Survey of teamwork in university swimming teams

Abstract

    Recently, the importance of teamwork in individual competitive sports has been pointed out. Because group cohesiveness, known as team cohesion, not only has a great effect on team performance, but also on individual motivation and psychological stability. For this reason, it is important to improve players' psychological skills, including self-understanding and athletic commitment and to enhance life skills. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine teamwork, psychological ability and life skills of the champion team and whether to differ depending on the competition level, residential status, and training location.
    The participants were 44 swimmers who were members of a team that won the Japan Student Swimming Championships. The teamwork was examined by Sport Psychological Test for Teams (SPTT) and Scale for Teamwork in Sport (STS), the psychological ability were examined by JISS-Psychological Ability Test for Elite Athletes (J-PATEA), and the life skills were examined by Appraisal Scale of Required Life Skill for college Student Athletes (ASRLS) the Life Skills Assessment of university athletes.
    The results showed that “team competence” and “team member relations” were higher than that of previous studies. Further, the upper group showed lower values than the lower group in the “team competence” and “coach confidence” items. In the STS, the university practice group showed lower “facilitation of task execution,” “mutual coordina tion,” “communication during games,” and “communication for team building” than the non-university practice, even though they spent more time to practice together.
    In terms of psychological skills (J-PATEA), the mean values of many factors were high, similar to those of Olympic athletes in previous studies. The mean values of “motivation” and “confidence” were lower than those of the Olympic athletes. In addition, the dormitory group showed lower “self-analysis” than the non-residential group, indicating that the dormitory group had a lower understanding and comprehension of their own condition and characteristics.
     Finally, in the life-skills assessment, they showed higher scores in “appreciating others,” “maintaining etiquette and manners,” and “being humble,” and showed lower scores in “communicating” and “maintaining physical health and wellbeing” than those of previous study.
    These results showed that the university practice group had a lower evaluation of teamwork. Jointing practice with other university teams can make aware of the strength of their own team. It may promote communication within the team, which is seen as an issue for improving teamwork.