2022, 40(1) Revista de Psicologia, Ciències de l’Eduació i de l’Esport ISSN: 1138-3194 Facultat de Psicologia, Ciències de l’Educació i de l’Esport Blanquerna Universitat Ramon Llull Psychological skills in esports: Qualitative study of individual and team players Ivan Bonilla1, Andrés Chamarro1 & Carles Ventura2 1 Autonomous University of Barcelona 2 National Institute of Physical Education of Catalonia - University of Barcelona Received: 2021-5-17 Accepted: 2022-1-11 doi: 10.51698/aloma.2022.40.1.36-41 Psychological skills in esports: Qualitative study of individual and team players Abstract. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore in more detail the key psychological skills that affect players’ performance in esports. A total of ten players from a range of different individual and team esports were interviewed. The data analysis was carried out through a CodeBook thematic analysis. The results obtained suggest that the following three main dimensions underpin the optimal performance of the players: (a) technical-tactical skills, (b) psychological skills and (c) healthy habits. Within the category of psychological skills, 8 components were found: (a) Attentional control, (b) Emotional control, (c) Activation control, (d) Communication, (e) Team cohesion, (f) Thought control, (g) Goal control and (h) Behavioral control. In addition, an emerging theme was found to be the careers they have developed within esports, with all participants following a similar pattern. The results suggest the importance of sport psychology as a performance-related activity, the similarity of the psycho- logical skills found with those that are prevalent in traditional sport, the importance of working on sustained at- tention and coping with tilt, and the importance of the careers of esports players. Keywords: esports; psychological skills; performance; sport psychology Habilidades psicológicas en los esports: estudio cualitativo de jugadores individuales y de equipo Resumen. El presente estudio cualitativo tenía como objetivo principal explorar las habilidades psicológicas clave que afectan al rendimiento de los jugadores en los esports. Un total de diez jugadores de diferentes esports, tanto individuales como en equipo, fueron entrevistados. El análisis de los datos se realizó a través de un análisis temático “CodeBook”. Los resultados obtenidos apuntan a que hay tres dimensiones principales que vertebran el rendimiento óptimo de los jugadores que son: (a) Habilidades técnico-tácticas, (b) Habilidades psicológicas y (c) Hábitos saludables. Dentro de las habilidades psicológicas se encontraron 8 componentes: (a) Control atencional, (b) Control emocional, (c) Control de activación, (d) Comunicación, (e) Cohesión de equipo, (f) Control de pen- samientos, (g) Control de objetivos y (h) Control Conductual. Además, se encontró cómo tema emergente las car- reras que se han desarrollado dentro de los esports, donde todos los participantes siguen un patrón similar. Los resultados sugieren la importancia de la psicología del deporte para los esports, al tratarse de una actividad rela- cionada con el rendimiento, la similitud de las habilidades psicológicas encontradas con las del deporte tradi- cional, la importancia de trabajar la atención sostenida y afrontar el tilt y la importancia de las carreras de los jugadores de esports. Palabras clave: esports; habilidades psicológicas; rendimiento; psicología del deporte Correspondence Ivan Bonilla ORCID 0000-0002-0817-8132 Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona. Departamento de Psicología Básica, Evolutiva de la Educación. Edificio B. Campus de Bellaterra. 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallés. Barcelona e-mail: ivan.bonilla@uab.cat 36 2022, 40(1) Ivan Bonilla, et al Introduction or specific combinations of keys), (b) emotional con- trol, (c) tilt control (i.e., dealing with situations of Although esports might seem to be a new phenome- frustration, anger and impotence that distract players non, their origin goes back to the beginnigs of the and decrease their overall performance), (d) team com- recreational use of video games (Stanton, 2015), which munication, and (e) lifestyle management. However, took hold between 1962 and 1972 (Bányai et al., 2018). neither of the two studies goes further, in the sense of The first esports event was held in 1972, with players proposing a model that relates the different skills with competing in the video game Spacewar at Stanford performance. Such a model could then be compared University (Li, 2016). Since then, esports have become with models proposed in traditional sports, thus allow- increasingly established in the world entertainment, ing for the creation of specific training programs for having attained popularity with the general public esports. (Fuster et al., 2014) and developed a competitive eco- Due to this lack of structure and the absence of a system (García-Lanzo et al., 2020). Sponsors and online model that allows researchers and psychology profes- streaming platforms have invested considerable re- sionals to know how performance is achieved and sources to position themselves within the esports maintained in esports, it is difficult to support or ecosystem in order to reach a young audience that develop programs that allow players to optimize their continues to grow in size, with an increase forecast performance. For this reason, there is a need to delve from the current global audience of 728.8 million to in greater detail into the psychological skills that are 920.3 million viewers in 2024 (Newzoo, 2021). This is relevant to players in different esports to find a first evidence of esports’ great social impact (Riatti & Thiel, model that is able to connect these psychological skills 2021), which has sparked a great deal of interest in the with optimal performance. The development of a field of psychology. In terms of psychological research, theoretical model would allow the results to be con- there has been a boom in scientific literature on the trasted and make it possible to draw connections topic (Pedraza-Ramirez et al., 2020), while in the profes- between existing concepts in psychology and esports, sional field, recent years have witnessed the establish- while differentiating these established concepts from ment and definition of the role of sports psychologist the newly emerging concepts in psychology that are within esports teams (García-Naveira & Cantón, 2020). specific to esports (Creswell & Miller, 2000; Pedraza- Within the existing literature related to sport psychol- Ramirez et al., 2020). This study is intended to address ogy and esports, there have been multiple focuses of this need. Its aim is to detect the psychological skills interest, such as motivation (Bányai et al., 2018), pas- used by players in three of the main esports: (a) League sion (García-Lanzo & Chamarro, 2018), performance of Legends (LoL), (b) Hearthstone (HS) and (c) FIFA, (Pluss et al., 2019), multidisciplinary work (Reitman et representative of the three most relevant esports al., 2020), and the state of current research and its genres both socially and competitively, the categories future challenges (Pedraza-Ramirez et al., 2020; Vera et of games that attract the majority of professional es- al., 2019). However, there is little research and knowl- ports players (Newzoo, 2021). This process will make edge on the psychological aspects involved in the it possible to create a first model that explains the performance of players and teams (García-Lanzo et al., relationship between optimal performance, psycho- 2020; Pedraza-Ramirez et al., 2020). In this line of re- logical skills and other variables of esports players search, the most relevant topics are: (a) the relationship (e.g., skills related to technique or healthy lifestyle), between training and performance in competitions thus allowing for the creation of specific and tailored (Nagorsky & Wiemeyer, 2020; Pluss et al., 2021), (b) psychological training programs and exercises. In the role of emotions in the performance (Behnke et al., order to relate psychological skills to performance, we 2020; Pérez-Rubio et al., 2017), and (c) the psycho- will use the model proposed by Palmi and Riera (2017) logical skills needed to perform (Fanfarelli, 2018; Him- as a basis. This model describes the optimal state of melstein et al., 2017). performance (OSP) of athletes using seven competen- As in traditional sports, in esports it is necessary to cies that allow athletes to self-regulate in competition identify the key psychological skills at work in order situations: (a) Activation control, (b) Attentional to create specific training programs that optimize and control, (c) Thought control, (d) Communication, (e) enhance player performance (Trotter et al., 2021). Him- Goal control, (f) Behaviour control and, (g) Emo- melstein et al (2017) divide the psychological skills tional control. displayed by League of Legends players into two main blocks: psychological skills for optimal performance Method and obstacles. Fanfarelli (2018), in a study of Overwatch players, divided skills into two categories: mechanical Given that this study uses a qualitative methodology, skills and game sense skills. If we go beyond the indi- it is important that we position ourselves within the vidual games to identify more general factors, the field of knowledge. The perspective of the researchers relevant skills related to performance would seem to is based on a post-positivist vision, where an analysis be: (a) Mechanics, referring to the technique that play- is intended to offer explanations and predictions, in ers need in order to be able to correctly execute the this case about the performance of esports players, all challenges posed by the esport (e.g., mouse movement while striving to ensure that there is a minimum of Psychological skills in esports: Qualitative study of individual and team players 2022, 40(1) 37 human error and interpretive biases (Levitt et al., 2017). used to deal with said difficulties; (f) skills he believed Due to the limitations in the rigor of traditional different esports had in common; and (g) skills that qualitative methodologies (Smith & McGannon, 2018), were unique to a specific esport. it was decided to carry out a thematic “CodeBook” analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2021). Thus, we base the Procedure analysis on previous literature (Palmi & Riera, 2017) to minimize the possible biases of researchers when iden- A list of esports clubs where there were direct contacts tifying psychological skills. Finally, a flexible vision with players, staff (coaches or sports psychologists) was adopted that would allow topics to be added or or sports directors was drawn up. Once the list was adapted to reality as it was reflected in the interviews, made, an email was sent explaining the objectives of thus generating an inductive-deductive analysis meth- the study, the procedure and the benefits that said odology. research would provide. Once the participants from these clubs had been recruited, the process was ex- plained to each of them individually, and an informed Participants consent document was sent to all the participants A total of 10 esports players, all men, were contacted and managers of the club in order to comply with because of their esports experience and career. Half of the ethical standards (voluntariness, confidentiality, the players compete in team esports, and the rest com- benefits, etc.) established by the APA. A date was ar- pete in individual esports. All are currently active and ranged to conduct the interview by the means they represent clubs in Spain. The participants had a mean preferred (face-to-face or online). The interviews were age of 20.3 years (SD=2.58), Spanish nationality and conducted by an expert researcher in esports with resided in: Albacete (2), Barcelona (4), Granada (1), years of experience in the applied field and in the use Galicia (1) and Madrid (2). They have been playing of semi-structured interviews. They were first audio their respective esports for an average of 5.8 years recorded, lasting between forty and fifty minutes, and (SD=1.75) and 2.9 years (SD=1.91), competing online then transcribed verbatim. Once the study was fin- and in person in national and international tourna- ished, a session was held for the participants to ex- ments (Table 1). plain the results and their implications for players and other agents involved in sports performance (Figure 1). Instruments A specific semi-structured interview was designed for this study. It is aimed at exploring the experiences and strategies used by the player to achieve good perfor- List of clubs and players mance in training and competitions. There were also questions about the causes or variables that led esports participants to fail to achieve the desired results in Submission of the research proposal competitions or during training. The interview was divided into three parts. The questions in the first part gathered information on: (a) the esport each participant No interest in the proposal Interest in the proposal played; (b) how he started to play it; and (c) how he has evolved to reach his current level, with special emphasis on experiences as a player and style of play. Sending of thanks for Explanation to the head of A second part delved into: (d) the skills needed to having shown interest in the team and the players the proposal. Giving them of the objectives of the study perform in training and competitions; (e) the main the possibility to contact difficulties encountered that have prevented the par- us again to participate ticipants from performing adequately and the strategies in the study Arrangement with the participants the date and means to carry out the interview Table 1. Sociodemographic data of the participants Participant Age Esport Type Years Years playing competing Conducting of the interview Player 1 17 League of Legends Team 4 1 (40'-60') Player 2 22 League of Legends Team 9 7 Player 3 22 League of Legends Team 7 4 Player 4 23 League of Legends Team 8 4 Transcribing of the interview Player 5 18 League of Legends Team 6 1 Player 6 24 Hearthstone Individual 4 3 Player 7 21 Hearthstone Individual 5 4 Player 8 21 Hearthstone Individual 4 2 Analysis and communication of results Player 9 17 FIFA Individual 5 1 Player 10 18 FIFA Individual 6 2 Figure 1. Study procedure. 38 2022, 40(1) Ivan Bonilla, et al Data analysis Technique Technical-tactical skills Tactic Data analysis was carried out through a “CodeBook” Knowledge thematic analysis, using an inductive-deductive meth- odology. We used the EOR model to generate some Activation Control Attentional Control initial themes and codes, but we maintained enough Behavioural Control flexibility to make it possible to modify these categories Optimal Goal Control based on the data obtained during the analysis (Braun performance Psychological Skills Emotional Control & Clarke, 2021). Once the different codes were estab- Thought Control lished for each of the skills detected, the codes were Communication grouped into a series of broader skills and discussed Team Cohesion between the different researchers, one an expert on esports and two with expertise in sport and perfor- Rest Healthy Habits Nutrition mance psychology. The researchers attempted to come Figure 2. Components of Optimal Performance to a consensus to ensure that the categories generated were logical from the start. Once the skills had been categorized, the data were reanalysed to confirm that ing where to ward or get vision in the enemy map” or each of the codes corresponded to its assigned catego- “Play the cards based on what you want your opponent ry and not to another category or to a new category. to think you have, sometimes even tricking them into Once the main components were detected, the parts thinking you have something strong”) and knowledge into which each component could be successively (e.g., “You have to know the metagame”, “Being good subdivided were analysed in detail until no more rel- at it is not enough, because you also have to know why evant subdivisions could be obtained. Finally, each things are done” or “Now, for example, I’m focusing obtained skill was defined according to the existing on getting to know the players better, their stats”). The literature and the results. To ensure the descriptive second dimension refers to psychological skills, defined validity of the results, the interviews were audio-re- as the resources that allow players to have a good men- corded with different devices simultaneously and the tal ability to face competition and training situations. transcripts and corrections were reviewed at three dif- This component is divided into a total of eight skills, ferent times. For theoretical validity, higher order which will be analysed in detail in the following sec- psychological skills were reviewed and defined consid- tion, because of their relevance and the fact that they ering the existing scientific literature in the field of are the object of study. The last dimension refers to sport psychology. The goal here is to guarantee the healthy habits and the actions players take to care for quality and rigor of the results obtained (Creswell & themselves and maintain their health, especially in Miller, 2000). For data analysis, the software ATLAS.ti competitive situations (e.g., “That I do not feel bad, 8 was used. that I do not have pain, no stomach pain, no headache, nothing abnormal, the way I am now.”). This dimen- Results sion is divided into nutrition (e.g., “The body has to be well fed”) and rest (e.g., “The body has to be rested”). Components of optimal performance From the analysis, we can see that the skills associated Psychological skills with optimal performance for esports players have been divided into three dimensions (Figure 2). First, there A count was made to find out the frequency of each of are technical-tactical skills, defined here as the skills the skills, and an average of the frequencies was calcu- and knowledge of a particular esport that are mostly lated to identify the skills that the participants found specific to that sport, meaning they are not shared with most relevant (Table 2). In order of importance, the other esports. This component can be divided into psychological skills are: a) Attentional control, under- technique (e.g., “The mechanics, how well you move” stood as players’ ability to concentrate and direct their or “Time finishing, is very important, know when to attentional resources to the specific action they are press the right button”), tactics (e.g., “Rotations, know- performing in the esport. It is especially important to Table 2. Importance and components of psychological skills Psychological skill Mean Participant description Esport type Attentional control 10.7 Concentration, “Play with intelligence”, Actions of your teammates, “Here and now”, etc. Individual/Team Emotional control 9.2 Tilt, Frustration, “Not wanting anything”, etc. Individual/Team Activation control 7.9 Pressure, nerves, “trembling hands”, etc. Individual/Team Communication 7.1 Quality, “No noise”, Efficient, etc. Team Team cohesion 6.8 Fellowship, Support, Commitment, Coordination, etc. Team Thought control 5.4 Actions of the rival, own actions, “Do not overthink”, etc. Individual/Team Goal control 2.7 Planning, “Know what we came for”, etc. Individual/Team Behavior control 1.2 “Know how to behave”, “Hold composure”, Temper, etc. Individual/Team Psychological skills in esports: Qualitative study of individual and team players 2022, 40(1) 39 Table 3. Psychological skills and quotes from participants Psychological skill Quotes from team esport players Quotes from individual esport players Attentional control “A trade that you do instinctively, not because... not because “I know everything that is happening around me” I thought he had one skill or another, you just jump in” Emotional control “There are degrees of tilt, I control myself with my team... but “I really get sad about losing a game, I get sad... but I remember once I started yelling at my ADC for a prio. Control at the moment it happens... It’s anger, but very, very, was lost and we lost the game...” very big.” Activation control “The difference between being at home and in person is nerves.” “On the other hand, maybe in a competition, if I have [my opponent] in front of me, the nerves appear. I realize that I am playing against him, and he is a meter away from me. He’s there and the tension is there.” Communication “Communication is the most important thing if you play as a team” – or “Communication has to be fluid so that each one contributes their own” Team cohesion “I would say that having confidence in the teammates you have is – very good. At least when I was in... I had confidence in the four players, and it showed.” Thought control “Well, just like in those games you drop 200 points, and you can’t “When things go wrong, or at least in my situation, stop thinking... Shit, shit, shit” there are many bad things and it’s like everything good is covered up and everything bad flows into my head and vice versa” Goal control “There are people who can help you motivate yourself, as is my case... “When I do something, I set a goal. I try to reach that This month I have to be at this level, try to win the tournament... goal. I don’t usually try to overdo it or stay below “realistic”, because in the end, being a professional or not is going what I can do, but to feel satisfied and perfect.” to be decided a bit by the contacts I have as well as luck and if you are in the right place at the right time, so my goals are short-term goals.” Behavior control “Don’t show your anger when you’re in an official competition... “Keep your composure despite adversity” you have to give an image as the club and as a player, not to be toxic” Note: Trade = Trade damage with the opponent without the intention of eliminating him/her, which aims to inflict more damage on the opponent than he/she inflicts on you. ADC= Position of Attack Damage Carry, the one in charge of doing massive damage to rivals. Prio = Ability of the player to put pressure on the opponent and transfer him or her to other positions. sustain this ability during substantial stretches of time, control, defined as the player’s ability in competitive because during competition players must consistently situations not to show any type of reaction that could maintain this focus for approximately forty-five min- give information to the opponent about their current utes at a time. (b) Emotional control, which is defined game situation or that could harm their performance as the ability to manage adverse situations in esports, during the course of the competition. We can see some especially control of tilt, in order to ensure that these examples of each psychological skill mentioned above situations do not affect performance while training or in Table 3. competing. Here, tilt is defined as a set of negative It is important to mention that communication and emotions (frustration, anger, fear, despair, etc.) that team cohesion skills are exclusive to team esports and have an intense impact on all other areas of perfor- were never mentioned by individual players. It should mance. (c) Activation control is the ability to face situ- also be noted that all psychological skills, although ations of great psychological stress (e.g., tournaments they share the same root, must be always adapted to and competitions) such that they do not affect perfor- the specific esport, since each player describes and mance, especially mechanical performance. (d) Com- identifies the key situations and moments according munication is the ability to establish effective com- to their experiences. For example, when it comes to munication channels and patterns in order to keep the attention, you must train according to the duration of team informed of both individual and group situations. the competition. A League of Legends game lasts around This, in turn, makes possible effective and economical forty-five minutes, while Hearthstone takes around decision making by the In-Game leaders or Shotcallers fifteen minutes. Therefore, psychological training must (i.e., captains within the game). (e) Team cohesion, be adapted to the characteristics of each sport to opti- understood as a player’s ability to handle internal team mize its effectiveness. situations and establish cooperative ties between the different teammates. (f) Thought control, which is the Esports careers player’s ability to deal with negative internal comments about his or her level of play or those of teammates. An emerging theme detected in the analysis was the These thoughts can affect players’ self-esteem when it paths that the participants have followed to reach their comes to their views of their technical skills and tactics, current level. Most of the players began to participate and they can sometimes undermine their emotional in their respective esports due to contact with someone stability. Normally, the thoughts arise from players’ close to them (e.g., family or friends) during adoles- own actions or from mistakes by teammates that upset cence. At first it was difficult for them to understand the player. (g) Goal control, which consists of knowing the complexity of the esport (e.g., “I didn’t know any- how to detect and plan the steps to follow to achieve thing”), but little by little they acquired the necessary personal goals (e.g., reach a high Elo, manage to knowledge, until they realized that they had a certain dominate a matchup, change from an offensive style to talent and were good at it, especially mechanically (e.g., a defensive one) and organizational goals (e.g., ranking “I entered... competitive because I was good at this”). top 8 nationally or internationally, achieving a mini- At that moment, they began to compete and gained mum impact on the networks), and (h) Behavioural experience, until they noticed that they were no 40 2022, 40(1) Ivan Bonilla, et al Initial contact Resuming Others great similarities to traditional sport (García-Lanzo et and rejection contact detect talent al., 2020; Pedraza- Ramirez et al., 2020). It should also be taken into account that, at a technical-tactical and Stable presence on Initiation on the competitive psychological level, the three esports studied belong the competitive scene scene (They play for fun) to very different game genres and therefore, although they share some similarities (e.g., both in League of Semi-professional or professional dedication Legends and in FIFA, training of attention is considered (They play for personal goals) important), strategies and training must be adapted to Figure 3. Career development of an esports player the needs of each esport (e.g., The League of Legends are games of forty minutes of constant action with multi- ple stimuli, while Hearthstone are quick games of fifteen longer playing for fun but because they wanted to or minutes, with few stimuli). dedicate themselves professionally to the activity (e.g., Finally, we have seen that the careers of the par- “There comes a time when you no longer pick a cham- ticipants in esports are very similar to each other and pion because you like it, but because it is useful to the tend to follow patterns along the lines of the phases team”). In Figure 3, we can see a summary of the career proposed by Kim and Thomas (2015), and of career paths followed by the participants. models in traditional sport (Hallmann et al., 2019). These findings are relevant, since they open up a pos- sible area of intervention to sports psychologists who Discussion study the sports careers of players and advise them The aim of this study was to detect the psychological (García-Naveira & Cantón, 2020; Pedraza-Ramirez et skills relied upon by players and to examine the rela- al., 2020). tionship between these skills and performance. We have identified three essential blocks. A first block is Limitations and proposals for the future made up of technical-tactical skills, an area where the different coaches (e.g., Head Coach, Strategic Coach, and The study has some limitations. First, there was a nar- Analyst) have a fundamental role in training players to row variety of genres, which limits the generalizability improve technique, assisting in their acquisition of of the results to emerging genres, such as Battle Royale, tactics and expanding their specific knowledge of the especially in relation to psychological skills with less esport in competitive situations. In all these learning relevance. Secondly, the study is still qualitative, point- processes, sport psychologists can take on an advisory ing to a need for quantitative research as proposed by role. The second large block is psychological skills. It Pedraza-Ramirez et al. (2020). Third, the sample is made should be highlighted that it is very similar to the up only of men, reducing the representativeness of the structure of psychological skills proposed by Palmi and sample. Riera (2017). It is worth noting that certain skills such Finally, as future lines of research, it would be in- as visualization were not mentioned by any of the teresting to delve into technical-tactical skills in participants. Therefore, it would be interesting conduct greater detail, to discover in detail the technical, tacti- a more detailed investigation of the applicability or cal skills and knowledge required for each esport so as lack of these skills within esports. In addition, it to be able to work with coaches to design specific emerged that the participants placed importance on training plans for each component. It is also necessary the communication skills. This responsibility is usu- to investigate the internal communication of the ally attributed to coaches, but in an environment where teams, both to examine how it works and to identify non-verbal communication can hardly be used, every- the keys to achieving good in-game communication. thing is mediated through language. This area has Finally, it is necessary to design and evaluate specific potential for sports psychologists, who could work to psychological training programs for esports that ad- shape communication strategies and improve group dress the needs of each esport. dynamics by training both players and coaches, thus helping them to achieve effective and economical Author Disclosure Statement: There are no con- communication (Vives-Ribó & Rabassa, 2020). The flicts of interest. other psychological skills are similar to those described in previous studies (Fanfarelli, 2018; Himmelstein et References al., 2017), and the importance of attention control and emotional control should be highlighted, since both Bányai, F., Griffiths, M. D., Király, O., & Demetrovics, have received significant attention and were prominent Z. (2018). The Psychology of Esports: A Systematic in the results. Specifically, importance was attached to Literature Review. 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