Relationship between motor skills and various sailing skills and sports performance – study using the DEMATEL approach

Introduction. The purpose of this paper is to determine the mutual relation between various motor abilities and factors of sailing performance. Material and methods: 25 sailors from the Polish national team in sailing Olympic classes were asked to fill a questionnaire concerning the influence of various motor abilities and sailing performance factors on the result. In total, 5 sailors participated in the study by returning properly filled questionnaires. To determine the relationship between the motor abilities and sailing performance factors, the DEMATEL method has been utilized. Results: In terms of motor abilities, mobility is the most significant factor, and muscle strength is the most dominant factor in terms of cause, and quickness in terms of effect. In terms of sailing performance, mental fitness is the most significant factor, and tactical knowledge is the most dominant factor as an effect of sailing performance and knowledge of racing rules as a cause. Conclusions: In the group of factors of sailing performance, mental fitness and tactical knowledge are the most important. Therefore, there should be more focus on improving the training process of these two factors.