Stress and anxiety can adversely affect athletic performance across all levels of athletic ability and types of sports. The researchers wanted to determine if progressive relaxation techniques (PRT) would improve sports performance in a group of female recreational golfers. The study was conducted over a 3-month period during which the experimental group (n=9) regularly engaged in PRT. Both the experimental group and the control group (n=9) played their regular golf game; recording their scores, putts per round, and number of greens hit in regulation. Preintervention measures were recorded and compared with post intervention measures. Both groups recorded significant improvement on all three measures. The amount of improvement observed for the experimental group was more than that observed for the control group. The between-group differences were not, however, significant.<\/p>\n
Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n One of the most difficult obstacles to overcome among people who strive to improve their sports performance is that of anxiety.\u00a0 Anxiety becomes even more of an obstacle to attaining optimal performance in the concentration-intense sports such as golf.\u00a0 Beyond the competition-induced stress and anxiety, the competitors may find themselves dealing with two other general sources of stress: competition-related issues such as coach\/team interactions and stress factors that are completely external to competition, such as sleep deprivation.\u00a0 Anshel, Kim, Kim, Chang, and Eom (2001) further categorized stress into acute and chronic stress.\u00a0 Most relaxation techniques are designed to deal directly with acute stress, whereas there are few studies of possible relaxation methods that are designed to alleviate both acute and chronic stress.<\/p>\n Two of the most common general types of relaxation techniques are progressive relaxation and imaginal relaxation. Progressive relaxation is characterized by tensing and relaxing the muscle groups and is typically accompanied by deep breathing exercises. Specifically, it entails tensing a particular muscle group, maintaining the tension briefly, and then releasing the tension.\u00a0 Typically, the individual begins with the lower extremities, gradually progressing up to the neck and shoulders (Nideffer, 1981; Bernstein & Borkavec, 1993).\u00a0Imaginal relaxation techniques are driven by cognitive processes and do not involve muscular tension and relaxation (Scogin, Richard, Keith, Wilson, & McElreath, 1992).<\/p>\n Nicholls, Holt, and Polman (2005) interviewed a number of golfers to determine what types of coping strategies they employed when they were in the midst of competition.\u00a0 The most effective strategies included rationalizing, reappraising, blocking, positive self-talk, following a routine, breathing exercises, physical relaxation, and seeking on-course social support.\u00a0 In a recent qualitative study (Giacobbi, Foore, & Weinberg (2004), semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 golfers in which the golfers were asked to identify the most common sources of stress they encountered when playing golf.\u00a0 They were then asked to describe their coping responses.\u00a0 Their various coping strategies included cognitive strategies, relaxation techniques, off-course, efforts, golf course strategies, avoidance coping, and emotion-focused coping.\u00a0 Of the 11, 6 used some form of relaxation, usually as part of their pre-shot routine.\u00a0 The golfers found relaxation techniques effective both on and off the golf course.\u00a0 In a study of 51 male varsity golfers, the efficacy of pre-competition imagery use on competition performance was examined.\u00a0 The researchers found that motivational general mastery imagery was positively associated with golf performance as was elevated personal self-efficacy.\u00a0 Interestingly, the higher the degree of personal self-efficacy, the more likely the golfers were to engage in general-mastery imagery (Beauchamp, Bray, & Albinson, 2002).\u00a0 Finally, in a study in which comparisons were made of two coping interventions, cognitive intervention and progressive relaxation, Haney (2004) found that both strategies reduced trait anxiety and increased self-efficacy among a sample of female athletes.\u00a0 However, the improvements seemed to be longer lasting for the cognitive intervention group.\u00a0 It was not clear if the progressive relaxation group participants continued their relaxation program.\u00a0 It seems likely that if the progressive relaxation program were discontinued, its beneficial effects would dissipate over time.<\/p>\n Giacobbi and Foore (2003) have observed that there has been relatively little research conducted on non-elite golfers.\u00a0 They assert that the potential for sport psychologists to render services to the millions of avocational golfers in the U.S. could be greatly enhanced if more were known about how these golfers deal with sport-related stress.\u00a0 Thus the current study recruited participants who were not professional athletes, but whose game would, nevertheless, be negatively influenced by anxiety.\u00a0 We wanted to determine if regularly listening to a 20-minute standard progressive relaxation recording over a 3-month period would positively affect the participants\u2019 golf game.<\/p>\n Hypotheses<\/strong><\/p>\n It was \u00a0hypothesized that the women in the experimental group who listened to the progressive relaxation tape would improve their golf performance relative to the women in the control group as measured by the following three dependent variables:\u00a0 1) scores per 9-hole round, 2) number of putts per round, and 3) number of greens hit in regulation.<\/p>\n Methods:<\/strong><\/p>\n Participants<\/strong><\/p>\n Before participant recruitment and data collection, the research protocol was reviewed and approved by the New Mexico Highlands University IRB committee.\u00a0 Study participants were recruited from Women\u2019s Golf Associations throughout New Mexico.\u00a0 Their ages ranged from 19 to 48 years (mean = 33).\u00a0 All of the participants had current United States Golf Association (USGA) handicaps between 6 and 12.<\/p>\n Materials<\/strong><\/p>\n Each participant was given a 20-minute standard relaxation cassette tape.\u00a0 The tape contents were originally developed by Dr. Kathy B. Parker, who, at the time, was a sport psychologist for the University of Wyoming Athletic Department.\u00a0 Contained in the recording are the instructions for tensing and relaxing specific muscle groups, beginning with the arms, moving up towards the head, and then moving down the shoulders, back, and legs.<\/p>\n Procedures<\/strong><\/p>\n Recruitment fliers containing project information were posted at golf courses and country clubs throughout the state of New Mexico. Once recruited, the participants were asked to record the number of putts per round of golf (in this case, 9 holes), their scores for each round, as well as the number of greens hit in regulation, for the next four rounds.\u00a0 These data provided the baseline for post intervention comparison purposes.\u00a0 Once the baseline data collection was completed, the 18 participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups:\u00a0 the experimental group, which received the relaxation tape, and the control group, which did not get a relaxation tape.\u00a0 The participants assigned to the control group were instructed to continue with their normal practice and playing routines for the next three months.\u00a0 They were provided with logbooks in which they were to record their scores, putts per round, and greens in regulation for each round of golf they played.\u00a0 The experimental group participants were also given logbooks and instructed to maintain normal practice and playing routines.\u00a0 In addition, they were told to listen to the relaxation tape five times a week, at bedtime, for the first 30-day period of the study.\u00a0 At the end of the first month, the participants from both groups were asked to turn in all of their scores.<\/p>\n During the second month of the study, the participants in the experimental group were instructed to reduce the number of times they listened to the relaxation tape from five to three times per week.\u00a0 Participants from both groups were instructed to continue with their normal practice and playing routines and to also continue keeping a record of their scores in the logbook.\u00a0 At the end of the second month, the participants again turned in all of their scores.<\/p>\n In the third and final month, the participants in the experimental group were told to listen to the relaxation tape just once a week.\u00a0 All other activities for both groups remained the same.\u00a0 Upon completion of the third month the participants played a final 36 holes.\u00a0 A final tally of the latest scores per 9-hole round, the number of putts per round, and the number of greens hit in regulation was recorded.<\/p>\n Results<\/strong><\/p>\n Means and standard deviations were computed for the pre and post conditions for both groups.\u00a0 Pre group values did not vary significantly between groups for all three dependent variables; scores per 9-hole round, putts per round, and number of greens hit in regulation.<\/p>\n Because the participants were recruited in late winter and early spring, it was expected that participants from both groups would improve on all three dependent variables as a consequence of playing more often as the weather improved.\u00a0 This indeed was the case (see Table 1).\u00a0 However, we hypothesized that the participants in the experimental group would improve significantly more than their counterparts in the control group.<\/p>\n Figures 1-3 illustrate the improvement trends for both groups for each of the three dependent variables.\u00a0 Independent groups t-tests were performed to compare the degree of improvement observed for the cassette group with the improvement observed for the no cassette group on each of the three dependent variables.\u00a0 All effect sizes are reported using Cohen\u2019s d <\/em>equation.\u00a0 For the first, in which the comparison was the improvement in scores per round for the cassette group (M = 0.1986, SD = 0.1254) and the no cassette group (M = 0.1143, SD = 0.1395), the difference was not statistically significant, t(16) = -1.299, p<\/em> >0.05. The effect size was calculated at 0.64.\u00a0 The second variable was that of number of putts per round.\u00a0 The improvement by the experimental group (M = 0.0649, SD = 0.0286), although better than that of the control group (M = 0.097, SD = 0.0278), was not statistically significant, t(16 = -1.141, p<\/em> >0.05.\u00a0 The effect size was 0.54.\u00a0 The final variable to be tested was that of the number of greens hit in regulation.\u00a0 The experimental group (M = 0.2638, SD = 0.1401) again improved more than the control group (M = 0.1812, SD = 0.0792), however the difference in improvement was not statistically significant t(16) = -1.539, p<\/em> > 0.05.\u00a0 The effect size was 0.76.<\/p>\n Discussion<\/strong><\/p>\n As expected, both groups improved over the three-month course of the study.\u00a0 The question was, however, would the participants in the experimental group demonstrate significantly greater improvement than their counterparts in the control group.\u00a0 For each of the three dependent variables, the improvement observed in the experimental group exceeded that of the control group.\u00a0 However, the group differences were not significant.\u00a0 Yet, the effect sizes, ranging from .54 – .76, were certainly not negligible, indicating that the lack of significance was, in part, a consequence of the small sample size.\u00a0 The improvement trends illustrated in Figs. 1-3 seem to grow more robust with time.<\/p>\n It would be of interest to determine if improvement leveled off after a specific length of time.\u00a0 Additionally, would the level of improvement be maintained even if the participant no longer engaged in progressive relaxation?\u00a0 This question is at least partially addressed by Haney (2004), who noted that many stress management plans for athletes are constructed to be sport-specific as well as task-specific.\u00a0 In the case of progressive relaxation, the intervention can address sources of anxiety unrelated to sport performance.\u00a0 However, in her study, the progressive relaxation group experienced a rebound level of anxiety (after significant improvement) from post-experiment levels to the follow up data collection.\u00a0 This rebound was attributed, at least in part, to a reduction in the number of participants who continued to practice the relaxation regimen.\u00a0 If we were to replicate our study, it would be useful to continue the sampling period beyond the 3-month period during which the experimental group was actively practicing the relaxation technique.<\/p>\n An observation made by Giacobbi et al. (2004) was that among non-elite golfers there is a great degree of variability in how individuals cope with stress.\u00a0 It would be of interest to know whether the exposure to the progressive relaxation tape altered the coping responses of the participants or if it reduced the overall level of stress.\u00a0 Another observation made by Hassmen, Raglin, and Lundqvist (2004) was that there was a strong correlation between Somatic Anxiety scores and golf performance.\u00a0 In a future study it would be beneficial to determine if the long term practice of progressive relaxation would alter a participant\u2019s scores on the Somatic Anxiety scale.<\/p>\n According to Nideffer (1976) one of the important issues to be considered when dealing with closed-skill sports, as is golf, is that the skills are automatic and thus do not demand a dynamic form of attention.\u00a0 This frees up attentional processing capacity, which allows the athlete to attend to other stimuli, some of which could be internal feelings of anxiety.\u00a0 This concept was studied further by Liao and Masters (2002).\u00a0 They describe how stress can cause athletes to reallocate information-processing resources from athletic performance to irrelevant stimuli, thus impairing performance.\u00a0 More of this process could be understood if we could determine if progressive relaxation techniques, by reducing anxiety, prevent the reallocation of information-processing resources.\u00a0 Or, is it possible that the participants who engaged in the relaxation program simply increased their attentional processing capacity?<\/p>\n In summary, PRT seemed to enhance the improvement in golf performance observed in a group of female recreational golfers.\u00a0 The dependent variables included scores per 9-hole round, number of putts per round, and number of greens hit in regulation.\u00a0 The members of the control group also improved their golf game, but not to the degree experienced by the experimental group.\u00a0 The effect sizes (Cohen\u2019s d<\/em>) for the differences in improvement were 0.64 for scores per 9-hole round, 0.54 for number of putts per round, and 0.76 for number of greens hit in regulation.<\/p>\n References<\/strong><\/p>\n Submitted by Dr. Linda LaGrange*1 and Ms. Janet Ortiz*2. 1*\u00a0New […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[290,294],"tags":[570,620,623,490],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4btio-CX","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":22,"url":"https:\/\/thesportjournal.org\/article\/links-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":2415,"position":0},"title":"Links","date":"January 7, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"The Sport Supplement, A Supplement of the Sport Journal Athletic Insight - The Online Journal of Sport Psychology","rel":"","context":"In "General"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":318,"url":"https:\/\/thesportjournal.org\/article\/an-examination-of-preservice-routines-of-elite-tennis-players\/","url_meta":{"origin":2415,"position":1},"title":"An Examination of Preservice Routines of Elite Tennis Players","date":"October 7, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Submitted by: Noah B. Gentner - Ithaca College, Theodore J. McGraw - University of Tennessee, Stephen Gonzalez and Daniel R. Czech - Georgia Southern University Abstract A preperformance routine may support consistent optimal performance. Preperformance routines\u2019 benefits for closed skills are largely accepted, but effects of time and situational factors\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sports Exercise Science"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":177,"url":"https:\/\/thesportjournal.org\/article\/determinants-of-success-among-amateur-golfers-an-examination-of-ncaa-division-i-male-golfers\/","url_meta":{"origin":2415,"position":2},"title":"Determinants of Success Among Amateur Golfers: An Examination of NCAA Division I Male Golfers","date":"March 3, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Submitted by: Scott J. Callan, Ph.D. & Janet M. Thomas, Ph.D. Abstract An extensive body of research examines the importance of a golfer\u2019s shot-making skills to the player\u2019s overall performance, where performance is measured as either tournament money winnings or average score per round of golf. Independent of the performance\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Contemporary Sports Issues"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4955,"url":"https:\/\/thesportjournal.org\/article\/body-image-in-division-i-male-athletes-why-is-baseball-high-and-outside\/","url_meta":{"origin":2415,"position":3},"title":"Body Image in Division I Male Athletes: Why is Baseball High and Outside?","date":"March 23, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Authors: Lorraine Killion & Dean Culpepper Corresponding Author: Lorraine Killion, Ed.D. Associate Professor Texas A&M University-Kingsville 700 University Blvd. Kingsville, TX 78363-8202 lorraine.killion@tamuk.edu 361.593.3095 Lorraine Killion is an Associate Professor in the Health & Kinesiology Department at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. She is also the EC-12 Physical Education Program Coordinator. Dean\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sports Health & Fitness"","img":{"alt_text":"Table 2","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thesportjournal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Table2-1.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":388,"url":"https:\/\/thesportjournal.org\/article\/the-place-and-role-of-olympism-in-higher-education\/","url_meta":{"origin":2415,"position":4},"title":"The Place and Role of Olympism in Higher Education","date":"August 5, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Anton\u00edn Rychteck\u00fd, Charles University, Czech Olympic Academy, Prague, Czech Republic ### Introduction Interpreting the place and role of Olympism in higher education is a necessary and pertinent issue. The close relationship between the Olympic Movement and universities dates back as far as 1894. The fact that the IOC was established\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Contemporary Sports Issues"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":295,"url":"https:\/\/thesportjournal.org\/article\/retaining-current-vs-attracting-new-golfers-practices-among-the-class-a-carolinas-professional-golf-association-membership\/","url_meta":{"origin":2415,"position":5},"title":"Retaining Current Vs. Attracting New Golfers: Practices among the Class A Carolinas Professional Golf Association Membership","date":"March 14, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Submitted by: Dr. Michael Latta, Dr. Albert J. Taylor, Dr. Mark Mitchell & Charles Thrash Abstract: Golf rounds declined in the U.S. from 2001 to 2004. The southeast region of the country has started to show increases in golf rounds. A possible explanation for this turn-around can be found in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sports Facilities"","img":{"alt_text":"Net Percentage Reporting Change in Rounds Played","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thesportjournal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/03\/Figure1-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesportjournal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2415"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesportjournal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesportjournal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesportjournal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesportjournal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2415"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/thesportjournal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2415\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2435,"href":"https:\/\/thesportjournal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2415\/revisions\/2435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesportjournal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesportjournal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesportjournal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"