Highlights • Repeated Sprint (RS) training contributes to anxiety symptom enhancement. • Including RS in the standard soccer training sessions can increase self-confidence. • 6-weeks of RS training resulted to reduction in rating of perceived exertion. The study aimed to investigate the effects of repeated sprint (RS) training on somatic anxiety (SA), cognitive anxiety (CA), self-confidence (SC), rating of perceived exertion (RPE) and repeated sprint ability (RSA) indicators in elite young soccer players. Thirty elite soccer players in the first football league (age: 17.8 ± 0.9 years) volunteered to participate in this study. They were randomly assigned to one of two groups: a repeated sprint training group (RST-G; n = 15) and a control group (CON-G; n = 15). RST-G participated in 6 weeks of intensive training based on RS (6 × (20 + 20 m) runs, with 20 s passive recovery interval between sprints, 3 times/week). Before and after the 6-week intervention, all participants performed a RSA test and completed a Competitive Scale Anxiety Inventory (CSAI-2) and the RPE. After training RST-G showed a very significant (p < 0.000) increase in RSA total time performance relative to controls. Despite the faster sprint pace, the RPE also decreased significantly (p < 0.005) in RST-G, and their self confidence was significantly greater (p < 0.01), while the cognitive (p < 0.01) and somatic (p < 0.000) components of their anxiety state decreased. When practiced regularly, short bouts of sprint exercises improve anaerobic performance associated with a reduction in anxiety state and an increase in SC which may probably boost competitive performance.
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