From couch to ultra marathon: using functional imagery training to enhance motivation

Objectives This study evaluates ultra-marathon runners’ use of goal-setting, self-talk, and imagery as strategies to help them through the challenge of long-distance running. Methods In stage one, thirty-one self-professed non-runners were recruited and received motivational interviewing (MI) in a group setting, examining their motivation to get healthy. In stage two, five months later, participants were asked if they would consider running an ultra-marathon, and fifteen (M age=39.47, SD=5.84) agreed. At this point participants were randomly split into an MI or Functional Imagery Training (FIT) group. FIT teaches participants how to master goal centred imagery by controlling attention and elaboration. Groups received similar contact hours and completed four measures that assess grit, resilience, self-efficacy, and imagery ability at baseline and after the race. Results We found no significant differences between measures for finishers and non-finishers or between groups or over time. However, the likelihood of completing the ultra-marathon was five times as likely in the FIT group, than in MI (RR=5.25). Grit and resilience scores were strongly correlated. By receiving FIT, there was a significant association (p=0.04) to complete the ultra-marathon. Conclusions FIT is a relatively cost-effective method to increase exercise adherence through multi-sensory elaboration of goal setting and overcoming barriers or challenges.

An examination of imagery ability and imagery use in skilled golfers

Objectives The use of imagery to improve golf performance is well established and recognised as a key psychological technique in developing and maintaining excellence. However, the relationship between a golfer’s imagery ability and their imagery use is still poorly understood. The current study examined differences in participants vividness of movement imagery and imagery use and the extent their vividness of movement imagery predicted functions of imagery use. Methods One hundred and one male skilled golfers (Mage=27.80, SD=11.03) with CONGU recognised handicaps ranging from plus 4 to 5 (Mhandicap=1.32, SD=2.74) completed both the Vividness of Movement Imagery Questionnaire-2 (Roberts, R., Callow, N., Hardy, L., Markland, D., & Bringer, J. (2008). Movement imagery ability: Development and assessment of a revised version of the vividness of movement imagery questionnaire. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 30(2), 200–221) and Sports Imagery Questionnaire (Hall, C. R., Mack, D. E., Paivio, A., & Hauesenblas, H. A. (1998). Imagery use by athletes: Development of the sport imagery questionnaire. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 29, 73–89). Results The results demonstrated no significant differences between Internal and External visual imagery, however, Kinaesthetic imagery scores were significantly higher than External visual imagery scores. Significant differences in imagery use were recorded with participants reporting higher Cognitive specific imagery use scores compared to other functions of imagery use. Regression analyses indicted that golf handicap accounted for 12% in the variance of Cognitive specific imagery use with an additional 12% accounted for by Internal visual imagery and 7% Kinaesthetic imagery. For Cognitive general imagery use golf handicap accounted for 4% of the variance with Internal visual imagery adding a further 5% to the model. Conclusions Our findings highlight that vividness of movement imagery; specifically, Internal and Kinaesthetic imagery ability are significant predictors of skilled golfers Cognitive specific and Cognitive general imagery use.

Initial development of the Dance Imagery Questionnaire for Children (DIQ-C): establishing content validity

Given the differences between young dancers’ and adult dancers’ use of imagery, a valid and reliable questionnaire specific to young dancers was necessary. The current study is the first phase of a multi-phase study in the development of the Dance Imagery Questionnaire for Children (DIQ-C). Specifically, the purpose of this study was to establish content validity of the DIQ-C. This was achieved through the following three stages: (1) definition, item, and scale development, (2) assessment of item clarity and appropriateness via cognitive interviews, and (3) assessment of item-content relevance via an expert rating panel. Guided by previous qualitative research with young dancers, 46 items representing seven subscales (i.e., imagery types) were developed. The initial item pool was then implemented during cognitive interviews with 16 dancers (15 females; Mage=10.63, SD=1.82), which led to the removal of 13 items and the modification of 21 items. Consequently, the revised 33-item pool was then administered to an expert panel of four imagery researchers and four dance instructors to measure item-content relevance. This resulted in the removal of eight items, the revision of four items, and the merging of two subscales. Overall, the current study provides content validity evidence for a 25-item pool (representing five subscales) to be used in further development of the DIQ-C (i.e., identifying and establishing factor structure).

The role of visuospatial abilities in memorizing animations among soccer players

ObjectivesThe use of dynamic media such as animations for educational purposes in the sport field keeps growing. However, not adapting these information-enriched supports to learners’ perquisites can diminish their learning efficiency. In this paper, we studied the effect of visuospatial abilities (VSA) on the memorization of a dynamic tactical scene among soccer players.MethodsParticipants (N=48) performed a multitask VSA test (control test) to distinguish people with “high” and “low” VSA. Then, they were required to memorize and reproduce a dynamic sequence (main test).ResultsResults indicate a learning enhancer effect of VSA. Players with high VSA were more efficient in memorizing the sequence than those with low VSA.ConclusionResults suggest considering VSA in order to optimize learning from dynamic presentations even if participants belong to the same group. In addition, VSA training for athletes is recommended in order to enhance their learning of dynamic visual content.

Effects of PETTLEP imagery technique on precision skills: a study on drag flick in Pakistan hockey

Present study was aimed at investigating the role of Physical, Environmental, Task, Timing, Learning, Emotion and Perspective (PETTLEP) Imagery technique in the improvement of skill precision level of hockey drag flickers. For this purpose, both male (83) and female (38) hockey drag flickers (n=121) of age ranged between 17 and 27 years were selected from different hockey teams belonging to clubs, colleges, universities, departments, regional and national academies of Pakistan. Participants were made to undergo a Pretest-Intervention-Posttest research design consisted of 20 drag flicks and filling of SIAQ questionnaire. Drag Flick Precision Measurement Test (DFPMT) along with Sports Imagery Ability Questionnaire (SIAQ) were used to measure their skill precision levels and their imagery ability. The participants were classified into three categories as per their skill precision levels (Point-based), ranging from 48 Novice (upto12 points), 42 Intermediate (13–18 points) and 31 Elite (19 points and above), and were randomly assigned to one of four intervention groups; Physical Practice (PP), PETTLEP Imagery Practice (IP), Physical Practice+PETTLEP Imagery Practice Combination (CP), and No Practice (NP) Control group. Each group performed their respective tasks for 10 weeks through specially designed physical training programs aided by Imagery scripts. Paired sample t test analysis showed that all groups improved significantly (p<0.05) from pre- to post-test, and the CP group improved more with average improvement value of 8.32 for DFPMT and 5.39 for SIAQ (p<0.05) than the IP, PP and NP groups. However, there was no significant difference found between the PP (Sig. 0.73) and NP (Sig. 0.44) groups in SIAQ. Result extend prior research findings and suggests that PETTLEP Imagery practice used in combination with Physical practice has substantial impact on improving performance of complex motor skills, Present findings showed that PETTLEP imagery model was found to improve player’s precision skill levels, especially when it was combined with physical practice. However, further studies in this connection are needed.

Examining the effectiveness of an imagery intervention in enhancing athletes’ eudaimonic well-being

ObjectivesThe purpose of the present study was to examine the effectiveness of an imagery intervention on eudaimonic well-being (EWB) of soccer players using a single-subject multiple baseline design.MethodsFive female varsity level soccer players (Mage=19.80, SD=1.64) participated in the study. Each athlete engaged in eight individual imagery sessions (i.e., intervention phase) aimed at increasing EWB.ResultsVisual and statistical analyses demonstrated a small increase on EWB for two participants. However, post-intervention interviews revealed that all the players believed the intervention was beneficial and had a positive impact on their EWB.ConclusionsThe utility of employing imagery interventions for enhancing athletes’ EWB in various contexts within and outside sport was highlighted.

Women’s use and acceptability of guided imagery in a multi-behavior intervention focused on psychological stress, food cravings, and exercise

ObjectivesThe purpose of this short report was to describe the experiences of 29 overweight or obese women (Mage = 44) who completed a multi-behavior guided imagery intervention that simultaneously targeted psychological stress, food cravings, and physical activity behavior.MethodsParticipants created tailored guided imagery scripts with health coaches for daily use as part of the 5 week randomized controlled wait-list trial. Post-intervention semi-structured interviews were transcribed verbatim and content analyzed for common conceptual themes.ResultsThe results showed that 83% of the participants stated they would continue using guided imagery, <7% would not, while the remaining 10% were unsure about future usage. The perceived usefulness varied across the three behaviors.ConclusionsGuided imagery has the potential to simultaneously address multiple health behaviors. Our results shed light on how tailored guided imagery scripts can be used to help overweight and obese women manage or lose body weight.

Time of imagery’s effect on performance and self-efficacy in college baseball players

The relationships among the time of imagery use on performance and self-efficacy in college baseball players during a hitting task was examined. Participants (n=24) were randomly assigned to one of three imagery conditions: (a) before practice, (b) during practice, (c) after practice. A one-shot MG-M imagery intervention was used. Results from a 3 (imagery group) ×2 (pretest and posttest) repeated measures ANOVA showed only a significant time by imagery group interaction for self-efficacy (F (2, 21)=4.67, p<0.05). These findings suggest that imagery had a stronger psychological effect than physical effect.

The practice of imagery: a review of 25 Years of applied sport imagery recommendations

ObjectivesThe purpose of the current study was to explore the development of practical imagery recommendations in sport over the past 25 years.MethodsEmpirical journal articles (n=500) were reviewed to identify those that explored imagery in sport, contained original data, and provided practical recommendations for imagery use in applied practice (n=94). Further, a thematic analysis was employed to determine general (i.e., categories of recommendations) and specific (i.e., suggestion for applied practice) recommendations.ResultsSeven distinct general recommendations were found for imagery use in sport with a variety of specific recommendations intended for applied practice. Further, a number of specific recommendations were found repeatedly across time while others increased in complexity over time.ConclusionsThe results of the current study suggest that the literature on applied imagery use in sport is well-developed, however, concerns regarding the adoption of practical recommendations do exist. Future directions for applied imagery researchers are also forwarded.

Penalty success in professional soccer: a randomised comparison between imagery methodologies

ObjectivesThe PETTLEP model is one of the most cited forms of imagery training to enhance sporting performance, but there is limited evidence for its long-term effectiveness and it is often compared to non-imagery controls rather than other imagery techniques. We compared PETTLEP with an imagery-based behavioural change intervention, Functional Imagery Training (FIT), and assessed long-term effectiveness for enhancing professional soccer player’s penalty kick taking.MethodsThirty male professional soccer players conducted a group goal setting task, were introduced to imagery, then randomly assigned to three conditions; individual PETTLEP, group-based FIT, or a control. Baseline penalty kick success was measured, then interventions commenced lasting for a week after which, penalties were conducted again. Penalties were conducted for a third time between 15 and 17 weeks after baseline measurements.ResultsThere were no differences in baseline scores between conditions on vividness of imagery and penalty kicking. Whilst the control condition did not improve, both imagery conditions improved penalty performance after one week, as did their vividness of imagery scores. However, after 15 weeks, only the FIT for groups condition maintained improvements on penalty scores and PETTLEP returned to baseline.ConclusionsImagery is effective in improving penalty kick taking, but PETTLEP does not support long-term change, whereas the motivational approach of FIT does.