Imagery and shooting accuracy: Football and Handball
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https://doi.org/10.70736/jrolss.1652Keywords:
Football, handball, imagery, shooting accuracyAbstract
The aim of this research is to examine whether mental imagery is associated with shooting accuracy in the context of football and handball. This research was conducted using a quantitative research method, and the study group was determined through purposive sampling. Accordingly, the study group of 26 football players (Male: 16, Female: 10; age: 15.9±0.8 years, height: 169.7±9.6 cm, body weight: 61.9±8.5 kg) and 19 handball players (Male: 13, Female: 6; age: 15.4±1.1 years, height: 173.2±9.0 cm, body weight: 63.1±10.4 kg). The “Sport Imagery Questionnaire,” which has been validated and found reliable for the Turkish population, was used to assess imagery levels, while the “Shooting Accuracy Test” was employed to measure shooting performance. Based on the normality assumption of the data, “Pearson” correlation was used for relational analysis, and the “Independent Samples T-Test” was used for comparative analysis (α=0.05). The athletes’ average shooting accuracy score was 22.4±16.1, while their imagery score was 103.9±17.2. Although athletes demonstrated moderate to high levels of imagery, their shooting accuracy was found to be low to very low. No statistically significant relationship was found between shooting accuracy and imagery (p>0.05). However, comparative analysis showed that male athletes had significantly higher shooting accuracy than females (p<0.05). In conclusion, athletes exhibited moderate to high levels of imagery; however, no significant relationship was observed between imagery and shooting accuracy (p>0.05). In the context of this study, while mental imagery contributes to athletic performance, technical skill appears to play a more critical role. Therefore, it is recommended to implement training programs aimed at improving technical skills, along with cognitive/mental training methods.
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