Abstract
The purpose of the present study was two-fold: To examine the relationships between imagery use and skill level (as defined by handicap); and to determine if golfers' imagery ability moderates this relationship. Research to-date has included only one instrument to measure imagery ability. This limitation was addressed by incorporating both the Movement Imagery Questionnaire-Revised second version (MIQ-RS; Gregg, Hall, & Butler, 2007) and the Motivational Imagery Ability Measure for Sport (MIAMS; Gregg & Hall, 2006) in order to assess golfers' ability to use four functions of imagery (CS, CG, MG-A, and MG-M). The golfers (N = 136) were mostly male (n = 108) and reported relatively high skill (M handicap = 14.02, SD = 8.74). Regression analyses were conducted to determine the role that imagery ability played in the relationship between skill level and imagery use. As expected, the results indicated that more skilled golfers used imagery more frequently. Also, visual imagery ability was found to moderate the interaction between skill level and the use of CS, CG, and MG-M imagery. The golfers who were "poor imagers" demonstrated a marked decrease in imagery use, as their skill level decreased. Sport psychologists working with athletes should aim to improve the quality of their athletes' images by focusing on visual aspects of their imagery, thereby increasing their imagery use and ultimate performance.
