Psychological factors

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Extensive literature on sport psychology already exists and several approaches can be applied to canoe slalom. However, the essence of effective mental training extends beyond the multitude of methods, some of which are outlined below:

The intervention in Sports Psychology aims to enable athletes to self-regulate during training and competition, maximizing their performance potential (Riera et al., 2017). In canoe slalom, training focused on acquiring and managing psychological skills is essential due to the sport’s technical demands on the athlete, particularly in high-intensity situations (Messias et al., 2014). This complexity involves selecting the best possible path to navigate gates and natural obstacles (currents, drops, rocks, etc.) as soon as possible and without penalties. Vives-Ribó, y Costa-Sánchez (2022)