The influence of game location and level of experience on psychological skill usage

The study investigated the variation in psychological skills usage between game location and performers' experience levels. A total of 25 collegiate soccer players retrospectively completed the Test of Performance Strategies (TOPS) that examines activation, relaxation, imagery, goal setting, self-talk, automaticity, emotional control, and negative thinking, following eight competitive games (four home and four away). Participants were grouped into Experienced and Less Experienced groups, based on the level of performance at which they typically played. Repeated measures Multivariate Analyses of Variance compared the usage of psychological skills across game location and experience levels and follow-up univariate analyses suggested psychological skills to be employed more frequently at home compared to away, and for experienced individuals to use such skills more than less experienced performers. Explanations as to how the findings relate to Carron and Courneya's (1992) conceptual model of home advantage, future research suggestions and potential implications for the applied practitioner are discussed.