“Mindfulness isn’t just for basketball. It’s like an everyday thing”: an interpretative phenomenological analysis of adolescent basketball players in a mindfulness-based intervention

Abstract

Background While mental skills are regarded as a crucial element for achieving optimal sport performance, psychological preparation is often neglected in athletic training. Consequently, many athletes encounter psychological barriers that impede performance. Mindfulness is a way of being present, open, and non-judgmental, and has gained increasing attention in sport psychology as a strategy to support performance and well-being. Numerous sport mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have recently been developed and a range of benefits have been demonstrated in adult populations. However, less is known about how adolescent athletes experience and apply mindfulness when participating in a sport MBI. Research is needed to examine how adolescent participants understand and apply mindfulness to improve their sport performance, and whether mindfulness learned in sport can be applied in daily life contexts. Aims: (1) To qualitatively explore how adolescent athletes in a sport MBI understand and applied mindfulness over time. (2) To examine how mindfulness influences adolescents’ athletic and daily experiences. Methods: Four adolescent male basketball players from a club team in Winnipeg, Canada (all aged 16; 75% Filipino, 25% German and British) participated in a MBI. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews at three time points (T1: pre-MBI, T2: mid-MBI, and T3: post-MBI) and analyzed using an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). The themes were organized by interview timepoint. Results: The results demonstrate that adolescent athletes’ understandings and applications of mindfulness progressed across the MBI. Before the MBI, most athletes had no previous experience with psychological skills training and had a limited understanding of mindfulness. At the midpoint of the MBI, athletes developed a greater understanding of mindfulness and began applying it in competition in various ways. At the end of the MBI, athletes had increasingly integrated mindfulness into their sport, described becoming more comfortable with its application, and applied it outside of sport. Adolescent athletes also expressed intentions to continue being mindful beyond the MBI. Conclusion: Mindfulness training is a valuable and applicable approach for improving adolescent athletes’ sport performance and well-being. A sport MBI may provide adolescents with mental skills that support their sporting experiences and personal development.