Volume 17, Issue 1

Objectives The influence of mental imagery training on the performance of adolescent basketball players in free-throw task was examined using an experimental design and the results revealed significantly better improvement among players who practiced using mental imagery compared to the control group. Methods The training program was based on adjusted MIIMS imagery model, and 81 basketball players (aged 13–17) from five junior competition-level teams were divided into two groups: an experimental group and a control group, where players practiced free throws only physically. Players from both groups underwent a total of 14 training sessions at the end of practices during a 7-week period. Their performance in a free-throw task was measured pre- and post-intervention along with multiple factors that could influence changes in performance. Results Comparison of groups with both parametric and non-parametric tests revealed a significant improvement in the experimental group and non-significant improvement in the control group. Furthermore, correlation and regression analyses discovered several statistically significant factors that might influence the performance change. Conclusions The findings not only help in understanding the role of imagery in training routines of young athletes, but they also reveal several methodological implications for future research.

Objectives For several decades, a growing number of studies have highlighted that imagery-based suggestions, can efficiently influence motor control and perception. In the present study, we tested whether imagery-based suggestions without hypnotic induction might influence physical resistance performance and effort perception in the context of French firefighters’ usual training. Methods A group of 18 male firefighters had to keep the wall-sit posture as long as they could while listening to different scripts. In the first condition, imagery was related to Lightness. In the second one, it was related to Heaviness. In the Control condition, they just had to listen and pay attention to series of two-digit numbers. Results Results showed that the participants kept the posture longer in the Lightness condition than in the Heaviness one. Furthermore the effort was perceived as less difficult in the Lightness condition in comparison to the Heaviness and the Control ones. Moreover in the Lightness condition, the higher the participants scored in visual and kinesthetic imagery tasks (MIQ-R), the less they rated the exercise as difficult. Conclusions Imagery-based suggestions significantly influenced both physical resistance performance and effort perception without any prior hypnotic induction. Further studies are necessary to better understand the factors that modulate this influence.