Athletes’ regulation of emotions experienced during competition: A naturalistic video-assisted study.

This study aimed to identify the type and effectiveness of emotional regulation strategies used by table tennis players to manage their emotions experienced during competition. Using a naturalistic video-assisted approach, 30 interviews were conducted with 11 national table tennis players. Ten emotions were identified in the participants’ transcriptions: anger, anxiety, discouragement, disappointment, disgust, joy, serenity, relief, hope, and pride. Qualitative analyses of participants’ transcriptions revealed the emergence of 4 categories pertaining to emotion regulation: (a) regulation efforts comprising: (i) antecedent-focused regulation (e.g., attention deployment, cognitive change); (i…