INFLUENCE OF PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS ON MENTAL SKILLS OF TAEKWONDO ATHLETES

Our research is based on the need for more in-depth studies of the relationships and the impact of personal characteristics and mental skills on the successful performance of athletes. The present study aims to examine the connections and interrelations among personality traits of Big-Five factor markers, International Personality Item Pool - IPIP, (Goldberg, 2001): extraversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness, emotional stability, and openness to experience on mental skills related to successful performance in sport (Thomas, Murphy, Hardy, 1999). The research was done among 28 Bulgarian taekwondo athletes (WTF, ITF; 12-46 years old), divided into groups according to their age, gender, and sports qualification. There are significant differences depending on gender, age, and qualification (medalists and non-medalists). Analysis showed statistically significant correlations between extraversion and goal setting (r=.374; p˂.05), emotional control (r=.458; p˂.01); visualization (r=.441; p˂.05), activation (r=.375; p˂.05) and self-talk (r=.406; p˂.05) in competition; conscientiousness and negative thinking (r=-.487; p˂.01), goal setting (r=.418; p˂.05), automaticity (r=.391; p˂.05) in practice; openness to experience and goal setting (r=.466; p˂.05), self-talk (r=.482; p˂.01) in competition and goal setting (r=.382; p˂.05) in practice; emotional stability and emotional control (r=.657; p˂.01) and relaxation (r=.504; p˂.01), negative thinking (r=-.546; p˂.01) in competition, emotional control (r=.645; p˂.01), attention (r=.464; p˂.05) in practice. The results of the study enrich the knowledge of the mental preparation of taekwondo athletes. Still, some limitations are related to the relatively small number of researched individuals.