NMSU professor shows how imagery improves sport performance

Feb 2 2017

Phillip Post is an associate professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Dance at New Mexico State University. He teaches courses in sport/exercise psychology, motor learning, and motor development. His research interests include examining the essential mental skills and motor components associated with effective sport performance and learning. He has 12 research publications examining the effects of imagery and self-regulation on motor learning and sport performance and has over 25 national/international research presentations at national and international conferences. Phillip has over 600 hundred hours of applied sport psychology experience and currently provides mental skills training to NMSU student-athletes.

He would be able to speak to the science behind how imagery improves sport performance.

When athletes are getting ready for big games they often engage in mental imagery to assist in their preparation. Over the last fifty year sport psychology research has revealed that imagery is functionally equivalent to physical practice and benefits performance beyond doing nothing all. Imagery has been show to assist athletes motor performance, emotional regulation, and in managing energy. The focus of the presentation will be on how imagery works and how it is employed to get a performance edge.