Effects of emotional regulation and impulsivity on sports performance: the mediating role of gender and competition level.

Introduction: This study aimed to study the relationships between emotional regulation and impulsivity on sports performance, according to the gender and competition level in national-level volleyball players. Methods: In total, 77 players from the 2018-2019 top two Spanish divisions completed the ERQ (emotion regulation) and the UPPS-P (impulsivity). Statistics (serve, reception, and attack) were retrieved from the Spanish Volleyball Federation. A Mann-Whitney test was conducted to determine differences between gender and competition level in impulsivity and emotion regulation. A Kruskal-Wallis test (Mann-Whitney post-hoc) was carried out for playing positions analysis. Spearman's correlation was performed between the performance and the variables of impulsivity and emotional regulation. Results: The results obtained, with differences according to playing position, gender, and competition level, show that players differ in certain psychological aspects that might influence how they approach their game. Discussion: The results point in a promising direction: the sports practice analyzed can serve as a regulation context, for both the emotional response and the level of impulsivity of the players. The importance of these results for future research on this topic is discussed.

Ability to Predict Side-Out Performance by the Setter's Action Range with First Tempo Availability in Top European Male and Female Teams.

The aims of this study were to compare the Setter's action range with availability of first tempo (SARA) between male and female volleyball; and to determine the relationship between several spatial and offensive variables and their influence in the success of the side-out in male and female volleyball. A total of 1302 side-outs (639 male, 663 female) were registered (2019 European Championship). The ranking, reception efficacy, position and trajectory of the setter between reception and set, first tempo availability, side-out result, rotation, and attack lane were analyzed through Recursive Partitioning for classification, regression and survival tree models and classification and regression trees algorithms. Our results present female teams with more reduced SARAs than male teams, meaning female setters tend to play closer to the net. The correlation between the ranking and the distance from the average position of the setter to the ideal setting zone was not significant. A movement of the setter of 30° or less and more than 1 m in distance might improve the performance of the side-out. Depending on the spatial usage of the setter, some rotations might be more successful than others. When assessing performance, the teams should consider the ability to play quick attacks when their reception is not as precise as they would expect.