Effects of facility familiarity (home ground advantage) on state anxiety and performance of youth bowlers

Abstract

Little research has been done on the effects of facility familiarity with regard to individual sports. The study aims to investigate the effects of home versus away competitions on anxiety and performance of youth bowlers based on facility familiarity as a key factor contributing to home advantage. Athletes from two bowling teams at two different venues (home and away), completed a pre-competition questionnaire that assessed their state anxiety (somatic and cognitive anxiety). These results were compared to their actual performance. Their actual performance (total points for each match) were also recorded. Repeated measures ANOVAs were conducted to examine the effect of facility familiarity on somatic and cognitive anxiety and performance across the four matches within each team and also between amateur and expert bowlers. Significant within-subject differences were found in somatic and cognitive anxiety across for home and away matches for both teams but not for performance.