Mind over Body: En studie om mental träning i elithockeyföreningar

Sammanfattning: This study examines how the phenomena of mental skills training in sport is facilitated in Swedish elite hockey clubs. The study investigates two main areas: In which ways do hockey clubs integrate the area of mental skills training into their organization and: what types of attitudes towards mental skills training exist in the clubs and how they are affected by the cultural context. A qualitative method is used by interviewing 12 employees distributed in three different clubs, with focus on players, coaches, mental coaches and managers. The aim is to receive a deep understanding of the subject through the perspective of people working with it. The findings show that there is a variation between the clubs in how they choose to apply mental skills training in their organization. The main difference is between choosing a top down structural approach where a mental coach is hired to develop a program that is applied throughout the organization, and a bottom up approach where coaches are given responsibility to work with mental skills training in their teams. Findings regarding the existing attitudes show that there is a general shift in the sport with positive attitudes emerging, and a view where mental skills are regarded as developable. Even though there is a general shift underway, the masculine culture of hockey is still present with a social stigma related to talking about mental difficulties and a willingness to display strength towards members of the organization.