During the regular season, elite athletes have an intensive schedule that includes training and competitions. In France's top ice hockey league, players take part in approximately 80 games and around 200 training sessions. This unique context imposes various challenges, including cognitive and emotional demands. Prolonged exposure to these demands requires significant effort, which can eventually become unsustainable and result in negative effects, such as mental fatigue. Thus, implementing strategies to prevent and manage mental fatigue is crucial. Athletes commonly employ strategies, such as mental detachment and adequate sleep to combat fatigue, recognizing these as fundamental components of recovery. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between mental detachment and mental fatigue in elite ice hockey players. In addition, this study investigated the mediating effect of sleep quality on this relationship. During seven consecutive days, 38 ice hockey players completed daily questionnaires assessing their sleep quality, psychological detachment, and mental fatigue. A linear fixed effect regression model with mediation analysis revealed that mental detachment and sleep quality significantly and negatively predicted the level of mental fatigue. Moreover, results revealed that mental detachment positively predicted sleep quality. Finally, results also revealed a significant mediating effect of sleep quality on the relationship between mental detachment and mental fatigue. These findings shed light on the importance of training and recovery strategies for managing mental fatigue through sufficient sleep and mental detachment. Key Points - Mental detachment significantly improves sleep quality in elite-level hockey players. - Sleep quality partially mediates (33.4%) the beneficial effect of mental detachment on reducing mental fatigue. - Recovery strategies targeting both mental detachment and sleep are essential to mitigate mental fatigue in elite performance contexts.
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