Year: 2020
Type: article
Study design: Clinical Trial
Abstract: Athletes commonly use imagery to improve performance by mentally practicing a physical action without explicit physical movement.The ability to image is a trainable skill and a crucial factor influencing the efficacy of an imagery intervention.The purpose of the current study was to determine an appropriate duration of an intervention to improve the ability of generating images.Experienced golfers (n=12) were instructed to practice a personalized imagery script for 15 minutes, three days per week for six weeks.During each weekly visit to the laboratory, participants were evaluated on imagery ability, measured by the Sport Imagery Ability Questionnaire (SIAQ), and putting performance, recorded by successfully made putts and average distance from the hole of missed putts.A one-way repeated-measures ANOVA statistical test comparing the SIAQ scores at seven different times found significant effects, F(6, 66) = 18.17, p < .001.Follow-up dependent t tests revealed that scores increased significantly from baseline to week 1, t(11) = -3.38,p = .006,and again from week 2 to week 3, t(11) = -3.61,p = .004.A secondary purpose of the study was to determine if putting performance improved during the course of an imagery intervention.Two one-way repeated-measures ANOVA's to compare the number of successfully made putts and the average distance of missed putts did not yield significant effects; F(6,66) = .959,p > .05,and F(6,66) = 2.08, p > .05,respectfully.Multiple Pearson's correlation coefficients examining the relationship between imagery ability and putting performance did not find any significant (p > .05)results.While considering the immense time constraints athletes typically have to devote to mental-skills training, the results of the existing study suggest applying an imagery intervention for a three-week duration to reach optimal imagery performance.Further research is still needed to confirm the trajectory of imagery ability to achieve a peak.
Author: A. L. London
Language: English
Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3190231283