How imagery benefits the athlete is known by studies psychologists have done. What is not known is how and why using mental imagery works. Studies have led to three basic theories on how imagery works. There is the psychoneuromuscular theory, the symbolic learning theory, and the attention and arousal set theory. Nobody knows for sure which theory is right or if the real reason is a combination of them.

The third theory is the attention and arousal set theory. This theory has similarities to the other two theories previously explained. This theory implies that imagery works on both a physiological and cognitive level. Physiologically, this theory states that imagery adjusts your arousal to an optimal level for the task. Cognitively, imagery helps the athlete focus on the task and not be distracted by things in the outside environment.

The psychoneuromuscular theory says that when the athlete creates the image of himself doing a particular skill or movement, the brain sends commands to the muscle to perform what is happening in the athletes image, just these commands transmitted through neurons and the muscle are slightly different in the fact that the muscle doesn’t actually move. It gets the same information and command, it just doesn’t act. In a sense this is like the brain and muscles getting practice for a particular type of movement or skill that the athlete will be attempting to master later on in practice or competition. This theory is based on the fact that there is an increase in the electrical activity of the muscles during mental imagery. This increase in electrical activity if a result of the brain sending the muscles messages and commands while the athlete is creating images.

As stated before, imagery is when a person uses the senses to create an eve

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