IDO MOVEMENT FOR CULTURE

Introduction. In recent decades, combat sports have gained significant popularity, due to their ability to promote health and self-defense, alongside their competitive aspects. In competitions, pre-combat anxiety can significantly impact athletes’ performance.
Objective. The purpose of this narrative review is to critically examine the main factors that contribute to pre-competition anxiety and its physiological implications, as well as to propose coping strategies to mitigate its effects.
Method. This review was conducted through a comprehensive search of PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases, ultimately including 13 studies.
Results. Studies indicate that anxiety is influenced by factors such as the presence of the spectators, the significance of the event, gender (females feel more anxiety than males), uncertainty regarding the opponent, and rapid weight loss. Furthermore, there is a significant correlation between increased pre-competition cortisol levels and anxiety, indicating a psychological impact on hormonal secretion. Psychological interventions such as mental relaxation techniques (e.g., meditation and mindfulness) and psychological training (e.g., mentalization) have been suggested to decrease pre-competitive anxiety and its associated symptoms.
Conclusion. Therefore, sports professionals should prescribe appropriate training strategies to implement these practices with athletes. However, pre-competition anxiety does not always have a negative effect, as adequate levels can benefit performance.