ISSN: 2222-6990
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The purpose of this study is to examine the mental toughness perceived by selected the
National football players. A sample of twelve Malaysian footballers (current and explayers), aged 19 to 57 years old agreed to participate. All of them have been playing in
the Malaysia National Football League that consists of four former national footballers,
four former state footballers and four currently active footballers. Among them, five
individuals are active as a coach. A semi-structure interview scheduled was used in the
research. All of the respondents have signed the informed consent letter for taperecorded during the interviewed. The transcribed verbatim from the tapes were content
analyzed by the authors to identify the themes. Results show that eight themes
emerged from the interviews, which are motivation, negative energy, self-confidence,
positive energy, visual and imagery control, patriotic spirit, perseverance and attention
control. Almost all of the themes have been identified by previous researchers (i.e.,
Fourie & Potgieter, 2001; Jones, Hanton & Connoughton, 2002; 2007; and Loehr, 1986),
except for patriotic and perseverance. Recommendations for further research also
suggested.
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