Effect of mental practice during detraining after short-term training on tsuki performance

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to clarify the effect of the mental practice on a completely inexperienced performance that improved after short-term practice. In this study, 22 healthy subjects were randomly assigned to 2 groups: the mental practice group and the control group. The mental practice group performed mental practice during detraining, and the control group performed normal daily activities. The new movement task was“tsuki” of kendo. The distance between the center of the target and the hit point of the shinai was measured before (pre-stage) and after (post-stage) detraining for 2 weeks. The absolute error value was calculated using the distance measured at the 1st set and the 5th set of each stage (pre1, pre2, post1, and post2). Relative changes to the results in the pre1 were calculated using each parameter measured in the pre2, post1, and post2.

The results obtained in this study, showed that relative differences in the absolute error value did not significantly change between each stage in the mental practice group. However, in the control group, relative difference increased to a greater extent in post－1 than in pre2, and relative difference decreased more significantly in post2 than in pre2.

These results suggested that the effect of short-term practice was maintained by mental practice during detraining, even if the mentally practiced movement was new for the subjects.