Podium (Sep 2019)
Effect of sports injuries on psychological variables in pitchers of baseball
Abstract
The present research is framed in the field of sports injuries, having as object of study its relation with the psychological variables associated to the sports performance in baseball pitchers. The work was developed with 24 pitchers constituting a heterogeneous population in terms of chronological age, sports age, history and number of injuries suffered. The following instruments were used for its evaluation: Questionnaire on Sports Aspects and Injuries, the Inventory of the State of Anxiety in Competition and the Psychological Inventory of Sports Execution. The results obtained indicate statistically significant differences in the state of the psychological variables between pitchers with a history of injuries and those who did not at the time of the study, which allowed determining the negative effect of the injuries on self-confidence, competitive anxiety, negative coping control, attention control and imaginative visual control. In the group of pitchers with a history of injuries, statistically significant relationships were shown in self-confidence and negative coping control, establishing relationships with the number of injuries suffered in such a way that the greater the number of injuries, the greater the difference in both variables. On the other hand, motivation, attitude control and positive coping control did not offer any differences between injured and uninjured pitchers. The negative effect of the injuries on the psychological variables studied showed different levels of relationship and dependence in these athletes studied.
