ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Shooting is one of the sports that can be taken up by an individual regardless of age and gender for professional involvement. It has higher mental fitness demands, which might re?ect the ranking in top-level competition. However, it is unclear what type of anxiety affects the performance score. Therefore, the current study is to find the anxiety pattern, i.e., cognitive, somatic, and self-confidence among the elite youth shooters during training and competition correlating with their sports performance. METHOD: We analyzed the sports performance during training and competition and conducted Personal interviews with elite youth pistol and rifle shooters. The subject's Mental fitness was assessed by using the Competitive state anxiety inventory-2 methodology, which was evaluated just before 30mins on two occasions and correlated with scoring sheets. RESULTS: The Difference in mean of COGNITIVE ANXIETY score during match day and training day was statistically significant (p-value >0.05). The Difference in mean of SOMATIC ANXIETY, SELF CONFIDENCE, SCORE-TRAINING during match day and training day was not statistically significant. (p-value >0.05). CONCLUSION: Thus competitive anxiety is one of the determinant factors experienced by young elite shooters, and training them with appropriate modalities can help them to pursue the highest level of performance.