i am trying to research whether relaxtion techniques- say listening to a musical relaxation tape has any effect on a gun shooters performance. if it does does it ehance performance or impair performance.

-- sarah wall (sarahw@clear.net.nz), April 03, 1998

Answers

TYPICALLY,MY CLIENTS(I AM A MASSAGE PRACTITIONER)EXPERIENCE INCREASED,SPORT-SPECIFIC,PROWESS IN ALL AREAS OF THEIR RESPECTIVE SPORTS,AFTER RECEIVING A MASSAGE.I ATTRIBUTE THESE PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENTS TO THE MIND BECOMING MORE CREATIVE AND MORE POSITIVE WHEN THE STRESS RESPONSE IS GREATLY REDUCED OR EVEN ELIMINATED. COUPLE THIS CORTISOL REDUCTION, WITH THE INHERENT PLACEBO EFFECT THAT MUST SURELY OCCUR, AND YOU HAVE THE RECIPE FOR A MORE ALERT AND EFFECTIVE SPORTS PARTICIPANT. EVEN IF YOU DISCOUNT THE PHYSICAL MODALITY OF THE MUSCLE MANIPULATION, IT IS VERY RELAXING TO HAVE SOMEONE YOU TRUST,RUB THE ODD,SORE MUSCLE. IF THE PERSON DOING THE RUBBING IS TRAINED AT ALL, THEN THE RESULT WILL BE A SPORTS PARTICIPANT, EFFECTIVE AT PUTTING ALL OF THEIR GIVEN EXPERTISE INTO THE SPORT AT HAND.THIS IS MY EXPERIENCE WHEN I PLAY BASKETBALL AFTER I HAVE RECEIVED A MASSAGE. MUSIC,AS A RELAXATION TOOL, IS ALSO VERY EFFECTIVE. IM SURE IT WOULD ALSO GREATLY ENHANCE SPORTS PERFORMANCE. HOPE THIS ANECTDOTAL OBSERVATION HELPS ...KEVIN

-- KEVIN L. MOON (CMOON35876@AOL.COM), November 01, 1999.

As I found out in my Science Fair Project the amount of sleep you get does not effect the percentage of free throw shots a person makes.

-- Chris Sigmon (Chris@yahoo.com), February 09, 2000.

Hi i am a student of sport psychology in New Zealand (3rd year) and agree that relaxation training will increase shooting performance. There is a model of arousals affect on performance and it suggests that sports that have the need for fine motor skills and the use of small muscle groups need low arousal levels as these ables the muscle to perform. Music can be useful for decreasing arousal levels but the type of music is important as some music with fast beat or base may increase arousal levels and decrease performance. Below are some techniques you should try

-Imagery -Breathing control -Use of cue words -Concentration technique - Concntration words. -Contract relax method.

There are a few techniques if you have any other questions e mail me back.

-- Andrew Todd (A.Todd@inspirenet.co.nz), July 25, 2000.