ABSTRACT
Many approaches have been developed over the years to assess the nature and effects of mental skills for performance enhancement in sport, and to identify those factors that were most critical for sporting excellence. Some of these approaches which could be useful in gymnastics included the following: consulting with mental trainers or sport psychologists, coaches and/or colleagues using existing psychological instruments, interviewing of athletes and observing gymnasts' behaviors in sport settings. The only other study compared the competitive behaviors of top ranked gymnasts with lower classed individuals, concerning their actual competitive behaviours. One thing is clear when assessing, teaching or applying mental skills in sports. Furthermore, there have been many attempts to distinguish between those mental skills that are most critical for performance enhancement. The Ottawa Mental Skills Assessment Tool was developed to assess a variety of mental skills, which were shown in the sport psychology literature to be essential for expert performance.
