Must stay in the game: self-regulation for performance optimization in professional ice hockey

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Atte Sacklin ^*, Claudio Robazza ^** and Montse C. Ruiz ^*

^(*) Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
^(**) BIND-Behavioral Imaging and Neural Dynamics Center, Department of Medicine and Aging Sciences, “G. d’Annunzio” University of Chieti-Pescara, Italy

Citation

Sacklin, A., Robazza, C., C. Ruiz, M. (2026). Must stay in the game: self-regulation for performance optimization in professional ice hockey. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 57(2), 113-133. doi:10.7352/IJSP.2026.57.113

Abstract

This study examines the subjective experiences, identification, and use of self-regulation strategies to optimise performance within the framework of multi-states (MuSt) theory. Participants were male ice hockey players competing at the highest level in Finland. Players (N = 20, Mage = 22.5) took part in an initial assessment of feeling states and core action components in relation to previous optimal and suboptimal performances, and self-efficacy in hockey-related strengths. Ten of them completed an intervention and assessment in four competition games, and took part in post-game evaluations involving awareness of their feeling states and effectiveness of the intervention. According to MuSt theory assumptions, results indicated that psychobiosocial states and core action components discriminated between optimal and suboptimal performances. Additionally, participants perceived the intervention as useful and effective in increasing awareness of own functional and dysfunctional feeling states related to their performance.

Keywords: Emotion Regulation; Action regulation; Skill execution; Profiling; Self-monitoring

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