COMPARASION OF SPORTS COMPETITION ANXIETY AMONG TEAM GAME AND INDIVIDUAL GAME PLAYERS

Name of authors:* Vaibhav Rai

Abstract

Background: The objective of the study was to compare sports competition anxiety among team game and individual game players. Method: Total 60 team game and individual game players (30 from each) were selected from nsnis patiala .The static group comparison design was used for this study. Sports competition anxiety of these players was selected as a dependent variable and the nature of the game was considered as independent variables. Sports competition anxiety was assessed by Sports competition anxiety Inventory developed by martines.. To find out the significant difference among sports competition anxiety among team game and individual game players, descriptive statistics and independent‘t’ test was used and the level of significance was set at 0.05.Results: The findings of the study revealed that insignificant difference (t (58) = 1.037, p = .304, two- tailed) was found between team game (cricket,basketball) and individual game (fencing,boxing) players.Conclusions: Based on the findings and within the limitation of the study it is noticed that the competition anxiety of team game players is as similar as individual game players.Key Words: Sports competition anxiety.

Assistant professor, s.g.g.s Khalsa college mahipur, (Hsp), punjab

Introduction

Sports performance determined by a combination of physiological factors, technical skill, tactical insight and state of mind. All four factors are critical to peak performance. One could argue however that the last of these is the executive function, as it is the mind which determines whether or not what you have trained in over the past few years, is brought out on the day at that moment when it matters most (Buchar, 1975).

The psychology of sports, tending “the study of behaviour” has been proved more useful and relevant today for success in sports. It has been observed that the participants of diverse sub-groups carry certain differences in many respects. Studies made so far in this aspect indicate that such differences have psychological correlations.

Anxiety may be positive motivating force or it may interfere with successful athletic performances. As a positive motivating force it can be instrumental in motivating the athlete to work harder to find new and better ways to improve performances and to help set goals. The athlete who uses his anxiety in this way will seek out ways to improve himself. This not only reduces his anxiety but helps him increase his athletic skills and self confidence. As a negative

motivator anxiety may interfere with productive as well as constructive thinking. Athletes may attempt to handle anxiety by denying the need to work hard. This can lead to the development of poor work habit or athletic techniques. These often lead to failure and, in turn, lack of confidence and increased anxiety.

Sports bring out the best qualities in every individual. Every faculty of the human body, whether physical or mental, is stretched to its limits while playing a competitive game. In today's world, the standard of all games has increased considerably. Elite sportspersons are finding it increasingly difficult to sustain their dominance in their respective sports. The mental state of a sportsperson plays a vital role in his or her performance. Anxiety sets in when an individual begins to doubt his or her capacity to deal with the situation which builds stress. Quite often it is not the talent that decides your performance. It simply depends on the way you deal with the ups and downs of the game. According to 'Athletic Insight', a journal of sports psychology, anxiety can be classified in two ways; trait anxiety and state anxiety. State anxiety is situational stress induced by situations in the game. A sportsperson's autonomic nervous system is aroused in this state which is the natural reaction of any individual. On the other hand, trait anxiety can be thought of as a world view that an individual uses when coping with stress. In sports, individuals who are state anxious and low on the trait anxiety in tough situations, often deliver good performances consistently. Whereas, athletes who have higher levels of trait anxiety, added with the state anxiety, tend to perform below expectations. There is always a pre-defined 'region of anxiety' in a sportsperson, before the start of any game, bout or a race. When this anxiety is at the optimum level, it can lead to a significantly better performance. If the level exceeds or falls below this 'region of anxiety', it can adversely affect the performance. Research has also proved that performances influenced by anxiety have more impact in a team game than in a solo sport. A swimmer has higher levels of performance anxiety than a baseball player. The dominant and top players of a game convert their performance anxiety into excitement, which stimulates the positive hormones, resulting in winning performances. They take the anxiety arousal as a facilitator to come up with a better performance. A sportsperson whose mind interprets anxiety as a debacle often ends up loosing (Prashant, 2009).

Anxiety may be positive motivating force or it may interfere with successful athletic performances. As a positive motivating force it can be instrumental in motivating the athlete to work harder to find new and better ways to improve performances and to help set goals. The athlete who uses his anxiety in this way will seek out ways to improve himself. This not only reduces his anxiety but helps him increase his athletic skills and self confidence. As a negative motivator anxiety may interfere with productive as well as constructive thinking. Athletes may attempt to handle anxiety by denying the need to work hard. This can lead to the development of poor work habit or athletic techniques. These often lead to failure and in turn, lack of confidence and increased anxiety (Prashant, 2009).

Objective of the study

The objective of the study was to compare sports competition anxiety among team game and individual game players.

Methodology

Subjects

Total 60 team game and individual game players (30 from each) were selected from nsnis patiala . Their age ranged from 20-30 years of age.

Variable

Sports competition anxiety of these players was selected as a dependent variable and the nature of the game was considered as independent variables.

Questionnaire UsedSports competition anxiety was assessed by Sports competition anxiety Inventory

developed by martines

Design of the study

The static group comparison design was used for the study. Two groups were made as team game(cricket,basketball) group and individual game (fencing,boxing) group..

Collection of Data

The data were collected at Netaji Subas Chandra Bosh National Institute of Sports, Patiyala, Panjab, in session 2010-11. Necessary instructions were given to the subjects before administration of the Sports competition anxiety Inventory.

Statistical Analysis

To find out the significant difference among sports competition anxiety among team game and individual game players, descriptive statistics and independent‘t’ test was used and the level of significance was set at 0.05.

Findings

Table – 1 Comparison of Means of Sports Competition Anxiety Among Team Game and Individual

Game PlayersGroups Mean SD Mean

DifferenceSE df t Sig.

(2-tailed)Team Game 18.53 3.391

0.93 0.90 58 1.037 .304Individual Game 17.60 3.578

*Insignificant at .05 level t value required to be significant at 58 df = 2.00

Table 1 revealed that the obtained ‘t’ value of 1.037 was found to be insignificant at 0.05 level, since this value was found lower than the tabulated value 2.00 at 58 df.

Discussion

Anxiety is one of the psychological factors. Anxiety differs around in that it encompasses both some degree of activation and unpleasant emotional state. Thus the term anxiety is used to describe combination of intensity of behavior and direction of an impact of emotion. In modern competitive sports, the anxiety in sportsman has affected their performance. As the physical load during the training of sportsman for international competition is intensified the sportsmen are more anxiety prone while participating in competitive sports. The data on the anxiety were derived by the administration of Marten’s Sports Competition Anxiety Questionnaire and comparisons were made on the basis of the mean, standard deviations and t value. It is evident from the table 1 that the mean score and t value of competition anxiety of team game players and individual game players were 18.53(±3.39), 17.60(±3.58) and 1.037 (p >.05) respectively. Hence, from the obtained mean and t value it is very clear that the team game players and individual game players may not be considered to posses a very high and bright profile in competition anxiety.

According to the individual zones of optimal functioning model, an athlete’s performance is successful when his or her pre-competition anxiety is within or near the individually optimal zone with anxiety falls outside the optimal zone, performance deteriorates. The model also suggests that skilled athletes are aware of, and are able to accurately recall and anticipate, their pre- competition anxiety (Jokela and Hanin, 1999).

This could be due to the fact that the team game players and individual game players usually posses similar kind of mental level.

Finally, the result shows that the team game players and individual game players pose similar competition anxiety.

References

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Buchar, C.A. (1975). Foundation of physical education. St. Louis: The C. V. Mosby Company.

Prashant, M. (2009). Performance anxiety in sports. Retrieved on June 22, 2009, from

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/performance-anxiety-in-sports.html

Jokela M. and Hanin Y.L., (1999). Does the Individual Zones of Optimal Functioning Model

Discriminate Between Successful and Less Successful Athletes? A Meta Analysis",

Journal of Sports Sciences: 17