An understanding of the effects of imagery on performance is well documented (Weinberg, 2008). However, most of the research has been conducted examining adult athletes (Hall, 2001); few studies have investigated the characteristics of youth sport performers imagery use. Participants from a United Kingdom sports academy included 74 individuals (42 male, 32 female), with a mean age of 16.76 (SD = 0.72). The sample included 24 national, 23 county, and 27 club athletes from a total of 13 sports. Participants completed the Sport Imagery Questionnaire (SIQ; Hall et al., 1998) and the Vividness of Movement Imagery Questionnaire (VMIQ; Issac et al., 1986). Participants were grouped according to competitive level, practice volume, and imagery ability. Results indicated that athletes use motivational general-mastery imagery most frequently with motivational general-arousal used the least. There was also a significant difference between practice volume and subsequent imagery use. The results suggest that applied practitioners' working with youth sport performers should consider practice volume as a potential characteristic that influences the frequency of imagery use.
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