KNOWLEDGE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL SKILLS TRAINING ON ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE AMONG AMATEUR ATHLETES IN KWARA STATE

As amateur athletes strive to reach their goals and fulfil their potential, the integration of psychological skill training into their training regimen becomes not just an option but a necessity for unlocking peak performance. The purpose of this study was to determine the knowledge of goal Settings, imagery training, self-talk, concentration, and emotional regulation on athletics performance among amateur athletes in Kwara State. A descriptive research survey design was adopted for the study and the target population for the study comprises of all amateur athletes selected from both team and individual sports within Kwara State stadium complex in Ilorin. A Simple random sampling technique was used to select different sports, while proportionate sampling technique was used to select from each sport. The researcher’s structured questionnaire was used, and adopted the content validity and reliability. Frequency count and percentages was used to analyze the demographic data of respondents and the four postulated null hypotheses were tested using PPMC used for testing the hypotheses for effect and correlation to determine relationship. Findings revealed that the knowledge of goal-setting, imagery, self-talk, concentration and emotional regulation is a correlates of athletics performance among amateur athletes in Kwara State. This study concluded that the knowledge of goal-settings, imagery, self- talk, concentration and emotional regulation impacts athletics performance among amateur athletes in Kwara State. The study recommends that Coaches, sport psychologist, athletic trainers and team manager should develop and implement training programs that focuses on goal- settings, imagery, self-talk, concentration and emotional regulation.