Psychological skills assessment and athletic performance in collegiate rodeo athletes. ID - 19961806796

This study examines psychological skills prevalent in the college rodeo athlete across event, gender, nature of event and athletic skill level, and offers comparisons with the limited information published on traditional sport athletes in this growing area of research. Ten collegiate rodeo programmes were randomly selected among 105 programmes sanctioned by the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA) in the USA. It is hypothesized that in rodeo, one might expect distinctive differences in contact (roughstock riding, steer wrestling) versus non-contact (calf roping, barrel racing) events, due to excessive physical trauma specific to riding/wrestling livestock. Results indicate collegiate rodeo athletes exhibit psychological skill patterns inconsistent with athletes in more traditional sports, which may be a function of cognitive skills required for human versus animal competition unique to this sport. Differences in psychological skill response exist between gender, and between high and low skilled athletes. No significant differences were found across events.

Psychological skills assessment and athletic performance in collegiate rodeo athletes. ID - 19961806796 Academic Article