competitive anxiety and trigger timing in female sport pistol shooters (Ansiedad en competición y tiempo de disparo en tiradoras de pistola deportiva)

• Published in: Cultura, ciencia y deporte ciencia y deporte, 2022-01, Vol.17 (51), p.23-30
• Main Authors: Mon-López, Daniel, Olivares, Eva M, Zakynthinaki, María S, Díaz, Arturo
• Format: Article
• Language: eng ; spa
• Subjects: Anxiety; arma; Athletes; autoconfianza; Confidence; gun; Olympic shooting; Questionnaires; rendimiento; self; Stress; tiro olímpico; Variables
• ISSN: 1696-5043; 1989-7413
• DOI: 10.12800/ccd.v17i51.1685

Olympic shooting is a precision sport, influenced by both physical and psychological parameters. The main objective of the study was to analyze the effects of competitive anxiety in female sport pistol shooting during the qualification and the final rounds. Twenty-three women, including 5 elite shooters, who competed at a national Spanish Olympic shooting championship, participated in the study. All shooters completed a socio-demographic and a Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2) questionnaire 10 minutes before each competition round. Performance was measured at competition by use of electronic targets Sius Ascor D941. Demographic and anxiety variables were registered using a questionnaire and the CSAI-2, respectively. Wilcoxon signed-rank, U Mann–Whitney tests, linear regressions and Pearson correlations were used for the data analysis. Our results showed that pre-competition anxiety impairs performance and increases trigger time. In addition, there are a strong relation between the physical condition and the psychological variables of somatic anxiety and self-confidence for the finalist shooters. We conclude that anxiety modified trigger time and that shooters’ physical condition is inversely related to anxiety and positively related with performance and self-confidence. For this reasons, physical condition programs could be recommended for Olympic shooting.