PRECOMPETITION ANXIETY IN WOMEN VOLLEYBALL PLAYERS - A TEST OF ZOF THEORY IN A TEAM SPORT

Consistency in psychological factors is widely regarded to be importan t for successful performance in team sports, but the Zone of Optimal F unction (ZOF) theory contends that athletes should exhibit considerabl e variability in the level of anxiety that will optimize performance. In an attempt to determine if tenets of ZOF theory held for athletes i n a team sport, anxiety was measured using Spielberger's state-trait a nxiety inventory (STAI) at the baseline and before easy and difficult competitions in nine members of a collegiate women's volleyball team. The ability to predict precompetition anxiety was assessed by having t he athletes complete the STAI both 3 weeks and 2 days before each matc h according to how they thought they would feel Ih before competition. Each athlete also completed the STAI on the basis of how she recalled feeling before her best competition. Four anxiety units were added an d subtracted from this value to establish the ZOF of each player. Actu al precompetition anxiety was assessed Ih before each match. In accord ance with ZOF theory, considerable variability was found in the range of optimal anxiety, and 55.5% of the team members reported performing best at either low or high levels of anxiety. The prediction of precom petition anxiety made 2 days before competition was significantly corr elated to actual anxiety for the difficult match (r = 0.69, P < 0.05) but not the easy match (r = 0.21, P > 0.05). Predictions made 3 weeks before competition were not significant (P > 0.05). More (P < 0.05) of the players possessed anxiety levels within the ZOF for the difficult match compared with the easy match (77.7% versus 22.2%). In summary, athletes in the team sport of volleyball exhibit considerable variatio n in optimal precompetition anxiety in accordance with ZOF theory. As posited by ZOF theory, the athletes were able to predict anxiety befor e a difficult match accurately, and were more likely to have anxiety l evels within ZOF.