Changes of Heart Rate, Somatic Anxiety, and Performance of Japanese Archers during Practices and Matches

Abstract

This field study examined the changes of the psychological and physiological responses and performances of competitive archers during practices and actual matches. Five undergradurate Japanese archers participated in the free preparatory practices, the two- or three-round formal practices and the five-round matches. Subjects rated their somatic anxiety after each round of formal practice and match during which their heart rates were recorded continuously. Hitting performance data were obtained from practices' and matches' results. Results were analyzed using the intraindividual analysis which revealed that heart rates were remarkably elevated during matches and that the subjects showed higher somatic anxiety scores during matches than practices. Heart rate and somatic anxiety are moderately related to one another. There are curvilinear relationships between heart rate (somatic anxiety) and performance. The results and implications were discussed in the light of the multidimensional anxiety and the inverted-U relationship between anxiety and performance.