Static Tactical Diagrams and Imagination: Differential Effects on Novice and Expert Handball Players

The acquisition of tactical knowledge from static diagrams is common in coaching, yet players may struggle to integrate information when it is processed passively. To address this problem, encouraging mental imagery of unfolding tactical sequences while viewing static diagrams may enhance understanding of the depicted tactical structure. The present study examined whether imagination-based learning, compared with traditional study, improves the acquisition of diagram-based tactical knowledge and whether this effect depends on learners’ expertise. Thirty-six male participants (experts and novices) learned two offensive handball plays presented as four-phase static court diagrams under two within-subject conditions: study (observe and memorize) and imagination (study and mentally simulate player movements). Reconstruction accuracy and time, perceived difficulty, mental effort, and self-efficacy were assessed immediately after learning. Results showed that novices achieved significantly higher reconstruction scores in the imagination condition than in the study condition. Novices also perceived the task as less difficult in the imagination condition, whereas mental effort and self-efficacy did not differ significantly between conditions. Experts showed no significant differences between conditions on any measure. These findings suggest that when tactical information is presented in a visually stable format, imagination may function as a generative learning strategy that supports the learning and recall of diagram-based tactical representations, particularly among novices, without increasing subjective load.