSkills2009,109(1):213–223.
13.
SheardM:Hardinesscommitment,gender,andagedifferentiateuniversityacademicperformance.
BrJEducPsychol2009,79:189–204.
14.
SheardM,GolbyJ,WerschA:ProgressTowardConstructValidationoftheSportMentalToughnessQuestionnaire(SMTQ).
EurJPsycholAssess2009,25(3):186–193.
15.
SheardM:ConstructValidationoftheAlternativePsychologicalPerformanceInventory(PPi-A)andtheSportsMentalToughnessQuestionnaire(SMTQ).
Tartu;2008.
http://www.
eapp.
org/getmedia.
php/_media/eapp/download/201012/1292449019-orig.
pdf.
16.
FordIW,EklundRC,GordonS:Anexaminationofpsychosocialvariablesmoderatingtherelationshipbetweenlifestressandinjurytime-lossamongathletesofahighstandard.
JSportsSci2000,18(5):301–312.
17.
CrustL,SwannC:Comparingtwomeasuresofmentaltoughnesss.
PersIndivDiffer2011,50:217–221.
18.
CrustL,NestiM,LittlewoodM:Playerandcoachratingsofmentaltoughnessinaneliteassociationfootballacademy.
OnlineJSportPsychol2010,12(3):156–172.
19.
CrustL:Areviewandconceptualre-examinationofmentaltoughness:Implicationsforfutureresearch.
PersIndivDiffer2008,45:576–583.
20.
CrustL,NestiM,LittlewoodM:Across-sectionalanalysisofmentaltoughnessinaprofessionalfootballacademy.
AthleticInsightJ2010,2(2).
http://eprints.
lincoln.
ac.
uk/2418/.
doi:10.
1186/2045-709X-22-17Citethisarticleas:WieserandThiel:Asurveyof"mentalhardiness"and"mentaltoughness"inprofessionalmalefootballplayers.
Chiropractic&ManualTherapies201422:17.
WieserandThielChiropractic&ManualTherapies2014,22:17Page6of6http://www.
chiromt.
com/content/22/1/17