A study on the influence of socio economic status and age categories on the performance of junior and senior basketball players

Abstract

Sport psychology deals with the increase of performance by the management of emotions and the minimization of psychological effects of injury and poor performance. Some of the most important skills taught are goal setting, relaxation, visualization, self-talk, awareness and control, concentration, confidence, motivation, using rituals, attribution training, and periodization. It is important to learn and understand the individual skills in sport psychology (Hanson-Utley et al. 2008).The major purpose of the present study addresses itself in analyzing the influence of SES and age categories on the performance of Junior and Senior Basketball players selected from six districts Basketball teams which are participated in the district level Basketball tournaments of Karnataka State. To achieve the purpose of study total 480 district level junior (240) and senior (240) Basketball players were selected from six districts and Kalaburagi division level competitions held in respective districts of Karnataka state. Attempt was made to categorize the samples into equal sub groups based on socio economic status and age category. To collect necessary data pertaining to present study the SES scale is constructed by Dr. Rajeev Lochan Bhardwaj (1989) is administered to all the subjects and the performances of Basketball players were taken in the form of layup shots and scoring. The results highlight the fact that Socio economic status is a prime factor in Basketball performance of the players belongs to junior and senior age group categories and higher age group players have displayed higher Basketball performance in the layup shot. In points scoring the higher age group players have outscored the players of the lower age group. Therefore, age is a significant factor in determining the extent of sports excellence in Basketball game.