Golf putting performance under pressure: the effect of anxiety level and putting distance.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effect of anxiety level and level of task difficulty (putting distance) on the putting performance of amateur golfers under pressure. Seventy-five golfers participated. Four distances (1.25m, 1.50m, 1.75m, and 2.00m) were established as putting distances with a particularly high level of failure anxiety. Club movement kinematics (club head's linear amplitude, movement time, and mean velocity), putting score, and final resting position of missed putts were used as performance indicators. Participants hit one putt each from each distance under both low-pressure and high-pressure conditions. From the results of cognitive anxiety measured based on a questionnaire and somatic anxiety measured based on heart rate, it was confirmed that the pressure situation established by this research functioned effectively for the participants. From the results of analysis of variance, for the club's linear amplitude, movement time, mean velocity, and putting score, no significant association between anxiety and putting distance was apparent. On the other hand, from analysis of the final resting position of missed putts, it was conceivable that 1.50m putts were particularly impacted by pressure. Moreover, from the reduced movement time of the follow-through by participants with increased cognitive anxiety under pressure, the research suggested that cognitive anxiety had a greater impact than somatic anxiety on decrease of performance under pressure.