Rostevanov A.G., Zaytsev V.A., Nartsissova S.Yu. The Concept of Social and Psychological Preparation for Playing Sports: the Role of Personality and Way of Thinking

Abstract: In this article the authors present their concept of social and psychological preparation for doing sports at the public and professional levels where personality and way of thinking become systemically important factors. The authors view mental mechanisms that regulate mental states and behaviour of sports players as well as the factors promoting social and psychological preparation for doing sports. The authors underline the importance of standards and values that contribute to the competitive culture of sports players is underlined. Based on the example of karate, the authors demonstrate how mental operations of sports players are performed. The article provides the theoretical and methodological substantiation of the innovative approach to physical training and sports. The following methods of research were applied by the authors: theoretical (analysis and generalization of psychological and pedagogical literature on the matter, the method of theoretical modelling for defining the subject, object, and hypothesis, and building the theoretical model, the method of concrete definition and ordering of theoretical knowledge by working out of methodology and the research theory); empirical (studying and operational experience generalisation on the investigated problem, analysis of the authors' experience in teaching at Moscow State University of Economics, Statistics and Informatics that has been admitting students for 'sports management' specialization over the past several years (most of the applicants are professional sportsmen); lesson observations that involved videorecording, questionnaire survey of trainers and students, analysis of standard manuals, and analysis of scoresheets); and statistical methods of processing experimental data for quantitative and qualitative analysis of the empirical material. The article presents a substantiation of the innovative approach to the physical training of the rising generation which components include personality development and thinking. The authors describe general aspects of cognitive preparation for learning and training sports. Developing the concept of social and psychological preparation for playing sports, the authors recognize the need to shift the emphasis from the creation of the healthy environment to the health-developing education aimed at teaching health-forming values and increasing the level of positive psychophysical well-being. 

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