Abstract
Introduction: Sport-induced anxiety and choking (a sudden decline in performance) under
pressure can lead to an athlete failing to perform in critical moments. Competitive sport is
an evaluative activity, where an athlete or team aims to outperform another athlete or
team, that can greatly affect motivational process and outcomes such as increasing sport-induced
anxiety. Moreover, previous research has shown that added competitive pressure in
a game environment induces higher levels of anxiety compared to a training environment.
Pressure can influence muscle activity, coordination, and performance in activities such as
piano playing and tasks requiring quick reactions. Few studies, however, have investigated
the effect of pressure on muscle activity and performance in sporting tasks that are
inherently high pressured. The basketball free throw during a game is one example of a
sporting task performed under high pressure due to the value of points that contribute to a
team’s score and its uncontested nature. The purpose of this study was to therefore
examine how pressure affects muscle activity and performance of a basketball free throw,
and whether it elevated sport-induced anxiety in an senior regional league population.
Methods: Twenty male basketball players currently playing in the A Grade Otago Club league
were recruited and completed ten basketball free throws in two different conditions (20 free
throws in total): no pressure and pressure. Pressure was induced through a combination of
verbal instructions, performance comparisons, simulated competition, money balls and
reward. Anxiety prior to (Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2) and during the conditions
(using the Mental Readiness Form-3), performance via a performance score, relative muscle
activation timing between the flexor digitorum superficialis and the triceps brachii, and
relative timing between maximum forearm angular velocity and release was measured.
Results: There were no significant differences between the anxiety measures completed
after participants received instructions, as measured by the CSAI-2. However, significant
differences were observed between the anxiety measures during the task, as measured by
the MRF-3, between the no pressure and pressure conditions. In the pressure condition,
there was an increased time lag between muscle activation of the flexor digitorum
superficialis and the triceps brachii compared to the non-pressure condition, although this
difference was not statistically significant. Similarly, the relative timing between maximum
forearm angular velocity and release was increased in the pressure condition compared to
the no pressure condition, but this difference was also not statistically significant.
Additionally, performance was lower in the pressure condition compared to the no pressure
condition, but once again, this difference was not statistically significant. Despite the lack of
statistical significance, there were some highlighted individual interactions between
performance, anxiety, and muscle activity.
Conclusion: These findings provide evidence for a small but non-significant effect of pressure
on anxiety, muscle activity, and performance after participants received the pressuring
instructions (measured using the CSAI-2). Moderate to large effects for anxiety were
observed during the task (after shot five), therefore the manipulation of pressure and the
resulting anxiety likely necessitated the inclusion of the pressuring instructions along with
the task itself.