The former approach, used by athletes, falls under the psychological heading of image therapy. Requiring no physical activity to reach its goal, the method might be considered a type of positive thinking exercise. Pleasant experiences are reinforced, and negative stimuli are reduced to a bare minimum.
心理學家吳靜吉指出，讓運動員從想像中找到正確方法，這是心理學很重要的「意像練習」之一；好處是可以不必經操作來達到效果；擴大範圍來說，則是一種積極的思想，目的是把愉快的經驗強化，對於負面、不愉快的刺激則盡力淡化。