An Examination of Ice Hockey Players' Imagery Use and Movement Imagery Ability

Abstract

Imagery is an effective performance enhancing technique for athletes (Driskell, Copper, & Moran, 1994), and therefore has been the topic of extensive investigation in the sport psychology domain. To date, the few studies that have examined imagery across position of play have neglected to examine goaltenders as a distinct position from defense. As such, comparisons can only be made between forwards and defense. The purpose of the present study was to examine influence of playing position on imagery use and movement imagery ability in elite male ice hockey players. Participants included 258 competitive male ice hockey players (n = 122 forwards, n = 68 defense, n = 68 goaltenders), between the ages of 16 and 29 years (19.12 ±1.96). Two separate MANOVAs revealed significant overall effects for both imagery frequency and imagery ability across playing position. Univariate follow-up ANOVAs found that goaltenders use significantly more MG-M and CS imagery than forwards and defense. Furthermore, it was found that goaltenders indicated clearer and more vivid images from an internal and external perspective than forwards. Findings from the present study provide sport psychologists with research that can guide the development of more individually tailored imagery interventions for ice hockey athletes.

Imagery training for reactive agility: Performance improvements for decision time but not overall reactive agility

“…IMAGERY TRAINING FOR REACTIVE AGILITY A possible alternative explanation is that imagery primes performance responses for specific stimuli that may occur. Researchers (Grouios, 1992;Hallman & Munroe-Chandler, 2009;MacIntrye & Moran, 2007) have argued that imagery is beneficial for developing the stimulus-response relationship related to specific task performance if a certain stimulus occurred rather than improving reacting. It is possible that imagery was beneficial because participants rehearsed skills associated with determining which response was required before the stimulus was presented that effectively led to quicker reactions.…”

“…Rather than improving skills associated with reacting, imagery may create a predictable link between the stimulus and response (Grouios, 1992). Athletes may imagine and rehearse 'what-if' scenarios (Hallman & Munroe-Chandler, 2009;MacIntyre & Moran, 2007) where the athlete improves performance response if certain stimuli arise. Imagery would then improve the stimulus-response performance (Boschker, Bakker, & Michaels, 2002), representing improvements to technical skill performance in reactive situations (i.e., recognizing and performing movements associated with specific stimuli) rather than reacting to stimulus unpredictability.…”

“…IMAGERY TRAINING FOR REACTIVE AGILITY technical skills in reactive situations (Grouios, 1992;Hallman & Munroe-Chandler, 2009;MacIntyre & Moran, 2007). Future research incorporating alternative practice-test conditions to examine the reactive processes should be encouraged to understand whether the skill is effectively rehearsed.…”