The effect of listening to preferred music after a stressful task on performance and psychophysiological responses in collegiate golfers

BACKGROUND: This study explores whether listening to preferred music after a stressful situation affects putting and swinging performance, heart rate (HR), HR variability (HRV), and anxiety among amateur golfers. METHODS: Twenty healthy amateur collegiate golfers voluntarily participated in this study (age 20.1 ± 1.17 yrs., height = 173.8 ± 7.74 cm, body weight = 72.35 ± 12.67 kg). Pre- and post-intervention HR and HRV measurements were taken, along with a self-report of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-S) and Triple Factor Anxiety Inventory (TFAI). Participants were exposed to a stressful situation through the Stroop Colour and Word Test (SCWT) and then instructed to perform three golf-practice sessions in a golf simulator, separated by 48–72 hours of recovery, under different conditions: control, pre-task music, and synchronised music. RESULTS: No significant difference was identified between the experimental conditions for swinging (in terms of total distance (p = 0.116), carry distance (p = 0.608), speed of the ball (p = 0.819), and launch angle (p = 0.550) and putting performance (the number of successful putts on target (p > 0.05) and distance error between the target and ball (p = 0.122). No main effect for condition and time of intervention, as well as no interaction between these two factors was found for HR, HRV, and STAI-S (p = 0.116). However, the pre and post-intervention percentages of physiological items of the TFAI indicated a large, significant difference in synchronised music trial (p = 0.012, pre-task trial = −1.92% < control trial = 0% < synchronised trial = 4.58%). CONCLUSIONS: The results imply that following a stressful situation, listening to preferred music before and/or during golf has no immediate effect on golf performance, anxiety, and psychophysiological responses in collegiate golfers.