en روانشناسی ورزشی و شاخه‌های وابسته بدان Sport Psychology and its Related Branches مقاله اصیل Original Article <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:12px;"><strong>Background. </strong>Mental skills are defined as a set of trainable mental abilities and methods that are held to underpin successful learning and performance.<br> <strong>Objectives. </strong>The aim of the present research was to study and compare the mental skills <strong> </strong>of&nbsp;</span></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:12px;">adolescent</span></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:12px;"> elite and competitive volleyball and soccer players.<br> <strong>Methods. </strong>The sample consisted of 100 players (54 elite soccer, 13 elite volleyball, 18 competitive soccer </span></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:12px;">and</span></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:12px;"> 15 competitive volleyball) selected via a purposive sampling method. Data were collected using the Ottawa Mental Skills Assessment Tool-2 (OMSAT-2).<br> <strong>Results. </strong>Elite and competitive volleyball players had higher scores for stress reactions than elite soccer players. In addition, elite soccer players had more self-confidence than competitive soccer and volleyball players. Also, competitive volleyball players had higher levels of fear than elite soccer players. There were no other significant differences in mental skills between soccer and volleyball players.<br> <strong>Conclusion. </strong>It seems that adolescent volleyball players stand in more immediate need of learning strategies for coping with stress, fear and self-confidence management than soccer players. Results are discussed in terms of an athlete&rsquo;s levels, the nature and characteristics of the sport and choking during </span></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:12px;">performance</span></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:12px;">.</span></span></div> Soccer, Volleyball, Psychology, Self-Confidence, Fear, Coping with Stress 23 29 http://aassjournal.com/browse.php?a_code=A-11-152-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Zahra Fathirezaie zahra.fathirezaie@gmail.com 10031947532846007130 10031947532846007130 No Motor Behavior Department, Physical Education and Sport Science Faculty, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran Seyed Hojjat Zamani Sani hojjatzamani8@gmail.com 10031947532846007131 10031947532846007131 Yes Motor Behavior Department, Physical Education and Sport Science Faculty, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran Safyeh Ebrahimi s_ebrahimi9899@yahoo.com 10031947532846007132 10031947532846007132 No Motor Behavior Department, Physical Education and Sport Science Faculty, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran Serge Brand serge.Brand@upkbs.ch 10031947532846007133 10031947532846007133 No Center for Affective, Stress and Sleep Disorders (ZASS), Psychiatric Clinics (UPK), University of Basel. Department of Sport, Exercise and Health, Division of Sport and Psychosocial Health, University of Basel, Switzerland Iraj Jahanbakhsh iraj_sportboy@yahoo.com 10031947532846007134 10031947532846007134 No Department of sport physiology, Physical Education and Sport Science Faculty, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran Saeed Nazari nazarisaeed1984@gmail.com 10031947532846007135 10031947532846007135 No Department of sport physiology, Physical Education and Sport Science Faculty, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran