Psychophysiological response to men doubles competition in elite badminton players

Abstract

The biosocial model is the most important hypotheses to interpret the relationship between testosterone and social competition and social status seeking. According with this model, victor men increase T levels and defeated men drop after losing and high postgame cortisol levels. Badminton could be an excellent sport to study the psychophysiological response to competition. We present a study in 18 elite men double players randomly chosen from the XXIII Spanish International Badminton Tournament: age 21.51 +/- 3.22 years; BMI 22.80 +/- 1.49 kg/m(2). Saliva sampling (to estimate hormonal concentrations), CSAI-2, blood lactate and rating of perceived exertion was taken. Pregame and postgame hormonal response showed that testosterone levels increase after winning (z = -2.366, p = .018) and drop after losing (z = -2.934, p = 0.003). Postgame cortisol levels decrease after winning (-23.90 %, z = -2.366, p = 0.018) and were significantly higher in defeated men (128.28%, z = -2.934, p = 0.003). Psychological measures and postgame lactate concentrations showed no differences between groups, nevertheless rating of perceived exertion was higher in losers (z = -3.303, p = 0.001). Hormonal response patterns to men doubles badminton competition was congruent with the biosocial model: victor men double players showed testosterone rises and cortisol drops after win a match, while defeated men showed important rises in cortisol.