Psychological training in esports: Performance enhancement in professional esports athletes

Esports athletes face intense psychological demands, including sustained attention, emotional regulation, and high-performance pressure. Despite the growing need for structured mental preparation in this field, integrated psychological training frameworks remain scarce. This study tested the effectiveness of a video-based psychological training grounded in the e-S.F.E.R.A. model, which targets five core mental skills: Synchrony, Strength, Energy, Rhythm, and Activation. A quasi-experimental design involved 97 professional esports players assigned to either an experimental group (n = 59) receiving the video-trainings or a control group (n = 38). Participants completed self-report measures at three time points assessing self-regulatory functioning, perceived performance, and wellbeing-related psychological dimensions. Results of the repeated-measures ANOVA showed significant time × group interaction effects in key self-regulatory functioning—especially Synchrony, Rhythm, and Energy—as well as in Perceived Potential Expression and Performance Satisfaction. Positive and Negative Affectivity and Engagement also improved significantly in the experimental group. These findings suggest that a structured psychological program, grounded in a coherent and esports-specific model, can enhance both performance-related outcomes and emotional functioning. The e-S.F.E.R.A. framework thus offers a promising tool for psychological preparation in competitive gaming, bridging sport psychology and esports performance optimization.