Many athletes routinely use mental visualization techniques as part of their elite sport training. There are stories and examples of how such techniques provide not only a competitive edge, but also a renewed mental awareness and sense of well-being. In an earlier post, I discussed why visualization was important to increase an athlete's peak performance. In this post, I will discuss how to visualize for peak performance.
Preamble
Visualization has also been called guided imagery, mental rehearsal, self-hypnosis, mediation, and a variety of other sport psychology terms, but the basic techniques and concepts are the same. Visualization is the process of creating a mental image of what you want to happen or feel. An athlete can use this technique to intend an outcome of a training session. By imagining a scene, complete with images of a previous best performance or a future desired outcome, the athlete simply steps into that experience. While visualizing these scenarios, the athlete should imagine the details using as many sensory events as possible.
As mentioned in earlier in why you should visualize, the brain is a image storing device. The process of guided imagery implants a sequence of images in your mind of successful performances that are quickly recalled by your subconscious mind during the actual physical performance. The more involved your five senses are in the creation of the images, the more real your subconscious mind believes them to be. The more real the experience the quicker the recall and the greater the effect will have on your physical performance and the bigger the benefit to your self-confidence.
Research is finding that both physical and psychological reactions in certain situations can be improved with visualization. Repeated use of imagery can build both experience and confidence in an athlete's ability to perform desired skills under pressure. The most effective visualization techniques result in a very vivid sport experience in which the athlete has complete control over a successful outcome.
Key Concepts of Visualization
With mental rehearsal, the goal is to train the mind and body to actually perform the desired skill. These scenarios should include as many senses as possible. They can be visual (images and pictures), kinesthetic (how the body feels), or auditory (the sound of the event). Using the mind, an athlete can call up these images over and over, enhancing the skill development through repetition. It is similar and complementary to physical practice and maximizes the efficiency and effectiveness of your training. In a world of elite sports success is measured in fractions of a seconds and athletes should use every possible training technique at hand. Visualization has been shown to gain that competitive margin.
Winning Athletic Performance with Mind Power Visualization is a form of mental training that is being used extensively by Olympic athletes, medical doctors, business leaders, educators, and others to improve life. Visualization can be used to improve virtually any area of your life, because
... moreOne of the reasons players choose not to use guided imagery is that they think they are no good at it. Some athletes seem to think that they need to hallucinate visual pictures, which no one does and is not effective. Other players recall the pictures in a general shape that pass quickly through the mind. They do not see the events in full detail. Neither hallucinations nor broad-brush images are effective. Luckily, most people are much better at visualization than they believe themselves to be.
Have you ever imagined something so vividly you thought it really happened? Well, the more real the experience the more effective the performance will be. To have it be that real, a player has to visualize as a participant, not as a spectator. When visualizing this way (subjective visualization), you are performing. Your emotions are included in the experience.
Visualize performing in some pressure situations. Feel the approach and contact the tension level. Hear any sounds associated with the performance (not the crowd noise). See the events from the participators eyes as they will be seen during the actual performance. Don't rush it; make the timing true to life.
Athletes must perceive the desired image sequence vividly to see themselves doing what they want to do in a successful way. Through that image, they have told their bodies what to do and how to respond. The outcome is to have prepared and programmed mind and body that can perform a specific way within a predefined situation.
Visualization programs the nervous system, muscles, and fibers of the body. The clearer the image, the greater the effect it has on the body. Imagination can trigger nerve and muscle response. When you were young, do you recall your heart beating in joyous anticipation of an event such as Christmas or birthday? Your heart, breath, nerves, and muscles all got the message from the internal picture you had drawn and sent to your nervous system. You have visualized without even trying.
Example of Visualization
The most effective visualization will result for those who do try to create specific and detailed images. You should understand by now that your mind can give guidance to your muscles. For an athlete, appropriate guidance greatly increases the chances for successful performance. It is not easy to start, but the player whose goal is to reach their physical potential does not look for the easy way. They do look for the most effective way. Let me provide a non-sport specific example (next two post will cover the when and what of guided imagery using sport specific examples).
Let's look for that way through visualization. Let's imagine that three different fruits are resting on the table in front of us. From the left to right, the fruit is a sunburst orange, a cardinal red apple, and a deep green pear. Left to right: orange, red, green. Now with your right hand, pick up the sunburst orange that is on the left and place it back on the table so that it is now at the right. Visualize the new order: red, green, orange. Now pick up the sunburst orange and look at it closely. Look closely at the orange to see the dimples in the peel. Rub your fingers over the skin. Can you feel the depressions? Put your thumbnail into the outer layer and slide it down the peel so that you cut a line in the peel. Peel back the hard outer shell of the orange peel to see the soft fiber that surrounds the citrus sweet orange. Put the orange near your nose so you can you smell the aroma. Can you picture the waves of aroma approaching your face providing the citrus sweet smell?
Creating detailed imagery can be difficult when you are reading so let's try it again with the apple, but this time you walk through the situation. Put the orange back down on the table, close your eyes, and pick up the cardinal red apple and try to visualize it. How does it feel? How does it taste?
Explanation
In the preceding example, you used a number of memory senses. You "saw" the fruits on the table; you "sensed" their colors; you "verbalized" (used self talk) the colors as you "saw" them, thereby identifying them; you used "muscle memory" to pick up the orange and then the apple; and you felt their outer skin. And then you "know the movement" of your hand as it moved the orange from the left to the right and placed it back on the table.
Visualization is more than just the use of mental pictures. We suggested earlier that the athlete feel and hear as they mentally rehearse. In doing so, they use a variety of thought forms which merge and then provide an internal simulation of the performance. If the scene you are perceiving has a high level of personal meaning for you, then you will tend to imprint it more intensively and later you will be able to recall many more of the features of the situation.
Summary
Everyone visualizes regularly, but most do not realize it. When you think about someone running their fingernails down a chalkboard and your body shakes and coils, you used mental visualization. The key is to understand the potential benefits of guided imagery and then to discipline your mind to effectively use the visualization techniques to improve your performance on the field.
In the next post, I will use sport specific examples that show when you can use visualization effectively to maximize your peak performance.
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