| This study examined peak moments in sport karate tournament competition via interviews with black belt point fighters. The participants were 7 senior male black belts and 7 observers from St. Louis and Salt Lake City who were asked open-ended questions regarding peak moment experiences during tournament competition. Peak moments are an important area of sport psychology research.; The purpose of this study was to provide an in-depth understanding of peak moments as experienced by senior black belt karate point fighters during tournament competition. A second purpose was to describe the influence of the peak experience on the participants. The objective was to provide evidence for peak moments in sport karate tournament competition.; Eleven hundred thirty-seven "meaning units" (a word or sentence) from 14 in-depth, semistructured interviews provided the basis for the data analysis. The meaning units varied in length from a few words to sentences that comprised the raw data. The responses were clustered around underlying uniformities utilizing inductive content analysis. The participants' quotes were abstracted to 48 lower order themes. The lower order themes were clustered into 12 common higher order themes by which the experience was described for each athlete. These extensive higher order themes were the general characteristics of the overall experience. Data analysis revealed three distinct phases: (a) precompetition, (b) during competition, and (c) postcompetition in which the 12 common higher order themes were organized. Precompetition higher order themes included person-and-situation-unique experiences, application of mental skills training, confidence as positive expectancy, and sport skill mastery. During-competition themes included transition into peak moments, altered state experience, transition out of peak moments, mental skills applications, and confidence as feelings of power. Postcompetition themes included reflections on experience, mental skills growth, and confidence growth. In addition, serendipitous findings emerged from the data and were described for each participant. Results confirmed empirical evidence about peak moments in sport and revealed other factors involved in peak moments in sport karate tournament competition. Peak moments in sport karate are a dynamic, continuous process that requires confidence with transitions and growth into future peak moments. |
