Preparatory routines for emotional regulation in performance enhancement.

Preparatory routines (PR) are a necessary tool for achieving optimal emotional states and effective performance, especially in self-paced motor skills. Numerous studies in the area of applied sport psychology have found a positive effect of PR on blocking out distractions and regulating performance thoughts, actions, and emotions. PR contain behavioral and mental components that can be applied in different time periods before and after the event itself: pre-competitive activity routines (PCA-R), pre-performance routines (PP-R), and post-performance activity routines (PPA-R).

Psychological Preparation for Paralympic Athletes: A Preliminary Study.

Since the first Paralympics in 1960 there has been an increase in social and scientific interest in Paralympic athletes' personality, their preparation, and their sport results. During the last 20 yr, researchers and practitioners have been focused on psychological-skills programs for athletes with disabilities. The purpose of this article was to describe a psychological-preparation program for Israeli Paralympic athletes.