The role of mental training in optimizing performance in shooting sports – a systematic review

The aim of our study was to conduct a literature review of studies in which mental training was used
in shooting sports. To conduct this review, we used the PRISMA2020 schema, for new systematic reviews that included only database and journal searches. The exclusion criteria for the studies were as follows: mental training was studied in relation to other sports (n=121), mental training was not used for sports activities (n=93), mental training was used for other age groups (n=25), and studies that were not open access (n=17).

The final articles that met all the inclusion criteria were 23 studies. The participants involved in the initial studies were performance athletes. The results of the included studies showed that the effects between the professional psychological support, performance shooting sports and effective coaching can promote higher performance in precision sports. Within the limits of the study, we note that there is not a very large number of research conducted in the direction of establishing the effects of psychological training in sports shooting.

The practical implications of the study draw attention to the importance of the presence of mental training in the preparation of athletes in precision sports, which require a high level of emotional stability and self-control.