The Effects of Imagery Training on Swimming Performance: An Applied Investigation

Amultiple-baseline design was used to examine the influence of an imagery intervention on the performance of swimmers' times on a thousand-yard practice set. Performance times for four swimmers were collected over a 15-week period during preseason training. The intervention took place over a 3-week period and was introduced after the fourth week of the study. The results revealed that three out of four participants significantly improved their times on the one thousand-yard practice set after being introduced to the imagery intervention. The results are discussed in terms of the implications of using imagery to improve athlete's performance on continuous tasks. I continue to visualize all my races days and weeks before they happen... I have never been to a competition, including the Olympic Games, where I didn't see myself win in my mental images before I got there. It is just part of the whole training package. Janet Evans (Ungerleider, 2005, p. 165)