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Athletes who think too much about missing
a shot may end up hurting, not helping, their game.
In a study of novice golfers, researchers
found that frequently
visualizing negative images -- overshooting
or undershooting the target -- before putting had
a negative effect
on putting performance, even when putters tried
to counteract the images with positive thoughts.
Positive
imagery did not benefit performance in comparison
to a control group who received no imagery instructions prior
to performance in our study.
The effects of imagery may differ when
performed during practice, rather than during actual competition,
when the stakes are higher. The effects of imagery may also
be different in professionals than in amateurs.
Students in the suppression imagery group
were also told to visualize a successful putt, but they were
also instructed not to visualize either overshooting or undershooting
the target.
The third type of imagery, suppression-replacement
imagery, included the same instructions as suppression imagery,
but students were also told that if they visualized undershooting
or overshooting the target, they should immediately visualize
putting the ball into the target zone.
For each type of imagery, there was a
group instructed to visualize before each putt and another
told to do so before every third putt.
The putting performance of students in
the positive imagery groups improved, regardless of whether
they visualized before every putt or before every third putt.
But frequently trying to suppress negative
images did not do much for participants' golf game.
The putting of those who visualized before
every putt actually worsened, even
when they were told to visualize a positive replacement image.
There is a common understanding among
athletes that thinking
too much about a particular flaw in one's
performance can backfire, making the performance even worse.
Journal
of Sport and Exercise Psychology 2001;23:200-221
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