Many athletes imagine victory as a method for motivating themselves, but picturing obstacles to success – and overcoming them – may be a better way to improve mental toughness and achieve their goals, according to a kinesiology researcher.
“It seems counterintuitive, but it works,” says Krista Chandler, a professor specializing in sport and exercise psychology who was recently quoted on the subject in an article in the popular magazine Men’s Health. “If you imagine you’re running a marathon, you picture what it’s like to get to the twenty second mile and not being able to continue, but then imagine yourself overcoming that adversity. That reinforces the same neural pathways as executing the behavior.”
Dr. Chandler was asked for her opinions on mental toughness after an article she co-authored about a research study on the subject appeared in the academic Journal of Applied Sport Psychology. The study involved surveying more than 150 varsity athletes to get a sense of the relationship between their use of imagery and mental toughness.
“Mental toughness is a term that’s often used in sports, but it’s such an elusive concept,” she said. “Research on the subject is still in its infancy, and only recently have some operational definitions been advanced. Until you have a definition, how can you have accurate measurement tools to assess someone’s mental toughness? That’s what coaches and athletes want. That’s the tangible aspect to it.”
Student athletes in such sports as hockey, football, basketball, volleyball, curling and track and field were asked to fill out the Sport Imagery Questionnaire, a 30-item inventory that assesses their frequency of imagery use. They were asked to grade their level of agreement with such statements as “I imagine myself successfully following my game/event plan,” “I imagine myself winning a medal,” and “I imagine myself being in control in difficult situations.”
After scoring their answers with a scale called the Mental Toughness Inventory, Chandler found that imagery use – especially motivational general-mastery (MG-M), which involves images of feeling confident and in control – is a strong and significant predictor of mental toughness.
“The more vivid the image is, the more effective it’s going to be at producing a desirable outcome,” Chandler added.
Understanding what types of imagery athletes use most effectively will help coaches and athletes nurture the skill and incorporate it into their training, and ultimately improve their results, Chandler said.
“There is increasing demand for strategies aimed at the development of mental toughness,” she said “so it’s essential to clarify precisely which techniques should be included in psychological skills training programs aimed at developing or enhancing this construct.”