The effects of preperformance imagery and preperformance positive affirmations on the performance of a golf putting task

The purpose of this investigation was to compare the effectiveness of using mental preparation strategies to enhance performance over to control groups. 40 students participated in the experiment for course credit. The 40 subjects performed the basal measure and were then randomly assigned to one of four groups, a no practice control group (NPC), a practice control group (PI), a preperformance positive affirmation group (PA), and a preperformance positive imagery group (PI). The PI, PA, and PC groups putted on days 2-5. The NPC only putted on the last day. Results of the study revealed that all groups did not improve from pre to post test at a significant level. The PI, PA, and PC were found to be significantly different from the NPC pre to post test in performance measures, but not in accuracy measures.