Examining the Relation between Heart Rate Variability, Flow, and Shooting in Wheelchair Athletes

Abstract

PURPOSE Heart rate variability leads affective changes, which are associated with athletic performance. This study aimed to examine the relationship between heart rate variability, athletic flow, and shooting performance in wheelchair shooting athletes. METHODS Eight male and female wheelchair shooting athletes were participated in the study. Heart rate variability was measured at rest and during shooting practice and competitions. Flow experience and shooting score were collected only during practice and actual shooting. SPSS Windows 25.0 was used to perform the following analysis. A repeated one-way ANOVA was applied to analyze the differences in heart rate variability at rest, during practice and actual shooting. In order to see the linear and curvilinear relationship among the variables, a hierarchical regression analysis was conducted. RESULTS The level of average heart rate and the ratio of Low Frequency (LF) to High Frequency (HF) of heart rate variability were significantly at different situations. At the resting period average heart rate was the highest while LF/HF was the lowest, which indicated that LF was less activated than HF at rest as compared to actual shooting. A hierarchical regression analysis showed that flow was a significant linear predictor for shooting performance. CONCLUSIONS Heart rate variability is changing depending on the circumstance that athletes faced to, which suggests that the changes may be associated with psychological states and performance.

Keywords

• heart rate variability
• flow
• autonomic nerve system
• cardiac activity
• psychophysiology