Precompetitive anxiety and psychological skills in sports performance

Introduction: The link between stress, anxiety and sports performance is a relevant topic of interest in the area of sports psychology, although there is little evidence about how different variables can affect anxiety levels and thus alter sports performance. Objective: Compare the relationships between psychological characteristics related to sports performance and pre-competitive anxiety in a sample of federated and non-federated athletes differing in sex, age and sport practiced. Method: 202 sportsmen and women aged between 18 and 30 years (X = 22.35; SD = 3.69) who play football, basketball, athletics and/or swimming participated. Results: it was found that there is a relationship between psychological skills related to sports performance and pre-competitive anxiety. Likewise, it was found that there are only statistically significant differences in somatic anxiety depending on whether the sport practised is individual or group, as well as differences in the levels of pre-competitive anxiety by gender, although there is no differential relationship in the levels of anxiety with respect to age. Conclusions: the aim of this study is to provide more empirical evidence to the field of sport psychology and to assess its benefits.