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. 2020 Apr 9;12(4):1035.
doi: 10.3390/nu12041035.

Effects of Motor Mental Imagery Training on Tennis Service Performance during the Ramadan Fasting: a Randomized, Controlled Trial

Sofien Fekih  1   2   3 , Mohamed Sami Zguira  1   4 , Abdessalem Koubaa  1   5 , Liwa Masmoudi  3 , Nicola Luigi Bragazzi  6   7   8 , Mohamed Jarraya  3   9
Affiliations

Effects of Motor Mental Imagery Training on Tennis Service Performance during the Ramadan Fasting: a Randomized, Controlled Trial

Sofien Fekih et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

The objective of the present study is to analyze the effects of motor mental imagery training on tennis service performance among tennis athletes who fast during Ramadan. Participants were 38 young male tennis players, randomly divided into two groups: Imaging Training (IMG, n = 18) and control group (CG, n = 20). The CG has watched videos on the history of the Olympic Games, while IMG has followed a training program in motor imagery. The performance of the tennis service was obtained by the product between accuracy and speed of typing (accuracy x average speed of all shots (km/h)). The effect of group / time interaction (p < 0.01) was identified for all performance indicators (accuracy, running speed and performance (speed x precision)), with improvement only in IMG (p = 0.01). The results showed that motor imagery training could be an effective strategy for mitigating/counteracting the negative effects of Ramadan on the tennis service performance.

Keywords: Ramadan fasting; intermittent fasting; motor mental imagery training; service performance; sport psychology; tennis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Experimental protocol adopted in the present study. Note. IMG = imagery training group; CG = control group; MIQ-RS = Motion Imagery Questionnaire.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Service Performance Test (court scores).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Mean and standard deviation of service accuracy, Before, During and at the end of Ramadan for both groups (CG vs. IMG). **, *** Significantly different from Contr-G at p < 0.01 and p < 0.001 respectively. ## Significantly different from Bef-R at p < 0.001 respectively.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Mean and standard deviation of the ball stroke speed, before, during and at the end of Ramadan for both groups (CG vs. IMG). # Significantly different from Bef-R at p < 0.001.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Mean and standard deviation of service performance, before, during and at the end of Ramadan for CG vs. IMG. *, ** Significantly different from Contr-G at p < 0.01, p < 0.001 respectively; # significantly different from Bef-R at p < 0.001.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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