A mental training smartphone application for athletes initial development and evaluation

Mental skills training (MST) is an effective intervention for the enhancement of athletic performance, patterns of training and exercise efficiency. A key challenge for MST is to develop an accessible and portable tool that can assist athletes to progress faster and to have more effective, enjoyable and successful experiences in sport. Smartphones embedded with a wide variety of sensors have at least developed 300,000 software applications. However, the adoption for specific use in athletes are limited. Current study will present an opportunity to decrease costs and increase the availability of portable tools for mental training by developing a smartphone based application that can monitor and assess athlete’s breathing activity and mindfulness disposition. We present the design of the initial development, implementation and evaluation of the application. The trial study for implementation and evaluation consisted of forty-nine individuals. Participants utilised the application for five consecutive days and completed the Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) before and after the implementation of the application. The inferential results did not suggest any significant effects. However, the descriptive findings in terms of usability and participants’ satisfaction in using smartphones for mental training suggest that it is feasible. The initial development of the smartphone application for mindful breathing for athletes appears promising for future developments in implementing successful MST interventions to enhance athletic performance.Bachelor of Science (Sport Science and Management