The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of imagery in the form of a vision board, on goal achievement in adaptive populations. Imagery has been shown to be a successful mental training skill in able-bodied populations, however, the research on its effectiveness in adaptive populations has been largely ignored.
To address this gap, a qualitative study was conducted with adaptive athletes of the Devils Adapt Class III Program at Arizona State University (n=6). Each athlete was given a pre-program survey to address their specific physical goals for the program. Athletes then created a vision board using numerous magazines, and these boards reflected their goal. The vision boards were taped on the back of their trainer's clipboard, so they were reminded of their goal each workout. During the last week of the program, a post-program survey was distributed to see how the vision boards affected the athletes' ability to achieve their goal.
It was found that 50% of the athletes were able to achieve their goal, and 66.66% of the athletes felt that their vision board was an integral component to goal achievement. Future efforts will focus on the effectiveness of other mental training skills such as self-talk, mindfulness, and relaxation techniques, on goal achievement in adaptive populations.