Beyond the notion of performance anxiety: a phenomenological exploration of the lived experiences of anxiety for elite Egyptian tennis athletes

The purpose of this research is to gain a deeper understanding of the anxiety experiences of elite Egyptian tennis athletes before and during competition. This research proposes an alternative approach that offers a new insight into the notion of anxiety with athletes. It relates existential anxiety to athletes, using an Interpretative Phenomenological Approach to gain a more in-depth view of the phenomena of anxiety for these athletes. Eight elite Egyptian tennis athletes, 2 males and 6 females, between the ages of 18-25 were interviewed on their experiences of anxiety before and during competition. Four themes emerged from the transcript analysis including: the emotional and physical manifestations and sensations of anxiety, the meaning of competition for these athletes and how loss and identity are involved, the internal world of athletes with their expectations, over-thinking, selfconfidence and their routines, and the inter-relational world that involves how others influence these athletes’ anxiety and how being alone on the court is also part of their anxiety experience. These four themes reveal the complexity, multi-dimensionality and individuality of the anxiety experience for these athletes that opens up the rite de passage for incorporating counselling psychology using an existential approach to meet the existential needs of athletes. Its implications and recommendations for further research are also discussed to advocate integrating Existential psychology with Mental Skills Training to work with athletes as a whole being instead of only just a performer.