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Sport psychology researchers have devoted minimal attention to competitive windsurfers although this group of athletes represents an ideal population for the study of psychological topics and issues. The purpose of the present investigation was to study anxiety and self-confidence characteristics of windsurfers competing at high levels of competition with particular attention devoted to differences that may be present in relation to gender, age, competitive outcomes, and season-long ranking. Participants in the study were 79 professional and amateur windsurfers competing in events at regional and world championships. Athletes who received a better overall season-long ranking in their event had less somatic anxiety than those with poorer performance outcomes. Athletes who had a top-five season-long ranking had higher self-confidence levels than did their counterparts who did not achieve this ranking. Gender differences were not found for anxiety or self-confidence characteristics. Age was related to cognitive anxiety in that cognitive anxiety was higher among younger participants.
Since windsurfing was created as a sport in the 1960s it has had millions of adherents and practitioners at recreational to competitive levels (Rosenbaum & Dietz, 2002). Nonetheless, windsurfing has received minimal research attention with respect to the psychological aspects of engagement in the sport. Within sport science research, attention to the sport has come primarily from sport medicine researchers with a focus on injury-related concerns (Dyson, Buchanan, & Hale, 2006; Jablecki & Garner, 2000; Rosenbaum & Dietz, 2002). Few research studies to date have dedicated attention to the psychological aspects of the sport (Leahy, 1997).
Adventure sports
Within sport psychology there has been a general absence of research conducted to date on newer sports, particularly those involving risk or adventure. Adventure and extreme sports differ from more mainstream and traditional sports in that they are more likely to be individual sports that are personally initiated and controlled and which tend to take place outside the confines of a traditional field, court, or gymnasium (Martha, Sánchez, & Goma i Freixanet, 2009). Virtually all adventure or extreme sports (e.g., snowboarding half-pipe, wave jumping, ice climbing) invoJve a considerable amount of risk and anxiety as a consequence of inherent uncertainty, danger, and environmental characteristics and demands and constitute an interesting and important area of study.
The sport of windsurfing, in particular, has received...