Instantaneous effects of mindfulness meditation on tennis return performance in elite junior athletes completing an implicitly sequenced serve return task
Edward J P O’Connor, Alistair Murphy, Mark J Kohler, Russell Weili Chan, Maarten A. Immink
Frontiers in Sports and Active Living August 23, 2022 DOI: 10.3389/fspor.2022.907654 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Elite junior tennis athletes |
| Intervention | Control listening condition |
| Duration | Single session |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Citations | 7 |
| Key findings | Single-session mindfulness meditation did not augment sport-specific skill performance or sequence learning in elite junior tennis players. Compared with a control listening condition, meditation may have impaired performance improvements and acquisition of serve sequence information, contrary to previous laboratory findings. |
Abstract
Single-session meditation augmentation of sport-specific skill performance was tested with elite junior tennis athletes. Athletes completed one of two styles of mindfulness meditation (focused-attention or open-monitoring) or a control listening condition prior to performing an implicitly sequenced tennis serve return task involving the goal of hitting a target area placed on the service court. Unbeknownst to athletes, six distinct serves followed a repeating second-order conditional sequence for two task blocks before the sequence was altered in a third transfer block. Task performance was operationalized as serve return outcome and analyzed using beta regression modeling. Models analyzed group by block differences in the proportion of returned serves (i.e., non-aces), returns placed in the service court, and target hits. Contrary to previous laboratory findings, results did not support meditation-related augmentation of performance and/or sequence learning. In fact, compared to control, meditation may have impaired performance improvements and acquisition of serve sequence information. It is possible that the effects of single-session meditation seen in laboratory research may not extend to more complex motor tasks, at least in highly-trained adolescents completing a well-learned skill. Further research is required to elucidate the participant, task, and meditation-related characteristics that might promote single-session meditation performance enhancement.
Comparable studies
Other randomized controlled trials on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alterations in Brain and Immune Function Produced by Mindfulness Meditation Healthy employees in a work environment | 2003 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 41 |
| Prevention of relapse/recurrence in major depression by mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. Recovered recurrently depressed patients | 2000 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 145 |
| Open hearts build lives: Positive emotions, induced through loving-kindness meditation, build consequential personal resources. Working adults | 2008 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 139 |
| Short-term meditation training improves attention and self-regulation Undergraduate Chinese students | 2007 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 40 |
| Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression: Replication and Exploration of Differential Relapse Prevention Effects. Recovered recurrently depressed patients | 2004 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 73 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 2
Cites 12
- Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. Clinical Psychology Science and Practice 2004
- Mindfulness and mind-wandering: Finding convergence through opposing constructs. Emotion February 6, 2012
- Neural mechanisms of attentional control in mindfulness meditation Frontiers in Neuroscience 2013
- Assessing adolescent mindfulness: Validation of an Adapted Mindful Attention Awareness Scale in adolescent normative and psychiatric populations. Psychological Assessment 2011
- Meditation leads to reduced default mode network activity beyond an active task Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience April 22, 2015
and 7 more in the library