Psychological hesitation and its relation to the performance level of diving skill among second year female students

Abstract

The significance of the present research is to know the nature of the relationship between psychological hesitation and the level of skill performance in the diving skill among second-year female students at the Faculty of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, University of Baghdad, for the academic year (2024-2025). It also intends to introduce the idea of psychological hesitation in diving skill and how to deal with it. The researcher used the descriptive analytical approach because it is appropriate to the nature of the study. The research sample consisted of (30) female students, purposely selected from those who regularly attended the practical classes, aged between (19-21) years.

The researcher applied a Psychological Hesitation Scale, a Diving Skill Performance Evaluation Form, and a demographic information questionnaire. Data were analyzed with the suitable statistical methods using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS v26).

The results demonstrated a high level of psychological hesitation in the students, especially in the dimension of hesitation in motor decision-making. They further reported a strong, statistically significant negative correlation between psychological hesitation and skill performance (r = -0.721), suggesting that as psychological hesitation increases, technical performance decreases. The study recommends the need to include psychological preparation in educational programs, to take a gradual approach in teaching skills, and to periodically assess the levels of psychological hesitation in order to improve the quality of skill performance