imagery as a tool...

As a cognitive process, imagery aids with the task of motor skill learning, and performance improvement (Driskell, Copper, & Moran, 1994; Hall, 2001; Martin, Moritz, & Hall, 1999, in Soohoo et al., 2004, 2004).  According to J.M. Williams (2010) “motor skills should be understood as a set of internal processes, associated with practice or experience, leading to relatively permanent changes in the capability for skilled movement behavior” (p.21). Williams’ explanation allows us to understand how imagery comes into play when trying to learn a new skill.  Recognizing the requirement of internal processes in the task of learning a new drill, exercise movement, or a dance step will help us focus on the role that our mind plays, and not only on the physical aspect of the drill. The symbolic learning theory is an outline that helps creating a mental method/plan that will allow you to encode the learned skill in the central nervous system (Vealey & Greenleaf, 1998, p.243, in Soohoo et al., 2004).
We want our athletes/clients/patients to achieve their goals, whatever goals they have, and by introducing them to imagery they will have a better chance to be successful. According to Driskell et al., imagery efficacy has been proven by large amount of scientific evidence (Driskell et al., 1994; Hall, 2001; Martin et al., 1999 , in Soohoo et al., 2004).
Sources
:  SooHoo, Sonya;Takemoto, Kimberly Y; McCullagh, Penny¹Journal of Sport Behavior; Dec2004, Vol. 27 Issue 4, p349-366, 18p, 1 Diagram, 2 Charts
Williams, J.M.,2010, Applied Sport Psychology, personal growth to peak performance, sixth edition