ABSTRACT
Most athletes have discovered that if they wish to perform consistently well in competition, they must learn to acknowledge and control their arousal levels effectively. Some sports challenge the performer to alternate regularly between psyching up and calming down within the same competition. This chapter explores the nature, causes and types of anxiety in sport performers as well as what anxiety means to athletes themselves. It briefly evaluates various ways of measuring anxiety in athletes. The chapter then reviews research findings on the relationship between anxiety and athletic performance. It also features a discussion of the nature and causes of "choking" under pressure in sport, and addresses the topic of anxiety control. The chapter highlights some unresolved issues and new directions in research on anxiety in athletes, and presents some practical suggestions for research projects in this field. Most psychologists regard anxiety as a multidimensional construct with at least three dimensions or components: cognitive, somatic and behavioural.
