Effects of Scouting Videos on Physiological and Psychological Responses during Motor Imagery in Football Players

Takahiro Matsutake and Takayuki Sugo

[Received February 20, 2013; Accepted June 3, 2013] 

 Videos of the opponent team’s games are used to obtain information about the team and
its players and to analyze them before important games, such as official football games.
Through editing, scouting videos are made that indicate characteristics of offense and defense
play of the opponent team. The present study examined the effects of scouting videos on
vividness of motor imagery. Participants (n=20) were members of a football club of a sportsoriented
college. They were divided into the experimental group that watched the video
before developing imagery and the control group that did not. Physiological indicators of
the autonomic nervous system when developing motor imagery and psychological indicators
for the diagnosis of the contents of the imagery were measured. The results indicated that
respiratory rate, heart rate, and sympathetic nervous system responses were significantly
activated when developing imagery under the experimental condition. Furthermore, results
of tasks and kinesthesia of psychological indicators under the experimental condition were
significantly higher than those under control conditions. The above results indicate that
scouting videos promoted activation of autonomic nervous system responses and helped
participants to develop vivid imagery with a sense of presence under the experimental
conditions.



Keywords: Sport mental training, Imagery, Autonomic nerves

[Football Science Vol.11, 28-35, 2013]


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