Imagery Improves Reaction Time in Elite Sprinters

Muhammad Talha Iftikhar

, Cliff J. Mallett

and Mohammad Asghar Javed

School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences,The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

Department of Sports Sciences, The University of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan

Keywords: Mental Practice, 100 Meters Start, Elite Athletes.

Abstract: Motor imagery has been found to be helpful for developing skills in sport. Motor imagery (MI) helps an

athlete to visualize simple or complex motor activities in the absence of physical practice. Few studies have

inspected the effects of motor imagery on trained individuals. The purpose of this study was to investigate the

effects of motor imagery on reaction time. Differences in reaction time can make a difference in terms of the

overall performance (time, ranking). Twenty-four male and female National elite athletes (12 male; age:

22.92+1.73 years and 12 female; age: 22.67+1.67 years), who participated in this study, were classified into

two (2) groups. Participants were classified according to data from a pretest in which they recorded their

reaction time (ms) on starting blocks and a 30 meters race time (s). The control group (N=12) carried out the

practice physically and the imagery (intervention) group (N=12) firstly carried out the practice mentally and

then physically with the control group. Motor Imagery was conducted on the experimental group for fifteen

(15) minutes every day for two (2) weeks. At the end of two (2) weeks, a post-test was conducted to examine

any intervention effects. The data were analyzed by a paired t-test. The findings revealed that imagery group

athletes improved more than the control group (p < 0.05). A couple of the athletes from the physical practice

group (no intervention) showed better results than the imagery group, but the researcher observed the potential

reason behind this enhancement might have been due to the competitive atmosphere created due the

experiment for which they put their best to beat the other group in the post test.

1 INTRODUCTION

Motor learning is considered central to enhance motor

skill acquisition. Furthermore, mental practice of

these motor skills has the potential to supplement the

practical experiences for a better and faster learning

of motor skills. Mental practice involves athletes to

review certain skills and perfecting them in their mind

without performing them practically

(Mohammadpour et al., 2012). Recent studies have

found substantial evidence to support the fact that the

use of imagery has little effect on the improvement of

sport performance but when it comes to elite sporting

endeavors, even an improvement in reaction time can

have dramatic impact (Nelson et al., 1994). For

example, difference between the world top sprinters

are in milliseconds (i.e., Bolt: 9.58s, Gay: 9.69s,

Blake: 9.69s, Powell: 9.72s, Gatlin: 9.74s, Carter:

9.78s). Thus, even a minor improvement in reaction

time might have an important performance effect in

athletic events. The objective of the present study is

to assess the implications and role of mental practice

on the effective reaction time responses

(performance) of elite athletes.

The philosophy behind the emergence of sports

psychology, as a branch of psychology, is focused

partly on providing assistance to coaches in teaching

motor skills to the athletes (Mohammadpour et al.,

2012). Self-focused attention is a process that surges

personal awareness as well as it is exceptionally

connected with personal evaluation (Silvia and

Phillips, 2013). As with other forms of self-focused

attention, imagery is hypothesized to include a

process of evaluation. The images generated are

believed to prompt comparisons between the

imagined activities and actual performances (Hall,

2001). In this manner, researchers have demonstrated

the positive effects of imagery to enhance

performance. Imagery can be used to help athletes

who are injured to continue to develop their motor

skills as well as a supplementary activity to physical

practice.

The key difference between mental and physical

practice is associated with the practical experience of

the physical practice (Haier et al., 2005). All

Iftikhar, M., Mallett, C. and Javed, M.

Imagery Improves Reaction Time in Elite Sprinters.

DOI: 10.5220/0006898300270033

In Proceedings of the 6th International Congress on Sport Sciences Research and Technology Support (icSPORTS 2018), pages 27-33

ISBN: 978-989-758-325-4

processes of motor planning and preparation are

activated when an athlete initiates the mental

imagination of a certain skill or practice, with the

same magnitude of performing that activity. Motor

imagery has been connected with neural changes

(Davis et al., 2008; Davis et al., 2012) that are reliable

with the methods that persuade self-focused attention

(Ma and Han, 2011; Qin and Northoff, 2009).

Davis supports the idea that self-focused imagery

used by athletes may stimulate personal evaluations

that change psychological conditions as well as

physiological conditions, which are considered

beneficial for sport performance. For example, when

presented with self-referenced stimuli and asked to

imagine a previous performance, athletes with higher

success rates report more positive impact, less

negative effect, and amplified blood oxygen-level

dependent (BOLD) activation in the appropriate

premotor cortex, that is, the sensorimotor cortex

(Davis et al., 2012). The slower the stimulus

recognition, the slower the reaction movement. A

delay of even one hundredth of a second can cost an

athlete a podium position in the professional track and

field sprint events.

Electrophysiological studies on the brain have

confirmed that cerebral potential amplitude surges

when a new skill is acquired, specifically in the

premotor prospective, which is the “decision-to-act”

part of reaction time; elite athletes have higher

potential of predictability compared to novice athletes

(Collet, 1999). This neuroscientific research supports

the view that reaction time is both learned and

trainable.

An elite athlete can prepare himself for the

optimal performance before any major competition

by mentally rehearsing a routine before physically

engaging themselves. Through imagery, athletes can

build their confidence for a match and focus on

playing at their peak. The value of imagery is

supported by research, in the absence of physical

practice, such as during travel, weather conditions,

injury or any other unfortunate circumstances. It

allows an athlete to review former actions and skills,

so they can add accuracy and correct errors (Morris et

al., 2005). Motor imagery is very useful for

rehabilitation in order to boost an athlete’s

performance in the future and it is currently

categorized as a very important area of work

regarding the motor imagery researchers (Poolton et

al., 2006). International athletes like Michael

Johnson, gold medalist of four Olympic and eight

World Championships, former world and Olympic

record holder in the 200m and 400m as well as the

world record holder in the indoor 400m, talks about

of what he calls the “danger zone” in which he creates

a competitive mind-set on the day of the race, in

which he uses positive thoughts and images to block

out all the distractions (Vealey and Greenleaf, 2001).

Visual self-processing approaches like imagery

are repeatedly applied to enhance sport performance

through various affective and motivational functions

(Martin et al., 1999). Like other forms of self-

perception, mental imagery is an internal

psychological activity that stimulates conscious poly-

sensory experiences of objects observed in the past

practices or may follow (Hall, 2001; Vealey and

Greenleaf, 2001). Motor imagery is one of the most

significant processes for mental practice. This process

involves reviewing of a certain sport skill in their

mind without practically performing it. Learners

review different parts of performance and visualize

doing it successfully and even become the world

champions.

According to Personnier and colleagues (2008),

mental and physical practice have a shared neural

mechanism, and the required time for performing a

task is equivalent to the time needed for imagining the

same. And when the level of a task elevates, the time

required for practically performing it along with

mentally imagining it also increases.

Experimental research by Brouziyne and

Molinaro (2005) shows that the novice athletes could

achieve the skill of performing a golf shot. In this

research, the highest level of improvement, among

the three groups, was observed in the combined

physical and mental practice group. This research

also revealed that imagery is capable of developing

motor skills and performance enhancement, even in

the novice performers (Brouziyne and Molinaro).

Preliminary evidence exists to support the idea that

development in motor performance next to physical

practice has higher effect than mental practice alone,

but mental practice empowers an athlete to learn

motor prediction and motor learning (Gentili et al.,

2006).

Majumdar and Robergs (2011) researched on two

different parts of a sprinter’s response time, reaction

time and movement time. From the beginning of

motion of the rear foot, off the block, until that same

foot hits the ground; so, the response time is a

collective measure of both reaction time and

movement time that is from initial stimulus to initial

foot strike (Majumdar and Robergs, 2011). Reaction

time is the ability of an individual to move the whole

or a part of his body in the shortest possible time, for

example: swimmer leaving the starting pad; a thrower

putting the shot; karate player moves his hand, or a

wrestler makes a certain move to perform a wrestling

icSPORTS 2018 - 6th International Congress on Sport Sciences Research and Technology Support

technique. Reaction time is the interval between

reception of the stimulus by a certain part of the body

and responding to it. (Mohammadpour et al., 2012).

Reaction time is known as a vital feature in the

world of Track and Field. This technical resource

makes the elite athletes superior from the rest. Magill

and Anderson defined reaction time as the time

interval between the inception of a stimulus to the

initiation of a response (Magill and Anderson, 2013).

According to Iulian, 2012, foundation of the one’s

reaction pathway to the brain is the neuromuscular

and psychomotor connections. Athlete’s ability to

react against a stimulus is dependent upon his

learning experience, age, gender and his mental state

(Iulian, 2012).

Multiple researchers have explored the effects of

imagery on the force production (Guillot, and Collet,

2008; Lebon et al 2010). Studies have inspected the

effects of imagery on a bicep curls, leg presses,

standing long jumps, bench presses and a range of

other movements, and found positive results on some

fundamentals of force production (Guillot and Collet,

2008; Lebon et al., 2010). Many athletes and coaches

already use imagery to improve performance

(Holmes and Collins, 2001) but few studies have

observed the effects of imagery contribution on

reaction time to improve athletic performance.

Undoubtedly, in a sporting performance, the

athlete needs to perform a certain skill as fast as

possible, as the key to success relies on that certain

reaction time in which he makes that decision

psychologically and applies it physically. The

importance of reaction time is revealed when you

observe an athlete wins over his opponent only with

a fraction of a second’s difference. Many examples

can be observed in a 100m sprint event where

milliseconds can separate medalists from non-

medalists. Furthermore, a good versus poor start

might provide sprinters with increased self-efficacy

to perform at their best in a race.

1.1 Objective of Study and Hypothesis

The primary aim of this study was to assess the role

of imagery on improving reaction time responses

(performance) of elite athletes in Pakistan. The

primary hypothesis was that imagery will improve

reaction time in elite sprinters.

2 METHOD

2.1 Participants

The sample comprised of twenty-four (24) elite

national athletes, twelve (12) male and twelve (12)

female, were selected for this study. Average age of

the athletes was 22.83+1.69. Although they had been

participating sprint training for at least three (3) days

a week for more than four (4) months, but they had

no prior formal imagery training with a sport

psychology consultant or coach.

2.2 Research Instruments

Motor Imagery, Starting Blocks and Electronic

Timer.

2.3 Study Design

2.3.1 Procedure

Sample of twenty-four (24) male and female athletes

performed three (3) block starts and 30-meter runs,

from which the best time for both variables were

recorded for further analyses. Based on pretest

performance, athletes were divided into two groups,

controlled and experimental. Controlled group

comprised six (6) male and six (6) female elite

athletes with the mean age of 23+1.76 years. Same

number of male and female athletes were included in

the experimental group with average age of

22.67+1.67 years.

Controlled group of twelve (12) athletes’ camp

training under their coaches was not interrupted

during the two (2) weeks experiment. Experimental

group was physically trained for two (2) weeks along

with controlled group and before their physical

training session, they had Motor Imagery (MI)

practice every day for fifteen (15) minutes.

For Motor Imagery (MI), PETTLEP model

(Holmes and Collins, 2001) was used. Fifteen (15)

minutes of imagery was divided into two

components: for the first five (5) minutes the athletes

were guided through deep breathing, so that they can

relax and gain control of their physiological responses

such as heart rate. For the next ten (10) minutes sport

specific motor imagery script was created, in which

athletes were instructed to focus on their event-

specific personal feelings and thoughts. The athletes

were guided through the event-specific imagery and

asked to use the last three (3) minutes for their own

imagery in which they could concentrate on minute

details when taking a crouch start.

Imagery Improves Reaction Time in Elite Sprinters

At the end of two (2) weeks training period, all the

athletes were asked to record their reaction time (ms)

and 30 meters time (s) again for the posttest.

2.3.2 Data Analysis

IBM SPSS Statistics 22 was used to perform the

statistical analyses. Descriptive statistics (means and

standard deviations) were calculated for all variables.

Paired samples t-tests were applied to conclude

differences between treatment and no-treatment

conditions for all dependent variables. To compare

the improvement in both the groups independent

sample t-test was used. The statistical significance

level was set at p<0.05.

3 RESULTS

To test the main hypothesis, a paired sample t-test

was conducted on the pretest and the posttest results

of control (see Table 2) and Imagery (see Table 4)

groups respectively. The results of paired t-test

showed non-significant (p>0.05) difference between

mean times of pre and post results of the participants

of the control group. The results of the Imagery group

(intervention) showed that there was a significant

(p<0.05) difference between mean times of pre and

post results for the participants in this study. Indeed,

the motor imagery training showed a significant

(p<0.05) effect on the performance of the elite

athletes (imagery intervention).

4 DISCUSSION

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of

motor imagery on reaction time. An experimental

research was conducted to analyze this issue. The

study on reaction time revealed positive impact of

mental practice while comparing pre and post test

results. In this experiment all the participants were

very interested and put their best efforts in two (2)

weeks training session and on the other hand the

imagery group showed great enthusiasm and focus in

their both physical and mental practice sessions. The

analysis of the current study has been analyzed by

paired t-test. The findings revealed that Experimental

group improvement was more rapid and significant

than the controlled group. Within the first half of the

experiment, improved running style and body

coordination in the imagery group participants was

observed by the researcher and the coaches, which

leads the author to believe that they were not only

rehearsing the crouch start but also the other

components in the imagery sessions. Couple of

athletes from the physical practice group showed

better results than the imagery group, but the

researcher observed the reason behind this

enhancement was due to the competitive atmosphere

created due the experiment for which they put their

best to beat the other group in the post test. Future

studies may target these intrinsic factors that might

help in improving training effort.

There were 24 participants in this study and

results cannot be generalized to the whole sprinting

population in Pakistan, future studies might look into

greater sample size for more accurate results. This

investigation contributes to the current knowledge

that Motor Imagery (MI) can be used to improve

reaction time in Pakistani elite sprinters which leads

to a better race time.

All the athletes included in this research were

highly motivated and showed maximum interest. The

study was conducted in a limited time; for more

intensive results, this kind of research should be

conducted for longer period and should also focus on

different components of the race.

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Imagery Improves Reaction Time in Elite Sprinters

APPENDIX

Table 1: Paired Samples Statistics for Reaction Time (ms) and 30m time (s) Control Group.

Mean

Std. Deviation

Std. Error Mean

Correlation= r

Sig.

Pair 1

Reaction Time Pretest

204.33

48.044

.983

.994

.000

Reaction Time Posttest

202.75

42.879

Pair 2

30m Pretest

4.433

.563

.975

.994

.000

30m Posttest

4.425

.557

SD=Standard deviation, SE=Standard error of mean, r=Correlation, p=Probability value

Table 2: Paired Samples Test for Reaction Time (ms) and 30m time (s) Control Group.

Paired Differences

Sig. (2-

tailed)

Mean

Std.

Deviation

Std. Error

Mean

95% Confidence Interval of the

Difference

Lower

Upper

Pair 1

Reaction Time Pretest

- Reaction Time

Posttest

1.583

7.280

2.101

-3.042

6.209

.753

.467

Pair 2

30m Pretest - 30m

Posttest

.008

.0607

.0175

-.0302

.0469

.475

.644

SD=Standard deviation, SE=Standard error of mean, CI=Confidence Interval, Df= Degree of Freedom, p=Probability value

Table 3: Paired Samples Statistics for Reaction Time (ms) and 30m time (s) Experimental Group.

Mean

Std. Deviation

Std. Error

Mean

Correlation= r

Sig.

Pair 1

Reaction Time Pretest

207.50

57.450

16.584

.983

.000

Reaction Time Posttest

195.83

48.889

14.113

Pair 2

30m Pretest

4.411

.513

.148

.975

.000

30m Posttest

4.315

.482

.139

SD=Standard deviation, SE=Standard error of mean, r=Correlation, p=Probability value

Table 4: Paired Samples Test for Reaction Time (ms) and 30m time (s) Experimental Group.

Paired Differences

Sig. (2-

tailed)

Mean

Std.

Deviation

Std. Error

Mean

95% Confidence Interval of

the Difference

Lower

Upper

Pair 1

Reaction Time Pretest

- Reaction Time

Posttest

11.667

12.950

3.738

3.439

19.895

3.121

.010**

Pair 2

30m Pretest - 30m

Posttest

.097

.115

.0332

.023

.170

2.906

.014**

SD=Standard deviation, SE=Standard error of mean, CI=Confidence Interval, Df= Degree of Freedom, p=Probability value

icSPORTS 2018 - 6th International Congress on Sport Sciences Research and Technology Support

Table 5: Group Statistic Pre-Post Difference.

Mean

Std. Deviation

Std. Error Mean

Reaction Time

Imagery

11.667

12.95

3.738

Control

1.583

7.280

2.101

30m Time

Imagery

0.966

0.115

0.033

Control

0.008

0.061

0.018

SD=Standard deviation, SE=Standard error of mean

Table 6: Independent Samples Test for Pre and Post Difference.

t-test for Equality of Means

Sig. (2-tailed)

Mean

Difference

Std. Error

Difference

95% Confidence Interval of the

Difference

Lower

Upper

RT Improvement (ms)

2.351

.028

10.083

4.288

1.190

18.977

30m Improvement (s)

2.349

.028

8.833

3.760

1.035

16.631

SD=Standard deviation, SE=Standard error of mean, CI=Confidence Interval, Df= Degree of Freedom, p=Probability value

Imagery Improves Reaction Time in Elite Sprinters