The effect of EFT (emotional freedom techniques) on soccer performance

Randomized trial⚖️ vs. no EFT (control condition)Moderate rigor✓ Source-checked📍 United Kingdom

In plain English. 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.

What they found

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.

How the study worked

Who took partEnglish ladies soccer players

What they didIn a randomized controlled trial, participants were randomly assigned to receive tapping or a comparison condition, then measured and compared.

Compared withno EFT (control condition)

Measured withgoal scoring from dead ball situations

💡 Where this could help

If this composure effect on dead-ball scoring keeps replicating across sports, picture athletes at any level, school teams, amateur leagues, self-administering a short pre-game tapping routine to settle nerves before a high-pressure moment like a penalty kick, without needing a sports psychologist on staff or present at all. That kind of accessible mental-game tool could matter for teams and individual athletes who can't afford dedicated sports psychology support.

🔬 What to study next

The next step is testing whether this composure effect shows up physiologically in the moment — heart rate or salivary cortisol right before a penalty kick, or even EEG measures of pre-shot focus — rather than relying only on the scoreboard. Replicating this across other precision sports, like basketball free throws or golf putting, and testing whether a single pre-game session is enough or regular practice builds a more durable skill, would also clarify how far this effect generalizes.

The full record

Design	Randomized trial
Population	English ladies soccer players
Comparison group	no EFT (control condition)
Outcome measures	goal scoring from dead ball situations
Journal	Fidelity: Journal for the National Council of Psychotherapy
Year	2012
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Method	EFT / tapping
Publication type	Study / trial
Verification	✓ Confirmed against the primary source

Read the original study →

Cite this study

APA

Llewellyn-Edwards, T., & Llewellyn-Edwards, M. (2012). The effect of EFT (emotional freedom techniques) on soccer performance. Fidelity: Journal for the National Council of Psychotherapy.

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 Athletic Performance