Mahboubeh Sheikhzadeh; Robabeh Rostami; Davoud Fazeli
Abstract
Introduction: Motor imagery is one of the cognitive aspects of the tasks which is investigated as a factor affecting performance in many situations. Also, another cognitive dimension of tasks that researchers believe to play an important role in motor control and performance is mental representation. ...
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Introduction: Motor imagery is one of the cognitive aspects of the tasks which is investigated as a factor affecting performance in many situations. Also, another cognitive dimension of tasks that researchers believe to play an important role in motor control and performance is mental representation. This study aimed to determine the relationship between motor imagery ability and mental representation structure in basketball free throw.Methods: The design of this research was correlational and a convenient method of sampling was used. In this study, the Motor Imagery Questionnaire-Revised and Mental Representation Software were used as tools. The motor imagery ability of 60 female basketball players was measured and 10 participants with the highest (mean age: 16.3±2.05 years) and 10 participants with the lowest (mean age: 20.3±4.9 years) imagery ability were selected. Then, their mental representation was measured using mental representation software. The relationship between motor imagery ability and mental representation was analyzed using correlational analysis.Results: The results showed that the group with the highest motor imagery ability had a more structured mental representation which was more similar to that of criterion mental representation. Also, the results showed that there was a positive relationship between imagery and mental representation structure scores in both groups.Conclusion: These results were interpreted using the perceptual-cognitive approach. Also, these results were considered a piece of evidence for the top-down process of imagery. Achieving these results indicate that psychological skills training accompanied by technical skills training will have a critical contribution for the athletes to success in sports.
Ali Fathizadeh; Mehdi Sohrabi; Alireza Saberi Kakhki
Abstract
Introduction: The present study aimed to determine the effect of imagining the play strategies in comparison with imagining the motor skills on performance during a sports competition course.Methods: Participants were 30 (19 men, 11 women) karatekas who were evaluated as upper than moderate in terms ...
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Introduction: The present study aimed to determine the effect of imagining the play strategies in comparison with imagining the motor skills on performance during a sports competition course.Methods: Participants were 30 (19 men, 11 women) karatekas who were evaluated as upper than moderate in terms of performance level. In the beginning, participants' ability and past experiments in motor imagery were assessed. Then, they took part in a quasi-experimental design of one of three strategic imagery, movement imagery, or control groups. Each person immediately after combatting with an opponent performed the required action depending on the group and finally competed against the same previous opponent, again.Results: The results showed that karatekas had excellent imagery ability, especially in preserving the temporal characteristics of the movement, and at the past competitions, specifically before their matches, they had used both cognitive-general and cognitive-specific imagery. Also, the nonparametric analysis demonstrated that in the quasi-experimental design, the strategic imagery group gained a higher point difference during the post-test, however, the movement imagery or control group did not differ significantly.Conclusion: The research findings revealed that strategic imagery has more advantages compared to skill imagery, suggesting that strategies of play can be used between the matches as an effective factor in sports success.
