Athletes’ psychological competence as a factor of realization of psychological means in training and competition

Introduction. The relevance of the study of psychological competence of athletes and the use of psychological means in preparation for competitions is due to the high importance of the psychological factor in the successful competitive activity and the need to study the nature of the influence of psychological competence on the attitude to psychological means and methods. The significance of the problem lies in the influence of psychological competence on the creation of the athlete’s pre-start state, behavior and results of the competitive activity. The essence of the problem is in the interrelation of psychological competence of athletes with the realization of psychological means in competitive activity. The hypothesis of the study is that psychological competence of the athlete is formed in the process of sports activities and contributes to the use of the acquired psychological knowledge and skills in competitive activity. The goal is to determine the influence of athletes’ psychological competence on the use of psychological means in preparation for competitions. The object of the study is sports-psychological competence of an athlete. Маterials and Methods. The conceptions of psychological preparation of athletes for competition form the methodological basis of the study. Results and Discussion. The formation of sports-psychological competence of athletes has a positive influence on the use of psychological training means in training and competition activity.