Abstract
The effect of audience on golf players performance was examined in a field study. Players, 30 male college students, were divided into three groups according to their handicap levels: high- (handicap: under 10), medium- (11-20), and low- (above 21) skilled groups. They engaged in two approach-shot tasks, 50-meters and 70-meters long, umder both no-audience and audience conditions. The sphere, or the probability, of success of the 50-meters task was larger than the 70-meters'. Results indicated that (1) the presence of audience led to a decrement of performance across all conditions, although there was no clear difference between audience and no-audience conditions in high-skilled group, (2) the higher the skill level was, the higher the performance was, and (3) Players succeeded more in the 50-meters task. The approach-shot was regarded as a complex motor behavior. It was suggested that in the complex task a rise of the skill stabilized the quality of performance regardless of the presence of others.
