Abstract
The aim of the present study was to explore the relationship between stress and sport performance in a controlled setting. The experimental protocol used to induce stress in a basketball free throw was the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) and its control condition (Placebo-TSST). Participants (n = 19), novice basketball players but trained sportspersons, were exposed to two counterbalanced conditions in a crossover design. They were equipped with sensors to measure movement execution, while salivary cortisol and psychological state were also measured. The task consisted of two sequences of 40 free throws, one before either the TSST or Placebo-TSST and one after. Physiological and psychological measures evidenced that the TSST induced significant stress responses, whereas the Placebo-TSST did not. Shooting performance remained stable after the TSST but decreased after the Placebo-TSST. We found no effect of the TSST or Placebo-TSST on movement execution. A multivariate model of free throw performance demonstrated that timing, smoothness and explosiveness of the movements are more relevant to account for beginner’s behavior than stress-related physiological and psychological states. We conclude that the TSST is a suitable protocol to induce stress responses in sport context, even though the effects on beginners’ free throw performance and execution are small and complex.
Highlights
Stress is an integral part of the competitive settings that may be found in sport contexts [1]
Repeated measures ANOVAs did not reveal significant interaction between factors Order (TSST-Placebo, Placebo-Trier Social Stress Test (TSST)), Treatment (TSST, Placebo) and Time on cortisol levels, state anxiety, pleasure, arousal, dominance, free throw performance and movement execution
We found no effect of stress on any of the parameters of free throw execution considered: smoothness, explosiveness, temporal coordination and dynamical stability
Summary
Stress is an integral part of the competitive settings that may be found in sport contexts [1]. It has been documented that stress may affect sport performance and have direct or indirect influences on the outcome [2]. Note that the term stress refers to both the perception of uncontrollable and unpredictable situations and the set of psychological, behavioral and physiological responses triggered by these perceptions [3]. Stress perceptions and stress responses constitute a system for anticipatory adaptation to perceived environmental. Trier Social Stress Test and Free Throw Performance
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