THE EFFECT OF MEDITATION ON SHOOTING PERFORMANCE

Objective-To study effects of meditation on the shooting performance. Methods-25 elite shooters were investigated in an independent groups d esign. The results in standardised test shootings indoors and in ordin ary competitions outdoors were assessed before and after regular medit ation training for the experimental group. The experience of tension d uring the test shootings was self recorded on a visual analogue scale (VAS). Results-The competition results in the outdoor season (1993), j ust after the meditation training period, compared with the results th e previous season (1992), were better in the meditation group (P < 0.0 5). No significant difference between the groups was observed in the t est shootings before and after the relaxation intervention. A signific ant association was shown between low tension and the results in the t est shootings (correlation r = 0.42, P < 0.0001; Wilcoxon rank sum tes t, z = -3.36, P < 0.001); 18% (= r(2)) of the variance in performance was explained by tension. Conclusions-Meditation may enhance competiti ve shooting performance.