The Effect of a Relaxation Program on Performance of Sub-Elite Football Players

Relaxation is a way of improving performance that can generally be classified as physical and mental relaxation. The mental relaxation technique is often named as the technique of mind to the body since the purpose of these techniques is to provide relaxation through the mind. The aim of the present study was to determine the effect a period of relaxation program (body to mind and mind to body) on the performance of semi-skilled football players. For this purpose, 39 players were selected and divided randomly into three groups: progressive muscle relaxation, creative visualization, and control. Before the interventions, a pretest was conducted by the observational method. In this relaxation program, subjects underwent two different types of relaxation after football training for 8 weeks. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, analysis of variance with repeated measures and one-way analysis of variance. The results showed the significant effect of progressive muscle relaxation and creative visualization on maintaining and controlling the ball, accurately passing, accurately taking the ball from the opponent and overall players’ performance. In addition, the athletes who used progressive muscle relaxation had better performance than those who used creative visualization. In general, the methods of the body to mind and mind to body relaxation can each serve as an independent way to improve the performance of athletes, but the implementation of mind to body relaxation, such as the visualization of creativity, is more effective at skills that require more precision and concentration.