Affective and physiological states during archery competitions: Adopting and enhancing the probabilistic methodology of individual affect-related performance zones (IAPZs)

A probabilistic approach of individual affect-related performance zones (IAPZs), for studying the link between affective states and athletic performance, was applied to determine idiographic profiles associated with optimal and non-optimal performance. Participants were three Brazilian male archers 24, 27, and 57 years old, with M = 13.7 (SD = 2.1) years of experience in archery. Data were collected in a southeast Brazilian state, throughout a whole competitive season and during competitions at different shooting distances. The archers reported their perceptions of arousal and pleasure, and had their heart rate responses recorded. Ordinal logistic regression was used to establish each archer's IAPZs for each shooting distance. Results indicated that (a) the archers possess unique IAPZs for the different archery shooting distances, (b) they fluctuated among their optimal and non-optimal IAPZs throughout the season, and (c) optimal performance was not prevalent following optimal performance.