A Multidisciplinary Investigation of the Relation of State Sport Confidence with Preference and Velocity of Swimming Starts

Abstract

This study investigated the relations of state sport confidence with preference of swimming start, i.e., pike or flat, and vertical velocity for male and female NCAA Division I swimmers. Ten male and 10 female swimmers who had a minimum of five years competitive swimming experience participated. Men generated greater vertical velocity on both the pike and flat starts. Analyses of variance indicated a relationship for gender with the most confident swimming start and vertical velocity for the pike and flat starts. In addition, a significant interaction between gender, preferred swimming start, and most confident swimming start was found Discriminant function analysis using gender as the grouping variable and the dependent variables of vertical velocity and state sport confidence indicated that gender was an indicator of swimmers' performance and state sport confidence on the pike and flat starts.

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