ABSTRACT
The effects of anxiety in sport have been well documented in previous research (e.g. Power, 1982; Cox, 1986). It is clear that anxiety appears to pervade the highest levels of structured competition and there are numerous anecdotal examples of athletes ‘choking’ in important games. As a consequence, many performers and coaches recognise the need to utilise pre-competition relaxation strategies that minimise the detrimental effects of anxiety. In the sport of soccer there is an apparent paradox in that the performer typically requires high levels of arousal to cope with the substantial element of physical contact and yet there is the danger that this may be superceded by anxiety which may eventually impair perceptual awareness, speed and flexibility of decision-making and the precision of movement coordination (Landers, 1980).
