Dealing with stress during tennis competition. The association of approach - and avoidance-coping with metacognition and achievement goal theory perspectives

Abstract

The present study investigated the relations between different forms coping during tennis competition, with players’ metacognitive processes during training, their achievement goals and their perceptions about the motivational climate coaches create. Two hundred and twenty six (n = 226) national level Greek tennis players (105: male, 118: female, 4: did not declare gender), aged 15.21±2.32 with 6.8±2.68 years of tennis experience participated the study. The results of a series of regression analyses revealed that metacognition during tennis training contributed to the explanation of a significant amount of variance of all the approach-coping forms that were examined. Mastery goal was also a significant predictor of the variance of two approach-coping forms whereas it was negatively related with two of the avoidance-coping forms. Performance goals and climates were positively related with the avoidance-coping forms. These findings indicate that metacognitive thinking in training and mastery goals and climates should be endorsed in tennis because they support the use of approachcoping behaviours in stressful situations during competition.