Athlete Imaging | Martial Arts Larry Foisy

The purpose of this research was to examine differences in the content and type of images of college track and field athletes with different levels of athletic confidence.

Since previous research had already shown a positive link between images and confidence in sport, subsequent research continued by more specifically exploring the content of images and the state of confidence in sport. The content analysis of the images offers different categories, which also serve as the basis for the SIQ test (Sport Imagery Questionnaire). These categories are: – MGM: general motivational images of mastery, linked to mental strength, concentration and self-confidence – MGA: general motivational images of activation, linked to activation, anxiety and stress – MS: specific motivational images, linked to the application of emotions and mental aspects to specific situations – CG: general cognitive images, linked to game concepts and strategies – CS: specific cognitive images linked to techniques and details of the task.

Already in 1996, a link between confidence status and motivational imagery was established in inline skaters at the North American Junior Championships, athletes with high sports confidence states used more MGM and MGA than those with low states. According to Martin et al. (1999), the relationship between different types of imagery and behavioral, affective and cognitive responses is influenced by the degree of effectiveness of visual and kinesthetic imagery and the results of their research point in this direction since athletes with a high sports confidence trait are better at visual and kinesthetic imagery than those with a low confidence trait.

Finally, although previous research has focused on the state of confidence, the authors of this research believe it is justified to direct their interest towards the trait of sports confidence.

Methodology
The 111 NCAA Division 1 college track and field athletes were assessed by Vealy’s 1986 Trait Sport Confidence Inventory (TSCI) and divided into two high and low sport confidence trait groups. They were subsequently measured with the Sports Imagery Questionnaire (SIQ) of Hall, 1998 on the categories MGM, MGA, MGS, CG, CS, as well as with the Motion Imagery Questionnaire-Revised (MIQ-R) of Hall and Martin, 1997 on visual or kinesthetic ability.

Results
When athletes with a high sports confidence trait are compared with those with a low level of the trait, they: 1- use all types of images more 2- have higher averages of use of visual or kinesthetic skills 3- show a significant difference in the frequency of use of images On the other hand, 1- the 2 groups use more MGM and MGA images and less MGS 2- There are no significant differences between the 2 groups on visual or kinesthetic skills Discussion The results are in line with previous studies by Moritz et al., (1996) but add that athletes with a high level of confidence in sport use motivational imagery (MS), general cognitive imagery (CG) and more specific cognitive imagery (CS). Furthermore, it appears that general mastery motivation (GMM) images are best for increasing confidence.

Conclusions
The link between image content and trust is quite well established, but their images and goals still need to be verified by the perception of the athletes themselves. It would also be necessary to verify the dimension of individual sport compared to team sport.