Abstract

The use of mental imagery by rowers was assessed by administering the Imagery Use Questionnaire (IUQ) to 348 rowers at high school, college, and national team levels. Most rowers reported using imagery and indicated they also had been exposed to and used other mental training techniques. They reported using imagery most just prior to competition. They indicated using more internal than external imagery, and reported that incorporating feel into their images was an important aspect of their imagery sessions. However, their imagery sessions were not very structured or regular and varied in duration. A discriminant function analysis conducted to determine which of the imagery use items best distinguished between novice and elite rowers showed that elite rowers had more structure and regularity to their imagery sessions. Novices indicated seeing themselves rowing incorrectly more often than the elite rowers, while experienced rowers more often saw themselves executing a prerace routine. Elite rowers reported feeling their blade, muscles, parts of the stroke, body swing, boat swing and shell run more often than the novice rowers. Verf.-Referat