Psychological skills of provincial netball players in different playing positions

Differences regarding the psychological skill levels of soccer, basketball, rugby union and American football players in different playing positions have been reported. These differences are believed to be the result of the specific demands of each playing position. This study examined possible positional differences in a group of 185 South African provincial netball players (mean age: 20.7 years, S.D.: 3.87 years). The subjects were divided into seven playing positions, namely: goal shooter (n=21), goal attack (n=27), wing attack (n=35), centre (n=29), wing defence (n=24), goal defence (n=25) and goal keeper (n=24), and were compared with regard to seven psychological skills and a derived composite psychological skills score, measured by means of the Athletic Coping Skills Inventory (ACSI-28) of Smith et al. (1995). Effect sizes (expressed as Cohen’s d-value) were used to indicate practical significant differences. Thirty-nine of the 168 positional comparisons yielded moderate practical significant differences (d≈0.5). Collectively, these results showed that the goal attack and wing defence players consistently outperformed the other positional groups, while the goal shooters showed the lowest psychological skill levels. The results are discussed with reference to their implications for psychological skills training programmes. Key words: Playing positions; Netball players; Psychological skills.