8 studies, strongest evidence first. Search and filter to
find what you need — each card explains what the researchers did and
found before giving the technical detail.
Systematic review Moderate rigor
Boath, E., Stewart, A., Carryer, A. · 2012
This systematic review sifted through 42 published EFT studies down to 7 qualifying randomized trials, and found tapping outperformed comparison approaches like diaphragmatic breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, an inspirational lecture, and a support group across conditions including PTSD, fibromyalgia, phobias, test anxiety, and athletic performance. The one method that beat EFT in these trials was EMDR. With only 7 RCTs reviewed and methodological flaws noted in the source studies, the reviewers still called for further quality research even while endorsing EFT's promise.
A search identified 42 published EFT studies, of which 7 RCTs met inclusion criteria; EFT was shown effective for PTSD, fibromyalgia, phobias, test anxiety, and athletic performance, and was superior to diaphragmatic breathing, progressive muscular relaxation, an inspirational lecture, and a support group, while only EMDR outperformed EFT.
Randomized trial Moderate rigor
Church, D. · 2009
Twenty-six college basketball players either did a 15-minute tapping session or a placebo activity before a simulated game situation, then had their free throws and jump height measured. The players who tapped made noticeably more free throws afterward, while the comparison group actually got worse — but jumping ability itself didn't change either way, suggesting the effect was more about composure and focus than physical performance. This is a small trial and was not found indexed on PubMed, so it should be read as a suggestive, not definitive, sports-psychology finding.
26 college basketball players received either a 15-minute EFT session or a placebo intervention before a simulated game scenario; players who received EFT improved free throw accuracy by an average of 20.8% while the placebo group's accuracy decreased by an average of 16.6%, with no significant difference between groups in vertical jump.
Randomized trial Moderate rigor
Llewellyn-Edwards, T., Llewellyn-Edwards, M. · 2012
Two English women's soccer teams tried a short tapping session before practicing dead-ball situations like free kicks, and the team receiving EFT scored significantly more goals than the comparison condition — echoing an earlier American study that found the same pattern with basketball free throws. The abstract doesn't report the total number of players or an exact effect size, so the magnitude of the benefit isn't fully quantifiable from what's available, but the direction replicates prior sports-performance findings.
A randomized controlled trial (with a supporting uncontrolled trial) of a short EFT session with two English ladies soccer teams found a significant improvement in goal scoring ability from dead ball situations, replicating an earlier American basketball trial.
Randomized trial Preliminary
Dwivedi, S., Sekhon, A., Chauhan, B. · 2021
Fourteen young national-level competitive shooters were randomly assigned to a 3-week EFT program or an inspirational-lecture control condition. The EFT group showed improved heart rate, blood pressure, and shooting accuracy compared to the control group. This is a very small randomized trial in a specialized athletic population, so findings should be considered preliminary despite reaching statistical significance.
Post-intervention analysis indicated significant improvements in HR (-4.62%, p=0.01), systolic BP (-3.6%, p=0.001), diastolic BP (-5.16%, p=0.004), and shooting performance (+1.21%, p=0.01) for the EFT group compared to active control.
Controlled trial Preliminary
Mollazadeh, M., Gharayagh Zandi, H., Ghorbanzadeh, B. · 2025
29 elite Iranian taekwondo athletes were split into a group that added tapping to their training and a group that trained normally. The athletes who tapped reported feeling less anxious before competition and showed lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol in their saliva, along with more self-confidence, compared to those who didn't tap. It's a small study of a very specific athletic population, so it's a useful early signal rather than a broad conclusion.
After ten EFT sessions, the intervention group showed reductions in cognitive and somatic competitive anxiety and salivary cortisol, and increased self-confidence, compared with the training-only control group.
Outcome study Preliminary
Church, D., Downs, D. · 2012
Ten female college athletes carrying distressing memories of past sports mistakes did a single 20-minute tapping session, and their distress ratings dropped while their confidence scores rose — and those gains were still holding two months later. Their pulse rate improvement was smaller and only bordered on statistically meaningful. With just 10 athletes and no comparison group, it's a small pilot suggesting a brief tapping session can shift how athletes carry a bad memory into competition.
In 10 female college athletes given a single 20-minute EFT session, significant post-intervention improvements were found in SUD, both emotional and physical CSIR distress, and sport confidence (p=.001), with gains maintained at 60-day follow-up; change in pulse rate was only marginally significant (p=.087).
Case series Preliminary
Rotheram, M., Maynard, I., Thomas, O. et al. · 2012
One elite golfer struggling with the 'yips' — involuntary movements that wreck a golfer's stroke — went through four two-hour tapping sessions focused on a significant past event linked to when the yips started, and improved across every measure researchers tracked, including actual putting success on the course. Because this is a single-case study, it's a proof-of-concept suggesting tapping can help this specific performance condition, not evidence it will work the same way for others.
A single elite golfer with Type I 'yips' underwent four 2-hour EFT sessions targeting a significant life event linked to the condition, and showed improvements across all dependent measures — visual yips symptoms, putting success rate, and motion analysis — that transferred to competitive play.
Review Moderate rigor
Baker, A.H. · 2010
This is a methodological re-analysis, not a new trial: a researcher went back through Church's 2009 basketball free-throw data and confirmed tapping helped, but with a twist — the tapping group's own improvement wasn't a reliable effect on its own, while the comparison group got significantly worse under pressure. So the real story was EFT preventing a performance slump rather than boosting skill outright. The reanalysis flagged a ceiling effect in the task and recommended tougher free-throw tests for future studies.
A statistical re-examination of Church's (2009) basketball free-throw data confirmed the EFT group performed relatively better than controls, driven mainly by the control group's significant performance decrement rather than a significant EFT improvement; men and women contributed about equally.