Page 39 - Vol 7 No 3 July September 2017

PESY : Print ISSN 2231-1394, Online ISSN 2278-795X Vol. 7 No. 3

Araki (2006) explained that if anxiety increases beyond the optimal level necessary for
the given task, a decline in performance follow. In support of this Sutherland (2006) reported
that reducing anxiety is only half the battle. The crucial thing is to channel that anxiety
positively into confidence. Confidence comes with experience and learning from past
situations. When players train anxiety is usually low, and players gain confidence just by
performing. Training frequently builds confidence, again through experience. Jokela and
Hanin further reported that performance of athletes who were within their individually optimal
zones were almost one-half a standard deviation unit better than that of athletes who were
outside their zones. To moderate anxiety from high or low to medium, performance level
Hanin (1980) presented that each athlete’s schedule of training activities to facilitate
optimization of anxiety level according to the individual’s zone of functioning (ZOF).
According to Martens, Burton, Vealey, and Bump, (1990) anxiety include state and trait
dimensions both of, which can show themselves as cognitive and somatic symptoms. An athlete
high anxiety trait is likely to be more anxious in stressful situations. To help the athlete control
competitive anxiety somatic technique (relaxation) and cognitive technique (mental imagery)
can be used.

CONCLUSION
This study examined the effectiveness of psycho-neuromuscular theory and
visualization technique on reducing anxiety levels of soccer players in competition situations.
It was hypotheses in this study that there is significant difference in the anxiety levels between
the control group and experimental group of soccer players. The findings revealed that there is
significant difference in the anxiety levels of the two groups (control and experimental or
treatment) after four (4) weeks of training (psycho-neuromuscular technique & visualization
technique). Therefore, the null hypothesis was rejected.

REFERENCES
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