DO THE NON-VERBAL BEHAVIORS OF SPRINTERS BEFORE THE COMPETITION AFFECT THEIR PERFORMANCE?

Abstract

In athletics, the athlete is expected to get their concentration and control his negative emotions before the start. Body language of athletes can give important clues about their "real" internal states. On account of, it is important to analyze the nonverbal behaviors of the athletes before the start. In line with this importance, the aim of this study is to analyze the pre-start nonverbal behaviors of the athletes by coding them with the "Body Action Posture Coding System" and to examine the effect on the performance of the athletes. As a result, with this thesis study, it has been revealed that some nonverbal behaviors of the athletes, affect their performance. Nonverbal behaviors can give clues about the mental state of the athlete as well as give clues about the result of the competition has been opened to discussion with this study.