JOURNAL OF SPORT & EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY, 1990, 12, 157-166

The Effects of an Imagery Rehearsal, Relaxation, and Self-Talk Package on Basketball Game Performance

Gail Kendall, Dennis Hrycaiko, and Garry L. Martin University of Manitoba

Tom Kendall University of Winnipeg

This study investigated the effects of an imagery rehearsal, relaxation, and self-talk package on the performance of a specific defensive basketball skill during competition. Subjects were four female intercollegiate basketball players. A single-subject multiple-baseline-across-individuals design was em- ployed to evaluate the intervention package. The intervention was clearly effec- tive in enhancing a basketball skill during games, and social validity measures were very positive. The need for further research in this area is discussed.

One aspect of mental skills training that has received considerable research attention over the years is the effect of mental practice on performance. In a note- worthy review, Feltz and Landers (1983) concluded that mentally practicing a skill does enhance performance somewhat more than no practice at all. However, not all reviews of this literature have shared the optimism of Feltz and Landers. For example, Corbin (1972) more cautiously concluded that studies in this area contained too many methodological, task, and individual differences to draw defini- tive conclusions. More recently, Wollman (1986) concluded that "the effects are far from consistent. Certainly the results are too inconsistent to reasonably guar- antee experimental success in any given motor performance situation" (p. 135). What then should be the direction for future research in this area? Recent research (Andre & Means, 1986) suggests there is no guarantee that a given amount of mental practice alone will enhance the performance of a particular motor task. Therefore one alternative is to use a combination of psychological skills. Hall and Rodgers (1989) observed that applied sport psychology mental training pro- grams often examine multiple techniques used in combination. Two psychological skills often suggested in combination with imagery are relaxation and self-talk (Rushall, 1979; Vealey , 1986).

G. Kendall is with Basketball Manitoba, 1192 St. Matthews, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3G OK1. D. Hrycaiko is with the Faculty of P.E. & Recreation Studies, U. of Manitoba, Winnipeg, R3T 2N2. G.L. Martin is with the Dept. of Psychology at the U. of Manitoba. T. Kendall is with the Dept. of Recreation & Athletics at the U. of Winnipeg.

158 / Kendall, Hrycaiko, Mam'n, and Kendall

A number of research studies have demonstrated that imagery combined with relaxation is more effective than imagery alone (e.g., Suinn, 1977; Weinberg, Seaborne, &Jackson, 1981). It is usually suggested that relaxation enhances the clarity of the athlete's imaging. In addition, research has demonstrated the positive effects of self-talk for improving performance in rowing (Rushall, 1984), tennis (Zeigler, 1987), and cross-country skiing (Rushall, Hall, Roux, Sasseville, & Rushall, 1988). Self-talk can help the athlete focus on the correct cues during imagery. Moreover, Kirschenbaum and Bale (1984) as well as Hamilton and Fremouw (1985) have reported positive effects with relaxation and self-talk in combination with other mental skills in a mental training program.

The first goal of the present study was to examine the effectiveness of a mental training package combining imagery rehearsal, relaxation, and self-talk on the enhancement of basketball game performance. An attempt was made to demonstrate in a clear and concise fashion the efficacy of a practical mental preparation program that might provide readily useable information for coaches, athletes, and researchers.

Wollman (1986) has made a strong argument for utilizing single-subject designs in future research involving mental practice, noting that experiments with single-subject designs lend themselves well to tailoring specific programs for individuals engaged in real-life athletics. Similarly, Bryan (1987) has provided support for the use of single-subject designs and has noted that these designs are particularly important and appropriate in sport psychology field studies. There- fore a second goal of the present study was to extend the literature in this area by utilizing a single-subject design to examine the effects of a mental training package.

Wollman (1986) also suggested there is a need to more closely monitor the internal experience of the subjects under study. The use of an applied behavior modification approach is particularly appropriate for this task because of the emphasis this approach places on social validity (Martin & Hrycaiko, 1983). Social validity should be attained along several dimensions, including the selec- tion of target behaviors that are important to the individuals involved, behavior changes large enough to be considered as significant by the individuals, and the use of procedures considered acceptable by all participants. A third goal in the present study was to not only monitor the internal experience of the subjects under study but also to ascertain the social validity of the treatment package.

Finally, most research reports on mental practice have focused on experi- mental tasks and/or naive subjects. With few exceptions (e.g., Hamilton & Fremouw , 1985), studies have not been undertaken to experimentally investigate the effects of mental practice in real-life athletics and game situations. Yet it is precisely these situations in which coaches are most interested. Therefore a fourth goal of this research was to investigate the effects of a mental training package on the performance of a basketball skill during games with elite college basket- ball players.

In summary, this study investigated the effects of an imagery rehearsal, relaxation, and self-talk package on the performance of a specific defensive skill during competition with female intercollegiate basketball players. The study used a single-subject design and socially validated the results.

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Method

Sample and Ekperimental Design

The sample selected for this investigation included four female intercollegiate varsity basketball players: an 18-year-old, a 19-year-old, and two 22-year-olds. Since the behavior being examined occurs from the wing position of the basketball floor, all four subjects were perimeter players who were starters or those who played often. None of the athletes had previous experience with mental skill training.

A single-subject design referred to as multiple baseline across individuals (KratochwiU, 1978) was employed for this study. The design requires that a stable pretreatment assessment of the dependent variable (cutting off the baseline) be maintained. After a stable pretreatment assessment was apparent for each subject, the intervention (imagery rehearsal, relaxation, and self-talk) was introduced to the first subject (Sl). A sequential introduction of the intervention continued un- til all the subjects had received the experimental treatment.

Instrumentation

All games were videotaped and analyzed using an instrument developed by the first author to measure the dependent variable for this study. (The first author is presently technical director for Basketball Manitoba and a former Canadian National Basketball Team player with 10 years of coaching experience at the college level.) The instrument was developed in consultation with the head coach of the women's team involved in this study. The head coach had 17 years of coaching experience at the collegiate level.

The first author and the head coach independently rated the defensive skill (called cutting off the baseline) as either correct or incorrect. The skill was to be exhibited by the defender in the defensive zone when the offensive player attempted to dribble toward the basket. Six possible defensive behaviors were identified: three correct and three incorrect behaviors. The correct behaviors in- cluded (a) cutting off the offensive player's path to the basketball hoop and forcing the pass back out; (b) cutting off the offensive player's path to the hoop and forcing a missed shot; and (c) cutting off the offensive player's path to the hoop and creat- ing a turnover. The incorrect behaviors included (a) failing to establish the cor- rect defensive position; (b) forcing the offensive player toward the baseline but getting beat by the offensive player, who then drives to the hoop and scores; and (c) forcing the offensive player toward the baseline but getting beat to the basket- ball hoop and fouling the offensive player.

In addition to the behavioral data, supplementary information on the ef- fects of the treatment package was also obtained. The four subjects each had a logbook to enable them to monitor their own feelings and program throughout the study period. This document included subjective information that was helpful in developing a complete analysis of the intervention procedure and outcomes. Corbin (1972) has suggested that imagery seems most effective in modifying be- havior when it is vivid and under control. Therefore, questionnaires to assess the vividness and control of imagery were administered. These were the Vividness

160 1 Kendall, Hrycaiko, Martin, and Kendall

of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (Marks, 1973) and a modified version of Gordon's Test of Visual Imagery Control (Orlick, 1980). The subjects also com- pleted an evaluation questionnaire immediately following their intervention period to help the investigator determine the effectiveness of the mental preparation strategy employed. In addition, the subjects were asked to respond to a social validation questionnaire at the completion of the study.

Intervention Procedures

The intervention1 was administered to each subject during a 5-day interval when she was not playing. The following procedures were implemented for each subject: a pretreatment assessment (baseline) was established for a maximum of the first seven games or until the pretreatment data had stabilized. Day 1 of the intervention included a 30-minute introduction to mental preparation concepts, viewing of a videotape titled "What You See is What You Get" (Botterill, 1987), and 15 minutes of relaxation exercises. Day 2 of the intervention included a 45-minute session on imagery rehearsal techniques and exercises that helped the subject determine whether she was imaging appropriately or not. On Day 3 the subject was asked to combine relaxation training, self-talk, and imagery rehearsal of suggested competitive situations. The self-talk focused on cue words that would enhance the athlete's imaging of the actual competitive situation. This session lasted approximately 45 minutes.

On Day 4 the subject was asked to combine relaxation with imagery re- hearsal of correctly performing the defensive skill. This session was reduced to 30 minutes and an audiotape was developed that included both a relaxation and a mental preparation script of the correct behavior. The script utilized self-talk that was appropriate for the desired behavior. The subject initiated the mental preparation training, with the first author acting only as an overseer to ensure that no problems arose. On Day 5, or Game Day (before competition), the subject combined relaxation, self-talk, and imagery rehearsal of the correct behavior for 15-20 minutes using the prerecorded audiotape. Throughout the remainder of the season, the subject mentally trained for a minimum of 15 minutes per day, maintaining the same imagery rehearsal strategy on game days with a minimum of two repetitions. To ensure that each subject followed her program, each was required to hand in a weekly logbook that included her rating of her mental train- ing program for that week.

Treatment of the Data

The raw scores obtained by the research team were plotted according to the percentage of correct occurrences of the desired behavior. Through visual inspection of the single-subject data, we used the following criteria to identify whether there was a significant experimental effect: the immediacy that an effect was observed following intervention, the fewer the overlapping data points be- tween pretreatment phase and treatment phase, the size of an effect after inter- vention, and the greater the number of times that effects were replicated across subjects (Martin & Pear, 1988).

On the basis of discussion with the head coach about past performances,

'Details of the intervention can be obtained from the first author.

Basketball Game Performance 1 161

it was determined that if all the players on the basketball team performed the defensive skill successfully 70% of the time, the team would likely have consider- able success against opponents. Therefore a 70% success rate was considered an acceptable and achievable target for players to show correct defensive behavior during game performance. However, this target served only as a guideline for us in assessing the effectiveness of the intervention; it was not a goal for the ath- letes, as they were unaware of this target.

Results Reliability Evaluations

The behavior being assessed was performed an average of 35 times for each game analyzed. The first author and the head coach independently viewed the videotapes and scored the behaviors as either correct or incorrect. Interobserver reliability (IOR) was then calculated by dividing the number of agreements re- corded by each observer for each game by the total number of agreements plus disagreements and then multiplying the dividend by 100 (Martin & Pear, 1988).

For S1 the IOR ranged from 80 to loo%, with a mean of 95 % for correct behaviors. IORs for the other three subjects (S2, S3, S4) ranged from 75 to 100%, with means of 95, 96, and 97%, respectively. Similarly, the IOR scores for the incorrect behaviors ranged from 80 to 100% for S1 and S2, with means of 98 and 99%, respectively. IOR scores for S3 and S4 ranged from 75 to 100%, with means of 95 and 94 % , respectively.

Intervention Eflects

The effects of the intervention package on the subjects' performance of the defensive skill during basketball games are shown in Figure 1. Treatment effects were noticeable across subjects, although there was some variability in pretreat- ment data. Variability in performance was expected initially, as the subjects were developing their ability to perform the desired skill. The average mean score of correct occurrences for all four subjects during the last six games in the pretreat- ment phase was 55.3 %. The average mean score for the four subjects in the post- treatment phase was 73.7 %. Although S 1 showed a smaller effect, all four subjects showed a definite increase in performance between the pretreatment and post- treatment phases.

The immediacy of the intervention effect was shown clearly across sub- jects. Performance level observed immediately after intervention was noticeably higher than performance level observed immediately prior to intervention. For three subjects, there were minimal overlapping data points from the pretreatment phase to the posttreatment phase. The only exception was S1, for whom three of the six data points for the pretreatment period overlapped with posttreatment data points. However, just before S1 experienced the intervention, her pretreat- ment scores were declining. Moreover, there was an immediate positive effect after the strategies were introduced. This effect was demonstrated throughout the rest of the study, with the mean of correct occurrences for S 1 at 59.6 % during the last six games in the pretreatment phase and 73.4% of correct occurrences in the treatment phase. In the pretreatment phase S 1 had 28 % of her data points above the 70% goal for successful behaviors. During the posttreatment phase 69.5% of her data points were above the 70% target.

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Basketball Game Performance I 163

A clear experimental effect was demonstrated with S2. Only 3 of 15 data points in the pretreatment phase overlapped with posttreatment data points for S2. The mean of S2's correct occurrences increased from 58.6% during the last six games in the pretreatment phase to 76.3 % after the intervention, with 11 of 12 data points being above the 70% measure. S2 also demonstrated an immediate and large effect directly after the intenrention procedures were introduced.

The data on S3 demonstrated a clear experimental effect with an increase from a mean of 49% during the six games prior to treatment to a mean of 71 % after intervention. Only 2 of 22 data points in the pretreatment phase were above 70% successful. After intervention, 5 of 8 data points were above the 70% level. Moreover, her performance was very consistent during the postintervention phase. For S4 a change in level of performance after intervention was clearly demon- strated, as only one data point was lower than any pretreatment data points. The mean percent of correct occurrences increased from 54 % during the last six games of the pretreatment phase to 74.3% after intervention. 54 had no score above the 70% level in the pretreatment phase. In the posttreatment phase, four of six observations were over the 70% level.

The skill level of the opposition varied from game to game. No attempt was made to control this variable in the study. However, the effects of the inter- vention appeared to be strong enough to override this factor. S2, S3, and S4 showed increased consistency in performance following intervention, regardless of the opposition they were facing.

Imagery Self-Report Data

The Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (WIQ) consists of 16 items to which the subject responds on a 5-point rating scale. The possible responses range along a continuum from "no image at all" to "perfectly clear and as vivid as normal vision." The responses of the four subjects to the WIQ, on all situa- tions tested, were at the two most positive ratings of imagery provided by the scale. For the Test of Visual Imagery Control Questionnaire (TVICQ), specific scenes were identified and the subject was asked to rehearse each scene. The sub- ject then had to indicate, by responding "yes," "no," or "unsure," whether she was able to visualize the scene. S1, S2, and S3 showed positive results on this questionnaire, with S1 imaging 18 of 20 situations, S2 imaging 19 of 20 situa- tions, and S3 imaging 17 of 20 situations. However, S4 could image only 11 of 20 scenes.

Social Validation

Researchers of behavioral interventions have called for social validation to assess subject reactions to treatment procedures and experimental outcomes (Kazdin, 1978; Wolf, 1978). Each subject was asked to complete a social validation questionnaire anonymously upon completion of the study. The results indicated that all four subjects enjoyed their participation in the study and felt that the in- tervention procedures used were helpful and worthwhile. The athletes stated they would not hesitate to suggest these techniques to other elite athletes.

Throughout the study period, a logbook was kept by each subject to monitor her own feelings and progress. The subjects's weekly documentation was initiated immediately after intervention. The logbooks of all four subjects indicated that the relaxation training used was helpful in improving their ability to mentally

164 / Kendall, Hrycaiko, Martin, and Kendall

rehearse. Subjects also recorded comments in their logbooks indicating an im- provement in their ability to rehearse over time. One subject stressed the impor- tance of mentally feeling that she had performed the defensive skill correctly before actually performing it in a game. She reported feeling more relaxed and less dis- tracted during the game when she had effectively rehearsed this skill success- fully prior to her performance. This positive and confident attitude about the skill was identified by all four athletes as an important factor in effective skill performance.

Discussion

The results of the present study cannot be directly compared to studies that use only imagery treatments because there is no way to determine how much of the observed effects are due to imagery versus the other components of the treatment package. However, the findings do contribute to the research literature in several ways. First, the specific defensive skill examined had not been utilized prior to this investigation. Second, the dependent variable was unique in that data were collected on ongoing behavior throughout games. Very few studies have actually looked at game performance. Those studies (e.g., Meyers & Schleser, 1980; Meyers, Schleser, & Okwamabua, 1982; Silva, 1982) that have examined behavioral interventions for their effects on game performance have relied on outcome statistics (i.e., points scored, fouls committed). The present research adds to the literature in that data were collected in competitive situations about ongoing behavior perceived to be critical to a positive outcome of the contest.

Third, a single-subject evaluation of a mental practice intervention was per- formed. Most studies of mental practice have employed a controlled environment involving an experimental group and a control group (Andre & Means, 1986; Ryan & Sirnons, 1981; Woolfolk, Murphy, Gottesfeld, & Aitken, 1985). Although single-subject designs have been employed frequently to evaluate other psycho- logical interventions for sport performance enhancement (e.g., Hume, Martin, Gonzalez, Cracklen, & Genthon, 1985; Koop & Martin, 1983), they have not traditionally been applied to study the efficacy of mental practice. The addition of single-subject evaluations of mental practice interventions is important so that consistent changes in performance of individual subjects is closely examined rather than masked in group statistics. The concern is more for the "practical or clinical sigmficance rather than with the statistical significance" of the data (Bryan, 1987, p. 291). Other advantages of single-subject designs in the study of sport perfor- mance enhancement have been noted by Wollman (1986) and Bryan (1987).

One element that is difficult to control in any study is the Hawthorne effect. This effect refers to a subject's change in performance that occurs merely as a function of being in an investigation (Drew, 1976). The Hawthorne effect is most likely operative immediately after a routine is disturbed. According to Drew (1976), however, the effect will decline as the subject becomes acclimated to the new routine. In single-subject research the length of the study is a factor in helping to control this element. The specialness and immediate influence is expected to dissipate over time. These designs provide an effective way to evaluate the inter- vention effects on performance changes over time. As can be seen in Figure 1, intervention effects in this study did not diminish with time.

The overall results of this study indicate that the combination of imagery rehearsal, relaxation, and self-talk training were effective in enhancing the perfor-

Basketball Game Performance 1 165

mance of a specific defensive skill in basketball game performance. This finding supports the research reports of Kirschenbaurn and Bale (1984) and of Hamilton

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and Fremouw (1985), who have found these components to be beneficial in mental training programs involving a larger number of components. In the present study, treatment effects were noticeable across individual subjects and the results strongly encourage further study in this area. In addition, the results could b e informative for coaches and athletes because the study evaluated actual performance and in- volved an extended training period for mental practice. A significant applied aspect of this study for coaches and athletes was that the social validation questionnaire indicated that the subjects had developed a very positive attitude toward continued use of the intervention procedures.

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Manuscript submitted: January 30, 1989 Revision received: July 1 1 , 1989