Abstract:

This study researches the effect of the massage given to football players before matches upon their state anxiety. Sixty-five  players from six amateur football clubs in Ankara Amateur League involved in the research. At the beginning of the research, important football matches were determined through discussions with the coaches. Forty minutes before these matches, Spielberger’s Inventory of State Anxiety and a poll were directed at the players. Next, the players were divided into test and control groups. The test group was given a massage whereas the control group was given the inventory. As a result of the massage given to the test group, it was detected that the state anxiety points of the players registered a noteworthy decrease. It was also observed that, according to the age variables, the average of state anxiety points of the test group increased along with the increase in age, and it constituted a significant disparity between 18-under18 and 23-23+ age groups. The disparity of state anxiety points of the players between 19-22 age groups registered a noteworthy decrease after the massage. Consequently, it can be stated that massage relieves the state anxiety before a match.

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