Comparative Study of Mental Toughness and Adjustment between Amateur Golfers and Caddie Turned Amateur Golfers

An outdoor game Golf, basically a ball-stick game is played around the world. It is played on a large open-air course in which a ball is struck by a club with the aim of taking the lowest number of strikes possible to get the ball into 18 holes in the ground. The objective of golf is to get the ball into the holes in the lowest number of shots. Whether one play for fun or play competitively, golf is a complex game. Golf is intensely associated with traits like patience, persistence, skilled practice, and focused ability. To be a successful player reaching fullest potential, ongoing practice and professional instruction is needed. Psychological parameters mental toughness, adjustment play an important role for growth of golfers. Regardless of whether it's helpless climate, a physical issue, or a weight circumstance, competitors with mental toughness an athlete figure out how to create similar outcomes. Adjustment in the process by which an organism achieves a balance between its needs and the circumstances that affect the accomplishment of these needs. This type of transitional response to adversity is not unique to Olympic champions and is an important formative experience for talent development (Savage et al., 2016). Progressing investigation seems to help the importance of prologue to hardship. Helpful impact of difficulty with 10 Olympic gold medallists. The Olympic victors proposed that unfriendly encounters at first prompted injury, but instead than evoking maladaptive conduct reactions, the extreme negative feelings were utilized to fuel the competitors' future exertion and application (Sarkar et al. 2015). Another examination investigating the difficulty and development related encounters of Olympic swimmers found that by embracing momentary related systems, the competitors eventually flourished notwithstanding affliction, and prospered as entertainers and people (Howells and Fletcher, 2015). Stephanny FN. Freeman et al. (2000) stated that children do not receive adequate recognition scores at as high a level in regular classrooms as their usually emerging peers do. Integrated learners perform better than their equivalent separated students on tests of academic performance and social maturity by contrasting children with mental retardation in general education and special education classrooms. Raju MVR et al. (2007) indicated that school children's transition depends largely on school factors, such as the class they are learning in, the medium of teaching available in the school, and the form of school administration. Parental schooling and occupation of

The participants were 200 golfers who regularly participated in various Amateur golf competitions. The sample consists of 200 male golfers from Chandigarh, Delhi, Haryana and Punjab. They were further divided into two groups which includes hundred (n = 100) amateur golfers and hundred (n = 100) caddie turned amateur golfers. The groups have been presented in Table 1 The random sampling technique was used to obtain the required data. All participated an informed consent form before data collection.

Measures: Mental toughness was measured by applying mental toughness inventory constructed by Middlenton et al. (2005). Mental toughness inventory consists of 30 items measuring the mental toughness in five areas, i.e., rebound ability, ability to handle pressure, concentration, confidence, and motivation. There was only true/false answers option in this questionnaire and subjects must tick only one option. The questionnaire is suitable for the age group as selected for the study. Adjustment was measured by applying Adjustment Inventory (AICS) constructed by Sinha and Singh. It has 102 items to measure five dimensions of adjustment i.e., home, social, emotional, and educational. The questionnaire is suitable for the age group as selected for the study. Data Analysis: Descriptive statistics (Mean, Standard Deviation, Skewness, Kurtosis, Standard Error of Skewness and Standard Error Kurtosis) were calculated for all measures. Data screening was used to ensure all dependent variables met the assumptions necessary for the use of parametric statistics before data analysis. In addition, independent t-test were used to test the between-group differences between amateur and caddie turned amateur golfers in mental toughness. The level of p>0.05 was considered non-significant. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 20.0 was used.

Table 2 tabulates the distribution of golf players according to mental toughness overall scoring. In the domain rebound ability, the mean score was 4.77 for amateur golfers and 4.84 for caddie turned amateur golfers. Mean difference was -0.070. The p-value was found non-significant (t- -0.397, p- 0.691(p>0.05)). The mean score was almost same for amateur golfers (M- 5.31) and caddie turned amateur golfers (M- 5.30) in the domain ability to handle pressure. The p-value was statistically non-significant (t- 0.081, p- 0.936(p>0.05)). In concentration ability domain, amateur golfers had attained a mean score of 4.89 and caddie turned amateur had a mean score of 4.95. Mean difference was -0.060. The p-value was found non-significant (t- -0.590, p- 0.556(p>0.05)). A mean score of 5.09 by amateur golfers and 5.14 by caddie turned amateur golfers was attained in level of confidence domain. The p-value was found non-significant (t- -0.478, p- 0.633(p>0.05)). In the domain motivation, the mean score was 5.08 for amateur golfers and 5.14 for caddie turned amateur golfers. Mean difference was -0.060. The p-value was found non-significant (t- -0.593, p- 0.554(p>0.05)). A mean score of 25.11 by amateur golfers and 25.38 by caddie turned amateur golfers was attained in mental toughness total domain. The p-value was found non-significant (t- -0.671, p- 0.503(p>0.05)).

Figure 1 shows the mean distribution of domains of mental toughness among golfers. In rebound ability, amateur golfers achieved a mean score of 4.77 and SD 1.24 and caddie turned amateur golfers achieved a mean score of 4.84 and SD 1.24. Mean score of 5.31 and 5.30 was achieved by amateur golfers and caddie turned amateur golfers respectively in ability to handle pressure. The SD was 0.84 and 0.90. In concentration ability, amateur golfers achieved a mean score of 4.89 and SD 0.68 and caddie turned amateur golfers achieved a mean score of 4.95 and SD 0.75. Mean score of 5.09 and 5.14 was achieved by amateur golfers and caddie turned amateur golfers respectively in level of confidence. The SD was 0.71 and 0.76. In motivation, amateur golfers achieved a mean score of 5.08 and SD 0.74 and caddie turned amateur golfers achieved a mean score of 5.14 and SD 0.68. Mean score of 25.11 and 25.38 was achieved by amateur golfers and caddie turned amateur golfers respectively in mental toughness total. The SD was 2.79 and 2.89.

mean score was 4.06 for amateur golfers and 3.99 for caddie turned amateur golfers. Mean difference was 0.070. The p-value was found non-significant (t- -0.445, p- 0.657(p>0.05)). The mean score was 4.85 for amateur golfers and 4.09 for caddie turned amateur golfers in the domain health. The p-value was statistically significant (t- 5.888, p- 0.000(p<0.05)). In social domain, amateur golfers had attained a mean score of 7.19 and caddie turned amateur had a mean score of 6.27. Mean difference was 0.920. The p-value was found significant (t- 5.173, p- 0.000(p<0.05)). A mean score of 7.61 by amateur golfers and 5.78 by caddie turned amateur golfers was attained in emotional domain. The p-value was found significant (t- 10.228, p- 0.000(p<0.05)). In the domain education, the mean score was 5.50 for amateur golfers and 7.66 for caddie turned amateur golfers. Mean difference was -2.160. The p-value was found significant (t- -9.857, p- 0.000(p<0.05)). A mean score of 29.23 by amateur golfers and 27.80 by caddie turned amateur golfers was attained in adjustment total domain. The p-value was found significant (t- 3.394, p- 0.001(p<0.05)).

Figure 1 illustrates the mean distribution of domains of adjustment among golfers. In home, amateur golfers achieved a mean score of 4.06 and SD 1.13 and caddie turned amateur golfers achieved a mean score of 3.99 and SD 1.08. Mean score of 4.85 and 4.09 was achieved by amateur golfers and caddie turned amateur golfers respectively in health. The SD was 0.99 and 0.81. In social, amateur golfers achieved a mean score of 7.19 and SD 1.52 and caddie turned amateur golfers achieved a mean score of 6.27 and SD 0.90. Mean score of 7.61 and 5.78 was achieved by amateur golfers and caddie turned amateur golfers respectively in emotional domain. The SD was 1.40 and 1.10. In educational domain, amateur golfers achieved a mean score of 5.50 and SD 1.58 and caddie turned amateur golfers achieved a mean score of 7.66 and SD 1.51. Mean score of 29.23 and 27.80 was achieved by amateur golfers and caddie turned amateur golfers respectively in adjustment total. The SD was 3.26 and 2.66.

The purpose of present research was to compare the mental toughness and adjustment of Amateur golfers and caddie turned amateur golfers. As the results of this research shows from the findings of Table 4 with regard to mental toughness that non-significant difference have been observed on the sub variables; rebound ability, ability to handle pressure, concentration, confidence, motivation and overall mental toughness between amateur golfers and caddie turned amateur golfers. The mean comparison of two groups for various domains related to mental toughness was found non-significant. Mean score of most domains was better among Caddie turned amateur golfers than amateur golfers with little mean difference between groups. The purpose of present research was to compare the adjustment of Amateur golfers and Caddie turned amateur golfers. As the results of this research shows from the findings regarding adjustment that significant difference has been observed in various sub domains - health, social, emotional, educational, and total adjustment. However, in home domain has non-significance difference. Study also shows that caddie turned amateur golfers are better in adjustment because mean score of caddie turned amateur golfers (27.80) was lesser than mean score of amateur golfers (29.23).

The primary objective of this study was to know and compare the difference between amateur golfers and caddie turned amateur golfers on mental toughness and adjustment. The results indicated that there is a non-significant difference between amateur golfers and caddie turned amateur golfers on the sub variables and overall mental toughness from which it can be concluded that caddie turned amateur had non-significantly higher rebound ability, confidence, motivation, and overall mental toughness. It can be concluded from the average overall mental toughness score that caddie turned amateur golfers were mentally tougher than amateur golfers but not significantly. This study successfully determined the levels of adjustment among amateur golfers and caddie turned amateur golfers. There existed a significant difference in the adjustment of golfers. The mean difference for home adjustment was better among caddie turned amateur golfers but non-significant. for domains like health, social, and emotional caddie turned amateur golfers were observed significantly more adjusting than amateur golfers. However, on educational domain amateur golfers shows more significant adjustments than caddie turned amateur golfers. But overall adjustment was better showcased by caddie turned amateur golfers which was comparatively significant. The Correlation coefficient(r = 0.029) proved weak positive correlation was weak negative for Caddie turned golf players(r = -0.015).

Dhillon GK (1986). A comparative study of the personality characteristics, Adjustments and Motivational level of Non-participants and participant. Children of secondary schools in Physical Activities. Third survey of Research in Education, New Delhi: National Council of Educational Research Training, pp. 36. Kamlesh, M.L. (1988). Psychology in Physical Education and Sports 2nd Revised Edition (New Delhi Metropolitan Publication. Khan, H. A. and Mohanti, J. (1992). "A Study of the Effect of Special Sports Training on Some Psychological Attributes of Athletes" NIS Scientific Journal 15:1 (January 1992):2. Stephanmy FN. Freeman, Marvin C. (2000). Academic and Social Attainments of Children with mental Retardation in General Education and Special Education setting. Remedial and Special Education; 21(1): pp. 3-26. Raju MVR, Rahamatulla TK (2007). Adjustment Problems among school students. Journal of the Indian Academy of Applied Psychology; 33(1): pp. 73-79. Cockerill (Ed.) (2002). Solutions in sport psychology London: Thomson, pp. 32-43.

Jones, G., Hanton, S., & Connaughton, D. (2002). What is this thing called mental toughness? An investigation of elite sport performers. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 14(3), pp. 205-218. http://doi.org/10.1080/1041300290103509 Howells, K., and Fletcher, D. (2015). Sink or swim: adversity-and growth-related experiences in Olympic swimming champions. Psychol. Sport Exercise. 16, pp. 37–48.

Research Scholar, Department of Physical Education, Panjab University, Chandigarh