THE EFFECTS OF A SOMATIC INTERVENTION STRATEGY ON COMPETITIVE STATE ANXIETY AND PERFORMANCE IN SEMIPROFESSIONAL SOCCER PLAYERS

The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a somatic intervention technique. Subjects (N = 17) completed a modified version of the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory 2 (CSAI-2), which assessed both intensity and direction (debilitative-facilitative) of state anxiety within one hour of a soccer league match. During the match, player performances were evaluated using intraindividual criteria. Subjects were then allocated to control (n = 8) and experimental (n = 9) groups on the basis of their somatic anxiety intensity and direction scores. Following an 8-week intervention, subjects were again assessed during a second soccer match. A series of two-way analyses of variance with one repeated measure revealed significant interactions for cognitive anxiety intensity, somatic anxiety intensity, and somatic anxiety direction. This study provided further support for the ''matching hypotheses'' in that a compatible treatment proved most effective in reducing the targeted anxiety.