Efficacy of an imagery intervention to increase flow and performance in tennis competition

Imagery is one of the most powerful tools for sport psychological interventions to change cognitions and to increase performance (1). Flow is an optimal psychological state that facilitates superior performances (2). The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of an imagery intervention to enhance flow and performance. In this single-case study, we followed an advanced junior tennis player over the course of eleven tennis competition matches. After having assessed a stable baseline trend, we introduced the intervention in the form of a tennis specific imagery script. Results revealed that flow and performance increased from baseline to post-intervention phase, and that performance was more stable throughout the post-intervention phase.
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Bibliographic Details
Subjects:
Notations:sport games
Published in:Medicine and Science in Tennis
Language:English
Published: 2006
Online Access:http://www.stms.nl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=505&Itemid=277
Volume:11
Issue:1
Document types:article
Level:intermediate