PETTLEP - A Model for Imagining Success

I have recently begun projecting a new route. This comes as a surprise to those who frequently climb with me. I have always found myself drawn to attempting new routes and exploring new crags over repeating attempts of challenging climbs. My nomadic lifestyle, as an outdoor educator, has not left me in a single location long enough to properly work on a route that requires such a commitment. I’ve also justified not projecting to valuing a sense of adventure. That being said, this summer I have largely worked from my home in Seattle. Each week I find myself going to the same crag, and wouldn’t you know it, climbing the same route!

One of the things I enjoy most about the projecting process is that it has allowed me to practice the psychological skills I promote as a coach, in a context that is less familiar to me as an athlete. One of these skills is the practice of imagery. Simply put, imagery is when a performer creates or re-creates a situation in one’s mind. Imagery allows athletes to practice skills and rehearse strategy without having to physically train or exert the body. 

Currently, I have been getting out to my project about once a week. My imagery practice allows me to mentally rehearse the moves, and imagine myself successfully climbing the route on the days I am away from the crag. Imagery can also be used to place oneself in an optimal emotional state and level of physiological activation for performance. For me, this entails a sense of excitement and the slight presence of nerves. This means I am aware, and excited about that challenge before me. I interpret those nerves as readiness to perform, as I am ready to give a full effort. To get in my optimal performance state, I find myself using imagery at the base of the climb, shortly before tying in and working the moves, or giving a redpoint attempt. 

In the past 20 years, research using neuroimaging software has shown that functionally equivalent images activate the same areas of the brain as completing the actual task. In other words, the same neural pathways that light up when physically performing the tasks can do so when imagining completing the same task. Creating a “functionally equivalent” image requires the performer to incorporate as many of the elements of the actual performance into their image as possible. A framework for doing that is the PETTLEP Model of Imagery from Holmes and Collins (2001). PETTLEP is an acronym that highlights the necessary elements of a functionally equivalent image. The acronym includes the physical, environment, task, timing, learning, emotion, and perspective elements of the image. 

Below you will find a table further explaining each element, and how they can be incorporated into one’s imagery practice.

References

Hardy, L., & Callow, N. (1999). Efficacy of external and internal visual imagery perspectives for the enhancement of performance on tasks in which form is important. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 21(2), 95–112.

Holmes, P. S., & Collins, D. J. (2001). The PETTLEP approach to motor imagery: A functional equivalence model for sport psychologists. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 13(1), 60–83.

Wakefield, C., Smith, D., Moran, A. P., & Holmes, P. (2013). Functional equivalence or behavioural matching? A critical reflection on 15 years of research using the PETTLEP model of motor imagery. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 6(1), 105–121.