Gender-Based Mental Imagery in Sport Climbing: A Conceptual Study on Competitive Anxiety and Athlete Performance
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31851/hon.v9i2.22776Abstract
Sport climbing requires physical competence, technical skills, decision-making abilities, and psychological readiness, particularly in managing competitive anxiety. Mental imagery is a potential psychological training approach to support athletes’ psychological readiness and performance. This study aimed to conceptually examine the application of PETTLEP-based mental imagery in relation to competitive anxiety and performance readiness among sport climbing athletes, considering gender perspectives and individual characteristics. A structured narrative literature review with conceptual synthesis was employed to integrate literature on sport climbing psychology, mental imagery, competitive anxiety, and gender-related perspectives in sport. The literature was analyzed thematically and comparatively across four areas: the psychological characteristics of sport climbing, the PETTLEP model, the relationship between mental imagery and competitive anxiety, and gender perspectives in mental training. The synthesis indicates that mental imagery may provide a contextual approach to preparing athletes for climbing-specific demands, including route reading, movement sequencing, attentional control, and emotional regulation. The PETTLEP model offers a theoretical framework for developing imagery exercises tailored to the physical, environmental, task-related, temporal, learning, emotional, and perspective-related demands of sport climbing. However, evidence directly examining the combined relationships among mental imagery, competitive anxiety, gender, and performance in sport climbing remains limited. Gender should therefore be considered alongside individual factors rather than used to assume uniform psychological needs or intervention responses. This study proposes an integrative conceptual framework linking athlete characteristics and competition context, PETTLEP-based mental imagery, psychological readiness, and performance readiness. The framework provides a theoretical foundation for future empirical research and the development of individualized mental training programs for sport climbing athletes. Further studies are needed to test its effectiveness using validated anxiety measures and objective performance indicators.
References
Aryani, M., Rahely, B., Komarudin, K., & Nurjaya, D. R. (2023). Indonesian sport climbing athlete women’s career view from perspective of mental health. 18(5), 568–571. https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=9235457
Aşçi, F. Hülya, Koca, Canan, Demirhan, Giyasettin, & Dinç, S. Cem. (2006). Precompetitive Anxiety and Affective State of Climbers in Indoor Climbing Competition. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 102(2), 395–404. https://doi.org/10.2466/pms.102.2.395-404
Corrado, D. Di, Guarnera, M., & Vitali, F. (2019). Imagery ability of elite level athletes from individual vs . team and contact vs . no- contact sports. 1–14. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.6940
Demir, G. T., Namlı, S., Çakır, E., Batu, B., Ateş, F., & Yılmaz, E. (2025). The role of mental toughness , sport imagery and anxiety in athletic performance : structural equation modelling analysis.
Giles, D., & Mangan, K. (2026). Climber Ability and Differences in Psychological , Physiological and Behavioral Responses to an On-sight Lead Climb. 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1017/SJP.2026.10036
Ionel, M. S., Ion, A., Iliescu, D., & Visu-Petra, L. (2024). Climbing anxiety scale (CAS-20): Preliminary development and validation. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2024.102635
Li, L., Wang, J., Li, Q., & Fu, Q. (2026). The Effect of Different Psychological Interventions on Athletes’ Competitive Anxiety: A Systematic Review and Bayesian Network Meta-Analysis. In Sports Medicine - Open (Vol. 12, Number 1). Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40798-026-01007-y
Liu, Y., Zhao, S., Zhang, X., Zhang, X., Liang, T., & Ning, Z. (2025). The Effects of Imagery Practice on Athletes’ Performance: A Multilevel Meta-Analysis with Systematic Review. In Behavioral Sciences (Vol. 15, Number 5). Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI). https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15050685
Lovell, G. P., Bierton, J., Gorman, A. D., Lloyd, M., Gorman, A., & Parker, J. K. (2024). Imagery use gender differences across competition and training contexts in Australian elite level athletes. Journal of Imagery Research in Sport and Physical Activity, 19(1). https://doi.org/doi:10.1515/jirspa-2023-0034
Mangan, K., Andrews, K., Miles, B., & Draper, N. (2025). The psychology of rock climbing: A systematic review. In Psychology of Sport and Exercise (Vol. 76). Elsevier Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2024.102763
Morone, G., Ghanbari Ghooshchy, S., Pulcini, C., Spangu, E., Zoccolotti, P., Martelli, M., Spitoni, G. F., Russo, V., Ciancarelli, I., Paolucci, S., & Iosa, M. (2022). Motor Imagery and Sport Performance: A Systematic Review on the PETTLEP Model. In Applied Sciences (Switzerland) (Vol. 12, Number 19). MDPI. https://doi.org/10.3390/app12199753
Ong, N. C. H., & Chua, J. H. E. (2021). Effects of psychological interventions on competitive anxiety in sport: A meta-analysis. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 52, 101836. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2020.101836
Padilla-crespo, A., & Clemente-suárez, V. J. (2025). Psychophysiological Response Differences Between Advanced and Beginner Climbers and Fatigue Management. 1–15.
Swinarska, N., Krężel, P., Hapka, A., Jurczak, A., & Wieder-Huszla, S. (2026). Anxiety levels and physiological responses during top-rope and lead climbing: a cross-sectional study among sport climbers. BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation, 18(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13102-025-01493-9
Yarayan, Y. E., Solmaz, S., Aslan, M., Batrakoulis, A., Al-Mhanna, S. B., & Keskin, K. (2024). Sex Differences in Athletic Performance Response to the Imagery and Mental Toughness of Elite Middle- and Long-Distance Runners. Sports, 12(6). https://doi.org/10.3390/sports12060141
Downloads
Additional Files
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Mela Aryani, Nofi Marlina Siregar, Arisman, Diah Fauzi, Zulham, Amanda Fu'adah Mutmainnah
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
1. License
Use of articles will be governed by the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike license as currently displayed on Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA)
The author warrants that the article is original, written by stated author(s), has not been published before, contains no unlawful statements, does not infringe the rights of others, is subject to copyright that is vested exclusively in the author and free of any third party rights, and that any necessary written permissions to quote from other sources have been obtained by the author(s).
Halaman Olahraga Nusantara's spirit is to disseminate articles published are as free as possible. Under the Creative Commons license, Halaman Olahraga Nusantara permits users to copy, distribute, display, and perform the work. Users will also need to attribute authors and Halaman Olahraga Nusantara on distributing works in the journal and other media of publications.
4. Rights of Authors
Authors retain all their rights to the published works, such as (but not limited to) the following rights;
1. Copyright and other proprietary rights relating to the article, such as patent rights,
2. The right to use the substance of the article in own future works, including lectures and books,
3. The right to reproduce the article for own purposes,
4. The right to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the article's published version (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal Halaman Olahraga Nusantara.
5. Co-Authorship
If the article was jointly prepared by more than one author, any authors submitting the manuscript warrants that he/she has been authorized by all co-authors to be agreed on this copyright and license notice (agreement) on their behalf, and agrees to inform his/her co-authors of the terms of this policy. Halaman Olahraga Nusantara will not be held liable for anything that may arise due to the author(s) internal dispute. Halaman Olahraga Nusantara will only communicate with the corresponding author.
6. Royalties
Being an open accessed journal and disseminating articles for free under the Creative Commons license term mentioned, author(s) aware that Halaman Olahraga Nusantara entitles the author(s) to no royalties or other fees.
