Neurological and Pathopsychological Criteria for Sport Selection

Abstract

The methodological basis of sport selection is the psychographical analysis of a person’s activity in the relevant sport, i.e. the psychological profile. When analysing and classifying psychological qualities, the identification of criteria which give information that can be the basis of a long term prognosis is of great interest. We proposed that these criteria are important factors that characterise the individual neurodynamic profile in relation to physical activity. From this perspective we have examined the guarding or defence technique specific to the demands of hand-to-hand fighting. Guarding demands high levels of concentration, good ability to read non-verbal signals from the opponent, a highly developed skill at tracking moving objects, high attention distribution and switching, capacious operative memory, a marked capacity for analysis and synthesis and a fast response time. Elite performers are characterised by the following: force, mobility and an unbalanced character of the nervous system according to its excitation state, i.e. choleric temperament. Guarding also places many other demands on the individual. Hunger deadens the attention function and accordingly all the physical and psychological processes that are organized by it. Sleepiness is accompanied by an increased susceptibility to many suggestive influences, especially non-verbal ones. The sensation of hunger can, however, simultaneously cause excessive excitation. The attention stability of the individual is therefore of great importance, together with self-sufficiency, and the ability to relax many distractions are present. Here the neurodynamic preconditions are different: a reserved phlegmatic temperament is ideal.