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Coaches' encouragement of athletes' imagery use. |
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Thursday, 27 December 2007 |
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A Canadian survey of coaches and athletes finds that guided imagery is consistently used more for competition than for recreational athletics, and for higher level athletes (international, national & varsity competition) .
Researchers from the School of Kinesiology at the University of Western Ontario
in London, Canada looked at whether coaches encourage their athletes to
use imagery, using a survey given to coaches and another given to
athletes. In the first, 317 athletes completed the Coaches''
Encouragement of Athletes'' Imagery Use Questionnaire. In the second,
215 coaches completed a slightly modified version of this
questionnaire.
The study found that coaches and athletes generally agreed on the relative frequency with which coaches encourage athletes to use imagery. Coaches promoted imagery use more in conjunction with competition than training and injury rehabilitation, and higher-level competition coaches encouraged imagery use far more than their recreational counterparts. In addition, the level of athlete being coached had a major impact on how much or how little coaches encouraged their athletes to use imagery. Coaches encouraged higher level athletes (i.e., international, national, varsity competitors) to use imagery more than club and recreational athletes.
Citation: Jedlic B, Hall N, Munroe-Chandler K, Hall C. Coaches' encouragement of athletes' imagery use. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport. 2007 Sep; 78 (4): pages 351-63. |
