Dwivedi, S., Sekhon, A., Chauhan, B. · International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology · 2021
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.
Heart rate and blood pressure are hard numbers a stopwatch and cuff can verify, not something an athlete can simply report differently — seeing these vital signs move alongside better performance is objective, physiological evidence that's difficult for a skeptical sports scientist to dismiss as placebo.
If tapping keeps calming heart rate and blood pressure enough to sharpen performance under pressure, it could point toward athletes, performers, and anyone facing high-stakes moments — a job interview, a stage, a big game — having a quick physiological reset to use right before it matters most. Because it's self-administered, that reset doesn't depend on a coach or sports psychologist being present in the moment; the performer can trigger it themselves, seconds before it counts.
This is a clean physiological story — heart rate and blood pressure dropped as performance rose — so the next step is finding what's driving it: does the same routine also shift HRV (a marker of vagal/parasympathetic tone) and salivary cortisol immediately pre-competition, confirming a genuine autonomic reset rather than relaxation-by-suggestion? Testing the same protocol in other precision sports, like archery or golf putting, against an active biofeedback-based control, would show whether this is a general performance-anxiety mechanism or specific to shooting's stillness demands.
| Design | Randomized trial |
|---|---|
| Participants | 14 people |
| Population | national level 10m air pistol shooters aged 16-17 years |
| Comparison group | active control (inspirational lecture from coach) |
| Outcome measures | heart rate (HR), blood pressure (BP), shot accuracy performance |
| Journal | International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology |
| Year | 2021 |
| Country | India |
| Language | English |
| Method | EFT / tapping |
| Publication type | Study / trial |
| Verification | ✓ Confirmed against the primary source |
Dwivedi, S., Sekhon, A., & Chauhan, B. (2021). Effect of Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) on heart rate, blood pressure and performance in national level shooters. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology.
This record is part of the Tapping Evidence Base — an openly-sourced, fully-referenced directory of the research on EFT/tapping. Explore more studies on Stress & Cortisol
A ready-made graphic — right-click or long-press to save the image.