Performance development of adolescent equestrians : a Mindfulness -Acceptance - Commitment (MAC) approach

Abstract

The Mindfulness-Acceptance-Commitment (MAC) approach is a sport psychology programme aimed at performance development in athletes. This study set out to gain an understanding of how adolescent equestrian athletes experienced this programme, using an in-depth qualitative approach called interpretive phenomenology analysis (IPA). Four equestrians, three females and one male, ranging in age from 16 to 18 years, completed an experiential learning-based programme over a two-day period. Semi-structured interviews were subsequently conducted with each participant to gain an understanding of their experience of the programme in terms of (1) their learning regarding the programme; (2) possible application of the learning to equestrian sport; and (3) possible transference of the learning to other areas of their lives. The interviews were transcribed and analysed according to the principles of IPA and the findings pertaining to each participant are discussed in terms of the most significant themes identified during the interviews. The concluding chapter discusses both the common and the unique findings obtained from the participants’ accounts in relation to the existing literature. The findings of this study highlight the importance of the partnership between equine and human when applying MAC in equestrian sport and also illustrate the applicability of MAC, not only in equestrian sport, but also in other areas of an adolescent’s life. This project contributes to sport psychology since it is the first qualitative study describing the experiences of adolescent equestrians regarding the MAC approach.