The Effects of Mental Imagery on Free Throw Performance

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of mental imagery on free throw performance. The investigator used a pretest-posttest randomized group design consisting of three treatment groups and a control group. A total of 120 subjects were randomly assigned four groups. Subjects received either (1) mental practice, (2) physical practice, (3) a combination of mental and physical practice, or (4) no practice. The study was conducted over a period of five contact sessions lasting approximately twenty minutes each. Utilizing the analysis of multiple comparisons for ANCOVA, results demonstrated that the mental imagery group did improve their free throw shooting, although was not statistically significant. However, the combination of physical and mental practice proved to be statistically significant when compared to the control group.