EXAMPLE OF A TRAINING PROGRAM BASED ON MENTAL IMAGERY

							EXAMPLE OF A TRAINING PROGRAM BASED ON MENTAL IMAGERY FOR A TABLE TENNIS PLAYER TRAINING FOR ATHENS 2004 PARALYMPIC GAMES Brouziyne M., Molinaro C. Centre de Recherche en Activités Physique et Sportive, EA 2131 UFR STAPS de l’Université de Caen Basse-Normandie (France) Most athletes of Olympic level and their trainers confirm using or having used techniques of mental training, in particular mental imagery. From several testimonies and inquiries, we can say that mental training on the basis of mental imagery corresponds to a very real and daily practice of the athletes (Cadopi & D’Arripe-Longueville, 1998). It is, in any case, effective help during training and before a competition and its efficiency has been widely demonstrated (Martin, Moritz, & Hall, 1999). These techniques are used for a variety of purposes: motor skills learning, planning of strategies, concentration, motivation, reduction of anxiety, performance etc. This research was carried out in the context of a case study within the framework of the preparation for the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games (PGA) of a high-level French table tennis player (42 years old, Handicap: standing - class 8). He has played in competition since 1984 and has an extensive international prize list, 7 titles in individual competition and 8 in team competition (World Championship, European Championship, and Paralympic Games). He wanted to prepare mentally because of losses of self-confidence, sensations and motor coordination, added to a regressive tendency in results. The preparation lasted approximately 8 months. After some interviews, the program began with a first test kit in January 2004 and ended with the same test kit just before the departure for Athens in September. The number of programmed sessions of training varied between one and two sessions a week according to the player’s availability (competitions, training, national and international travel). Both test kits consisted in the signing of a group of questionnaires on mental imagery and a stress test (Table 1) which allowed us to verify the evolution and the results of the training program at the end of the research. Between these two test kits a program of mental training was developed on the basis of the results of the first test kit. This program corresponded at one and the same time to the physical and psychological qualities of the player and involved various techniques of mental training: the formulation of objectives, breathing, relaxation, mental imagery and the technique called the Time Line, which takes its inspiration from Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP).
Table 1: Tests results at the beginning and at the end of the program of mental training.

Kit of tests Beginning of the program End of the program Vividness of Movement Imagery Questionnaire 2,58 1,20 Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire 1,00 2,25 Mental Rotation Test 2 8 Imagery Use Questionnaire Difficult and lack of use Easy and frequent use

Test de Stress (QSG)

3,74

2,59

The findings of this study (Table 1), show several improvements from the beginning to the end of the training program. We observe progress in mental imagery in particular, the capacity to imagine a movement as tested in the Vividness of Movement Imagery Questionnaire, the capacity to manipulate mental images as tested in the Mental Rotation Test and the vividness of imagery as tested in the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire. As far as stress level is concerned, according to the Global Symptomatic Quotient or QSG calculated in the Stress Test, this declined at the same time, and selfconfidence progressed. Other improvements were also observed in the use of imagery. For example, at the end of the program, the Imagery Use Questionnaire shows higher quality along with greater ease and spontaneously more frequent use of mental imagery during the training periods as well as in the

player’s daily life. As regards the results in the PGA, the table tennis player achieved an excellent performance (2nd place). He also manifested satisfaction in terms of mastery of various situations from the point of view of the game strategies, physical by the management of effort, and psychological as far as his self-confidence level and the management of competitive stress were concerned. The techniques of this program were chosen for different reasons. The first sessions of mental imagery began after a period of training in relaxation and in deep breathing (abdominal + thoracic). Lejeune, Decker and Sanchez (1994) have shown that these techniques are necessary to optimize the efficiency of mental imagery. The contents of imagery sessions began by familiarizing the subject with the technique and with practice of various types of mental imagery in everyday life situations (visual, kinaesthetic, auditive, olfactive). Across sessions, the latter became more and more specific to the objectives. The hypothesis that training in the qualities of mental imagery is possible and that its use in the sports performance is decisive may be advanced. The technique of the Time Line (James, 1989) consists in drawing an imaginary line on the ground; this line is the representation of time and thus contains three parts (present, past, future). This technique is based on the use of the mental imagery in all its types. The principle is to travel in time by moving along the line. This would therefore allow the subject to project himself from the present (the departure point) into the future to plan and visualize a strategy, in this particular case the matches of the PGA in the same way as we can return to the past to look for qualities such as motivation or self-confidence, which we will need at specific times in the future. At the same time the formulation of objectives becomes more and more precise. These changes may be explained by the clarity with which the player perceives his objectives, the improvement in selfconfidence, the feeling of approaching the objective with mastery of the stages of preparation. The limits of this study are linked to the participation of only one subject in this program and to the use of various techniques at the same time that have already provided evidence but in isolation. In conclusion, the appeal to the mental preparation becomes an essential element in training of athletes. In this way, they can use varied procedures. Nonetheless, a training program on the basis of mental imagery is favourable, particularly for the high-level athletes, as long as we take into account the fact that it requires consideration of individual variables at the emotional, motivational and relational levels, as well as contextual variables. References Cadopi (M) et D’Arripe-Longueville (F) - Relations entre imagerie mentale et performance sportive. In: Fleurance (P) Entraînement mental et sport de haute performance, 1998, Paris : Les cahiers de l’INSEP, n° 22, pp. 165-193. James (T) - The secret of creating your future, 1989, Hawaii: Advanced Neuro Dynamics, Inc. Lejeune (M), Decker (C) et Sanchez (X) - Mental rehearsal in table tennis performance. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1994, 79, pp. 627-641. Martin (K.A), Moritz (S.E) et Hall (C.R) - Imagery use in sport. A literature review and applied model. The Sport Psychologist, 1999, 13, pp. 245-268.

Paru dans : 4th international sport sciences days : 2006 conference proceedings / entretiens de l'INSEP, November 28-November 30 . - Paris : INSEP, 2006. pp. 133-134