Effectiveness of Guided Mental Imagery Training in the improvement of Reaction Time and Reduction of Competitive State Anxiety in Karate Athletes

One of the main topics raised in sports psychology that affects athletes' performance, especially at championship levels, is pre-match anxiety and its effect on the psychological states and motor skills of athletes. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of guided mental imagery training on improving reaction time and reducing competitive state anxiety in karate athletes. This study's method was applied, and its method was semi-experimental with pre-test and post-test design with a control group. The statistical population of the study consisted of all karate athletes in Tehran in 2019. The convenience voluntary sampling method was selected and assigned to the guided mental imagery group (n=15) and control group (n=15) using a simple randomization method. In this study, data were obtained using a competitive anxiety questionnaire (1990) and a reaction time meter. Data were analyzed using repeated variance analysis and SPSS.22 software. The results showed that the effectiveness of guided mental imagery training affects improving reaction time (P<0.001) and reducing competitive state anxiety (P<0.001) in karate athletes. It can be concluded that guided mental imagery training effectively improves reaction time and reduces competitive state anxiety in karate athletes. This training can be used to improve karate athletes' psychological problems.