The Effect of Imagery and Concentration Training on Smash

Accuracy

Vistor Syapri Maulana

, Guntur

Sport Science Department, Postgraduate Faculty, Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Keywords: Mental Imagery, Concentration, Smash Accuracy

Abstract: This study aims to examine: (1) different impacts of internal and external imagery training methods on

smash accuracy; (2) different impacts of high and low concentrations on smash accuracy; and (3) the

interaction between training methods (internal and external imagery) and concentration (high and low) on

smash accuracy. This research method uses a 2 x 2 factorial. This study employed the modified Laveage

smash accuracy test and the data were analysed using ANAVA. This study can be concluded that (1) there is

a significant difference between the internal imagery training method and the external imagery training

method on the accuracy of the smash, (2) there is a significant difference between players who have high

concentration and low concentration on smash accuracy, (3) there is a significant interaction between the

imagery training method (internal and external) and concentration (high and low) on smash accuracy

1 INTRODUCTION

Volleyball is a team sport that each team consists of

six people in 9 square meter field that is separated

by a net. One technique in volleyball game is smash

(Viera, 2000).

The basic technique of smash is very preferred

by volleyball players or athletes, since this technique

is very artistic in volleyball, which requires a player

to pass the ball on the net, by the possible highest

jump to be able to pass the block and enter the target

enemy defense area. This technique requires good

skill and also precise accuracy where a volleyball

player must be able to quickly determine the

direction of the ball so as not to be blocked by the

opponent. It also requires a technique to avoid the

ball to enter in his own area (not over the net), and to

direct the ball to the opponent's field area. This

demands ingenuity as well as the experience of an

athlete. Smash is a technique that has complex

movement which consists of: (1) prefix steps, (2)

repulsion to jump, (3) ball hit when floating in the

air and, (4) landing after hitting the ball (Kemal,

2013). Difficulties experienced by a volleyball

player in mastering this technique consist of

problems of timing the ball/ the point when the ball

will be smashed, the position of the hand when the

ball is subjected, the distance of the hand hit to the

net, the smash step, and so on (Suhadi & Sujarwo,

2009).

Many players did not concentrate well when they

were practicing smash in terms of the range of

motion and purpose of the smash. Players did not

optimize time while practicing concentration and

aiming to the target.

They just did the smash technique as they want

and did not maximize time to concentrate on the

series of movements and direction of the smash

target. As a result, the player did not get a correct

smash motion automation series. This has an impact

when they were in a competition. There were many

players fail to do the smash technique when

competing and they had low accuracy. This

happened because a set of motion that was prepared

inappropriately leads them to loose concentration on

the target direction.

Mental training that is beneficial to improve

performance in psychological terms has never been

given. Thus, the player’s psychological aspects will

be trained by the mental imagery training method.

Mental imagery training methods in practicing

smash technique are still less familiar. The trainers

prefer to use the drilling method.

Inconsistency of the success rate and the low smash

accuracy when practicing and competing indicates

that the player’s concentrationhas not been

established and is not yet stable. Meanwhile, the

244

Maulana, V. and Guntur, .

The Effect of Imagery and Concentration Training on Smash Accuracy.

DOI: 10.5220/0009310602440247

In Proceedings of the 3rd Yogyakarta International Seminar on Health, Physical Education, and Sport Science in conjunction with the 2nd Conference on Interdisciplinary Approach in Sports

(YISHPESS and CoIS 2019), pages 244-247

ISBN: 978-989-758-457-2

quality of the smash technique performed by each

player is quite well. This happens because the level

of attention and concentration decreases or the

players aredisturbed when there are several stimuli

that appear within the same time (Sukadiyanto,

2006). A mental training program needs to be

conducted as an effort to improve the player's

concentration in smashing and its accuracy.

There are two types of perspectives or views,

namely internal imagery perspective and external

imagery perspective (Wienberg & Gould, 2007).

Further explanation states that the implementation of

both training types requires mentoring. Associated

models of external perspective imagery requires an

external stimulus in the form of video or images that

aim to help players being concentrate on a smash

technique. It is expected that the existence of mental

training through the method of imagery internal

perspective and imagery external perspective will be

able to help volleyball players improving

concentration in performing smash techniques with a

high degree of accuracy

2 RESEARCH METHOD

2.1 Research Type

This research is an experimental method using a 2x2

factorial design. Sudjana (2009: 49) states that

factorial experiment is a design that can treat two or

more independent variables at the same time. This

attempt is intended to see the effect of each

independent variable separately and simultaneously

on the dependent variable due to the interaction of

several variables.

2.2 Population and Research Samples

The population in this study consists of 37 players of

volleyball extracurricular participants at SMK

Muhammadiyah Salaman.

From the total players who meet the sampling

criteria, the concentration test were being conducted

to classify players who have high and low

concentration. After the concentration test was

performed, the rank was arranged based on players’

concentration from the highest to the lowest score.

The next step was determining the percentage,

which resulted in 27% of the players got high score

and 27% of the players got low score.

2.3 Research Instrument

Data collection instrument in this study was a smash

accuracy test from Laveage (1933) that was

modified by the Sports Science Faculty (FIK)

Lecturer Research Team (Putut Marhaento, et al).

This test aims to measure the ability of the smash in

relation to the smash accuracy using a hard ball to a

specific target.

2.4 Data Analysis Technique

The data were analysed using SPSS 20 by two-way

ANAVA at a significance level of 0.05. Considering

that the analysis of research data is carried out using

ANAVA, it is necessary to conduct prerequisite tests

which include: (1) normality test, (2) variant

homogeneity test and hypothesis test.

3 RESEARCH RESULT

The first hypothesis states "There was a significant

difference between the internal imagery training

method and the external imagery training method on

smash accuracy". The analysis results are presented

as follows:

Table 1: ANAVA results of the internal imagery and

external imagery training method

Source df

Mean

Square

F Sig

Training

method

1 7,200 5,143 0,038

From the ANAVA test results, it can be seen that

the significance value of p is 0.038. Since the

significance value 0.038 <0.05, it means that H

rejected. Thus there is a significant between the

internal imagery training method and the external

imagery training method on smash accuracy. Based

on the analysis, the results of the internal imagery

training method is higher (good) with an average

post-test score of 38.5 compared to the results of

external imagery exercise method with an average

post-test score of 37.3. It implies that there is a

significant difference of the internal imagery

training method and the external imagery training

method on smash accuracy, has been proven.

The Effect of Imagery and Concentration Training on Smash Accuracy

245

The second hypothesis states "There was a

significant difference in the effect of players who

have high concentration and low concentration on

smash accuracy the ". The results are as follows:

Table 2: ANAVA results differences in

concentration from high and low to smash accuracy

Source df

Mean

Square

F Sig

Concentration 1 39,200 28,00 0,000

From the ANAVA test results shown in the table

above, it can be seen that the significance value of p

is 0,000. Since the significance value of p is 0,000

<0.05, it means that H

is rejected. Based on the

result, it means that there are significant differences

between players who have high concentration and

low concentration on smash accuracy. Based on the

results of the analysis, it turns out that players who

have high concentration have higher score with an

average post-test score 39.3 compared to players

who have low concentration with an average

post-test score 36.5. This means that the research

hypothesis stating that there are significant

differences between players who have high

concentration and low concentration on the smash

accuracy, has been proven.

The third hypothesis states that there is a

significant interaction between the types of imagery

training method (internal imagery and the external

imagery exercise method) and level of concentration

(high and low) on the smash accuracy. The results

are presented as follows:

Table 3: ANAVA interaction results

Source df

Mean

Square

F Sig

Concentration

training

method

1 245,00 175,00 0,000

From the ANAVA test results in Table 3, it is

clear that the significance value of p is 0,000. Since

the significance value of p 0,000 <0.05, it means that

is rejected. Thus, the hypothesis stating that there

is a significant interaction between the types of

imagery training method (internal imagery and the

external imagery training method) and level of

concentration (high and low) on the smash accuracy,

has been proven.

4 DISCUSSION

Internal imagery training methods have been proven

to be more effective inincreasing smash accuracy

and players’ concentration when performing smash.

This is in line with the theory that imagery training

can improve player performance (Olsson, 2008).

Mental training activates peripheral activities, which

provide afferent information to the motor cortex and

functions to strengthen motor programs (Halgren,

Dale, Sereno, & Tootell, 1999). They further stated

that with the development of neuroimaging

technology, researchers can test various imagery

theories. During mental training, the same

neuromotor pathways was involved in carrying out

certain physical motor task activities (Kosslyn,

Ganis, & Thompson, 2001). Motoric program in the

motor cortex, which is responsible for movement, is

then strengthened as a result of nerve pathways

during mental imagery training. As a result, mental

imagery can assist in practicing skills by increasing

appropriate coordination patterns and by priming the

appropriate motor neurons of the muscles needed to

carry out certain motor tasks.

Concentration has an important role in

influencing a technique or the results of a sports

competition. Attention and concentration are often

interpreted similarly even though they have different

definitions. Attention is a process of direct

awareness of the information (stimuli) received to

decide an action (response) (Sukadiyanto, 2006).

Whereas, concentration is a person's ability to focus

attention on the selected excitement (one object) in a

certain time. Concentration is very important for a

player in performing on the field. The main

component of concentration is the ability to focus

the attention on a certain thing and is not interrupted

by internal stimuli or irrelevant external stimuli

(Schmid & Peper in Satidarma, 2000).

From the results of the interaction, it appears that

the two factors show significant interactions. The

results of this study show that there are significant

differenceswithin each group as a result of different

treatment,.

After trained by internal imagery training

methods, volleyball players who have high

YISHPESS and CoIS 2019 - The 3rd Yogyakarta International Seminar on Health, Physical Education, and Sport Science (YISHPESS

2019) in conjunction with The 2nd Conference on Interdisciplinary Approach in Sports (CoIS 2019)

246

concentration will get better results than those who

do not. Conversely, players who have low

concentration will get better results if they were

trained with the external imagery training method.

This can happen because the implementation of

internal imagery exercises can improve the athlete’s

concentration, thus it will be more effective to be

applied for the players who have high concentration.

The internal imagery training method will be more

effective to be applied for the players who have high

concentration, since it will be easier to focus on the

targets when striking a smash. From this statement,

it can be concluded that the effectiveness applied to

improve smash accuracy was influenced by the

players’ concentration level. Thus, exercises applied

must be adjusted to the players’ abilities and

characters so that they can achieve optimal results.

5 CONCLUSIONS

Based on the results above, several conclusions were

derived. There was a significant difference between

the internal imagery training method and the

external imagery training method on smash accuracy.

The internal imagery training method is better than

the external imagery one in terms of smash

accuracy.

Besides, there was a significant difference of

high concentration and low concentration on smash

accuracy. Players who are highly concentrated on

the game are better than those who have low

concentration to perform smash accuracy.

There is a significant interaction between types

of imagery training methods (internal imagery and

external imagery) and players’ concentration level

(high and low) on smash accuracy.

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