Engagement and tennis: The applicability of occupational psychology to the world of sport

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VOLUME 15 | Proc2 | 2020 |
S173
Supplementary Issue: Winter Conferences of Sports Science. Costa Blanca Sports Science Events, 24 April 2020. Alicante, Spain.
Engagement and tennis: The applicability of
occupational psychology to the world of sport
FABIO SCAMARDELLA
1
, VALERIA CASILLO, POMPILIO CUSANO
Department of Sport Sciences and Well-being, Parthenope University, Naples, Italy
ABSTRACT
The working activity, as well as the sports one, foresees that results have to be achieved and be
decided/evaluated by others, a personal physical and mental effort is required in a well-defined time and
space, constraints and limitations established by the nature of the tasks have to be overcome, and a
consistent and defined part of one's own time has to be employed. The aim of this research is to demonstrate
how work phenomena (specifically work engagement) can be conveyed to the world of sport, highlighting the
applicability of occupational psychology also in a sports context.
Keywords: Sport; Engagement; Tennis; Goal–setting.
1
Corresponding author. University of Naples “Parthenope”, Italy.
E-mail: fabio.scamardella@uniparthenope.it
Supplementary Issue: Winter Conferences of Sports Science. Costa Blanca Sports Science Events, 24 April 2020. Alicante,
Spain.
JOURNAL OF HUMAN SPORT & EXERCISE ISSN 1988-5202
© Faculty of Education. University of Alicante
doi:10.14198/jhse.2020.15.Proc2.07
Cite this article as:
Scamardella, F., Casillo, V., & Cusano, P. (2020). Engagement and tennis: The applicability of
occupational psychology to the world of sport. Journal of Human Sport and Exercise, 15(2proc), S173-
S176. doi:https://doi.org/10.14198/jhse.2020.15.Proc2.07
Proceeding

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INTRODUCTION
The object of the study of occupational psychology concerns the recognition and demonstration of how work
activity is developed through the body's response to external and internal stimuli. The latter are the expression
of a complex combination of expectations, intentions, intentions, values and purposes, in which people
actively interact with the social and technical context by confronting themselves with their explicit and implicit
demands, in order to achieve the expected result.
The working activity, as well as the sports one, is characterized by the fact that, in most cases, results have
to be achieved and be decided/evaluated by others, a personal physical and mental effort is required in a
well-defined time and space, constraints and limitations established by the nature of the tasks have to be
overcome, and a consistent and defined part of one's own time has to be employed. These forms of
constraint, which generally characterize the working activity, must also be taken into consideration in order
to understand the many personal and situational factors that influence the orientation, modulation and
definition of the effective action strategies.
They are applied in a specific context where work is redefined and reconfigured as a set of specific tasks. If
the different elements defining the person's effective working area are not taken into account, there is the
risk of missing the opportunity to understand what it is like to develop working activities, to learn how to carry
them out in the best possible way, to preserve one's own well-being even in difficult conditions, to achieve
the personal and social goals attributed to work, and to avoid counterproductive and unexpected effects.
METHODS
All the physical, technical, social and organizational aspects of work that reduce the pressure and the
psychological cost of work demands allow easily reaching the objectives and stimulating the worker’s
personal and professional growth, by affecting their state of engagement. In fact, these aspects serve as
extrinsic and intrinsic motivational factors, since they are tools to achieve the expected results of the
previously planned goal-setting. This is considered to be particularly important when dealing with difficult
tasks in complex performance environments. In this direction, the sports context taken into consideration is
the tennis world. The research was carried out during the whole "2019 Italian Women's Serie A2 Team
Championships” and involved about 80 athletes. The data of the operational proposal were collected through
the administration of a structured questionnaire, consisting of a first autobiographical part, and a second part
with a specific survey. The latter was structured "ad hoc" for the analysis of contextual factors: the support of
specific professional figures (personal coach, physical trainer, nutritionist, sports psychologist), the analysis
of the sports facility at their disposal (type of facility, number of courts available, gym/athletic work areas,
types of training field), and items closely related to the goal setting.
RESULTS
As far as the personal data of the sample obtained from the questionnaires are concerned, it is worth noting
that the average age of the athletes was 22 years old, of which 33% came from Northern Italy, 46% from
Central Italy and only 21% from Southern Italy. As for the athlete's educational level, 70% of the sample held
a secondary school diploma, while 30% held at least a Bachelor's degree. The technical ranking according
to the parameters of the Italian Tennis Federation was on average 2.4, with a daily average of approximately
4 training hours. On the other hand, the data obtained from the questionnaires concerning the analysis of the
sports training facility and its characteristics showed an average of 9 tennis courts available for technical

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training including various surfaces (clay courts, hard courts, and grass courts). In addition, the athletes stated
that 60% of these facilities had indoor courts for the winter season, while 40% of the facilities taken into
consideration did not have this feature. According to 65% of the sample, in these facilities there were no
sports courts dedicated to athletic preparation, while 35% had ad hoc spaces. As for the professional profiles
of reference to the concept of engagement, 54% of the athletes declared that they did not have a personal
coach/technician, and 60% stated they were supported by a physical trainer. The mostly absent figure in
these facilities turned out to be that of the nutritionist and of the sports psychologist (66% of athletes were
not supervised by a nutritionist, and 70% said they did not benefit from psychological counselling). However,
the majority of the athletes stated that, in every training session, they were supervised by their facility
technician (65%). Finally, the research area dedicated to the achievement of objectives (goal - setting) made
100% of the athletes agree on the fact that, if a greater number of professional figures were present in the
sports facilities of reference, the sports results would improve considerably. In addition to the research item
concerning the growth of motivation for competitive practice, all athletes (100%) agreed on the fact that the
presence of more professionals would improve sports results. Finally, 80% of the surveyed athletes declared
that they were satisfied with their training organization.
Figure 1. Results.
CONCLUSIONS
The analysis of the results reveals more data relevant to the initial research hypotheses, i.e. the direct
correlations between context, performance and goal-setting factors.
First of all, the facility is of fundamental importance: the number of courts, the surface area of the playing
fields and the possibility of having indoor spaces for the winter season have a positive impact on the increase
in sports performance. Likewise, the possibility of training in ad hoc spaces for physical preparation becomes
a fundamental factor.
Moreover, in terms of physical preparation, from the analysis of the results, the figure of the athletic trainer is
necessary to achieve and increase performance. Therefore, a fundamental requirement of the engagement
0
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100
Yes No
If constantly monitored, do you
feel more motivated?
Yes = 100%
No = 0%

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in the sports field is the constant presence of the structure technician; according to the analysis of the data,
this figure increases the motivation to the performance itself. In addition, it was found that the most successful
athletes (ranking) during daily training are supported by highly qualitative context factors, compared to lower
level athletes. While the former aim at ambitious ranking goals, the latter are limited to a mere confirmation
of the current ranking. Finally, as further support to the research, 100% of the players expressly declared a
strong correlation between motivation and context factors, thus confirming the starting hypothesis. In terms
of operational consequences, therefore, as it happens in the working context, it becomes important that every
athlete, in addition to having an effective baggage of personal resources, must be surrounded by qualitative
context factors that, by developing a greater motivation, can help them achieve an optimal performance.
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