The effect of imagery training on imagery skills and performance in athletes

Imagery scales (or questionnaires) in the field of sports have gained a wide area in the literature with various approaches for many years. However there are some attempts on "a scale" in our country, there have been no attempts to measure imagery skills. From this point, the first aim of the thesis is to test the Movement Imagery Questionnaire-3 on a Turkish sample and translate it into Turkish. Then, this study aimed to improve the imagery skills of football players with an imagery training program and to test this development with the mentioned questionnaire. Finally, it was aimed to reveal the difference in long pass skills of football players depending on whether they participated in the imagery training program and whether they practiced imagery or not. As a result of the validity and reliability studies, it was revealed that the Movement Imagery Questionnaire-3 measured the participants' imagery skills in three sub-dimensions. The findings were consistent with the original version of the questionnaire. The second and experimental study demonstrated that an imagery training program in which football players from different age groups and team levels participated led to a significant increase in the imagery skills of the participants compared to those who did not participate in the program. The findings are consistent with the results of similar studies in the literature that examine the effect of imagery training on imagery skills. Finally, concerning the effect of imagery training on performance, no significant difference was found between those in the control condition and those in the experimental condition. This finding is confirmed by the results of some studies in the literature. The technical and cognitive difficulty of the task given on the performance, the fact that their performance was being monitored and the fact that the participants were 'rookies' in terms of imagery training explain the lack of effect of imagery training and imagery training on performance. When the findings obtained from all studies are considered as a whole, it is suggested that even a relatively short imagery training of five sessions has significant effects on imagery and on athletes who are rookies in terms of sport.