Relevance. The relevance of the work due to the lack of a special method that could to assess the ability of young athletes to represent movements in the Russian psychological tools.

Objective. The aim of the work is to test the method “Movement imagery Questionnaire for Children”, which is developed by Canadian researchers (R. Martini and colleagues), on Russian athletes.

Method. The analysis of studies that demonstrate the importance of using mental images in the training process was described. Empirical study of the mental representation of movements in 112 Russian young athletes from age 7 to 12 years with the help of a pre-adapted technique MIQ-C was conducted.

Results. The main types of mental images that are most often used by young athletes have been revealed: first-person visualization, third-person visualization and visualization of muscle performance. The last one (kinesthetic) is the most difficult for children. The highest rates of use of all three methods were noted in children 9-10 years. In the process of the work it was compared the results obtained for the Russian sample, with the results of Canadian researchers. It was revealed that Russian athletes assess their capabilities for visualization higher than young athletes in Canada.

Conclusions. It is necessary to expand a sample, having picked up athletes of those sports which are not presented at this stage of work, and to carry out check of validity of the Russian version of this method on the expanded sample.

Mental practice of motor skills is one of the most common tools in sport psychology. Manipulations of imagery perspective are believed to be the potential mean to enhance the effectiveness of mental practice. Despite the lack of the established theory it has been widely assumed that the internal imagery is more beneficial. However the literature examination has shown the advantage of external imagery at the initial stage of complex motor skill learning as well as for practicing technical elements in which spatial collocation of body parts is crucial. Methodological issues of earlier studies have been summarized and the conclusion that recommendations to use exclusively internal imagery are invalid has been drawn. Important directions for future research on imagery perspective in sport psychology have been proposed.