Abstract
Present studies have investigated how much effective imagery is and have looked into how this sport psychology concept has been associated with athletes’ performance in sports. 74 participants took part (46 female, 28 male) of ages between 17 and 45 from national players in a number of sports tournaments in Malaysia. Questionnaires were administered and results analyzed accordingly.
Imagery
From time immemorial, Sports has become one of the many ways that human beings entertain themselves. While others participate in tit for pleasure, others take part in sports as a profession. Athletes in sports have different ways of encouragement and imagery is one of them. Imagery in sports is explicably defined as the deliberate or unintentional making or remaking of an experience that has been bred from information that otherwise with real stimulus in absentia and this is explained that it could in many case have either psychological and physiological consequences on the person taking part. It is equally defined as the imagination by these athletes that they are taking part in an activity in which they present themselves as doing a well and are succeeding. This means that they should feel as if they are satisfied with what they are doing and have self pride. Imagery dictates that athletes are fully involved with all their senses that include feel, smell, touch, and sight and actually participate in an activity as though they would have done in real life. In addition, the moment that an athlete makes himself/herself full relaxed, mental imagery takes over.
It is profound that imagery is a very fundamental part of sporting activities and would play a very crucial role in preparing athletes for the real task of taking part in the a game or tournament and would therefore initiate their success (Veale & Greenleaf, 2006). Evidently, it is worth noting that in the cotemporary world of sports, quite a number of athletes and their coaches have made a recognition towards imagery and are making it part of their sporting activity and due to this considerable improvement in many features of sports has been attributed to their move. Lazarus and Folkman (1984), positively explain that imagery has a very strong relationship with performance in sports. Though physically applicable, athletes have found an uphill task in trying to explain in words how imagery has helped them in their performance and only a few are able to do so. Lazarus and Folkman (1984), indicate that some of the individual goals can be met using imagery system, but notes that it could be more efficient when the purpose is clearly defined.
This interesting concept of imagery has been applicable in a considerable diversity of contexts as posited by Lazarus (1991), whose idea states that sports imagery is possibly termed as the complete involvement of the senses of an athlete to generate and regenerate in his mind, an experience in sports with the absolute purpose of great sports performance enhancement that is applicable both in training and in a real competition. Lazarus (1991) clearly explains where the brain of an individual assembles information from which an image that is meaningful is built. From this explanation, it is imperative to note that many athletes have the ability to have a vivid account of their previous experiences in sports and with reference to Lazarus (1991), most of the research conducted on imagery has been concerned with the outcome of cognitive trials of skills associated with sports on performances that follow. For example; a rugby player is vividly able to remember the time he was severely tackled in the pitch. It is also possible for an athlete to conceptualize images of events that are yet to occur by accordingly referring to the credible information that they had already store in their minds.
Besides the use of imagery in play again information, it can also be applicable in producing new experiences. In other words, imagery is a creation of the memory of an individual. A clear explanation is that an athlete ought to allow his mind to create images in his memory that would enable him or her do what they need to. In relation, athletes that tend not to have a stronger control of imagery in their minds and those that have inadequate self-confidence are capable at one point of replicating the same faults in their imagery. An example is a runner who incidentally experiences severe fatigue on that final leg of a competition. This is an example of a very negative image that may be counterproductive and may in future have a daunting effect on the performance of the athlete.
Imagery that is performed in sports can be termed as sports imagery which is the same as mental imagery (Taylor & Wilson, 2005). Some scholars have used some terms as mental rehearsal, visualization and mental practice to make reference to some of the elements of imagery in sports. The following study seeks to correlate both imagery and strategies of coping in sport.
Strategies of Coping in Sports
The word coping has the definition of tactics, responses behavior or cognitive characters in sports. One is either able to notice the act of coping by observation or by introspection. This incorporates events that are inward and those that are evident and open. Coping process of quite vibrant and deals with both attempts considered being behavioral or cognitive in nature. It involves addressing external and internal forces that go above the reserve of individual’s sustainability. Coping therefore, can be used to surmount this kind of problem experienced in by athletes. An individual’s behavioral, cognitive and affective efforts to handle these kinds of challenges is said to be coping. This is very much recommended for athletes to handle stressors that they are faced with since sports have some different forms of stresses.
Research problem
Findings of research on the connection between imagery and strategies of coping in sports are deficient in Malaysia and this is brought about by the fact hat athletes are devoid of proper information and guidance. This is one of the problems as discovered in the study. Use of imagery is more profound in tournaments than in trainings. It is worth noting that imagery and strategies of coping are a key in improving performance of athletes. The choice of this study is to probe into the effectiveness of imagery and strategies of coping in sports, more so for national competitors.
Purpose of study
The aim of the study is to scrutinize the efficiency of using imagery and strategies of coping in performance in sports in different levels of contribution.
Methodology
74 respondents took part (46 female, 28 male). They were Malaysian athletes in different sport activities (hockey, football, netball etc). Questionnaires were used and were specifically aimed at the University of Selangor and few from outside. Age level was between 17 and 45.
Procedure
Quantitative figures were used to investigate imagery and skills of coping of the athletes who were given questionnaires to complete in 5 minutes. The respondents had already consented to taking part in the study.
Discussion
In attempting to investigate the efficiency of imagery and the strategies in the performance in sports, the results turned out to be positive. The result indicated that of the total 74 respondents who participated in the study, only 58 were willing. An analytical framework developed discovered the critical roles through which sports performance is influenced by imagery, both cognitive and motivational. The athletes who were regular in competitions were more of achievers that the beginners in terms of psychological and physiological competency. This is the reason the country’s athletes attain gold medals at world competitions.
Conclusion
It is clear from the results of the study that imagery skills and the strategies of coping were related and had effects on individual’s performance in sports. They are both practices that involve the minds and can augment to the performance of athletes. Imagery is fundamental in improving learning skills and helped in gaining self-confidence. According to (Taylor & Wilson, 2005), among athletes with higher skills and cognitive elements of it, there was a much stronger relationship between imagery and strategies of coping. Further study is however intended to bring out more comparison of the gender in relation to imagery and strategies of coping among athletes.
References
Lazarus, R. S. (1991). Emotion and adaptation. New York: Oxford University Press.
Lazarus, R.S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal and coping. New York: Springer
Taylor, J & Wilson, G. (2005). Applying Sport Psychology: Four Perspectives. Boston: Mc GrawHill.117-134
Veale, R.S. & Greenleaf, C.A. (2006). Seeing is believing: Understanding and using Imagery in Sports. Boston: McGraw Hill.