The impact of competitive anxiety in athletes across different levels of competition
Author(s): Dr. Man Singh
Abstract: The present study assesses and compares the Sports Competitive Anxiety in Athletes across different level of competition (Senior national players and State level players). The study was conducted on a purposeful sample of 64 participants. The current study included both male and female subjects of different sports. The individuals’ ages ranged from 18 to 25. According to the study, there will be a notable difference in sports competitive anxiety amid national and state level players. The study’s findings were useful in determining the differences in anxiety between senior national players and state level players. For this purpose questionnaire was used named as Sports Competitive Anxiety Test (SCAT). The collected data was analyzed using the Independent Sample ‘t’ test. However, when we looked at sports competitive anxiety, the senior national players and the state level players differed significantly because p-values for each of these variables are below at the 0.05 threshold of significance. The outcome demonstrated that there were notable differences in sports competitive anxiety between the groups. The impact of anxiety levels revealed interesting results. While both groups of athletes reported experiencing sports competitive anxiety, we found that state-level players exhibited higher levels of anxiety compared to senior national players showing that senior national players may handle stress, fear, and focus effectively as compare to state level players. The findings of this study have important implications for coaches, sports psychologists, and policymakers involved in talent development and athlete support programs. By understanding the psychological differences between senior national and state-level players, targeted interventions can be designed to address specific needs and challenges faced by athletes at different levels of competition.