Anxiety and performance in elite non-professional athletes.

Aostract Anxiety is one of the main motivators with regards to performance of individuals in any given task, including sporting endeavours. Our study sought to assess state anxiety levels in elite non-professional sportsmen, and to investigate if anxiety correlated with sporting performance. the IDA-Q (irritability, depression & anxiety questionnaire) was used to assess 3 mental state variables in an inter-county hurling team as well as a matched non-sporting control group, and performance was judged by completion of a standard task in 2 different settings: a non-pressurised one and a highly pressurised setting. Subjects had significantly higher anxiety scores on the IDA-Q than the controls (p=0.019). There were no significant differences and controls in the depression and irritability scales. There was a significantly negative correlation between anxiety scores and performance on the IDA-Q; spearman r=-0.57. High anxiety levels impair sporting performance.