Examining duration in the imagery dose-response relationship

Abstract Objectives Imagery training is an effective technique in sport psychology for skill development and enhancement at various levels of skill performance. Despite its application, there is limited evidence to inform decisions around the appropriate doses of imagery duration for performance enhancement of movement in sport and physical activity. The aim of the present study was to experimentally determine whether different imagery durations (8, 13, and 18 min durations in a session) have differential effects on the performance of free-throw shooting (FTS) in the sport of basketball. We applied a dose-response imagery protocol, in which one imagery variable was varied systematically, while other key dose variables were held constant. Methods We recruited 36 male basketball players (M age=25.17 years SD=4.26) and allocated them to one of three imagery training conditions or a control condition. Participants in the control condition had no imagery training sessions. Imagery repetitions were held constant at 20 repetitions per imagery session with a frequency of 3 imagery sessions per week over four weeks. Results The results showed that the 13- and 18-min imagery durations were more effective than the 8-min duration condition for the basketball free-throw shooting. The 13-min condition was significantly higher at post- and retention-test than at pre-test, indicating it was most effective in this study. Conclusions The findings of the present study highlight the importance of imagery duration in imagery training design and may inform coaches, sport psychologists, and athletes in designing effective programs for individual athletes.