The skill of visualization is probably taught in every sport psychology book or course. Yet it is a skill that most athletes do not continue to use because they have not learned to operationalize this skill in their performance. In earlier posts, I discussed why visualization was important to increase an athlete's peak performance and how visualization works. In this next post, I will expand on when a player can use visualization to reinforce a new skill being learned, improve the execution of an existing skill, and opportunities to refocus and reinforce existing mental images during a game.
In the 1988 memorable Olympic moment, defending Olympic champion Greg Louganis while performing a reverse two-and-a-half somersault pike hit his head on the springboard that opened a deep cut on his scalp. He still had to complete one more preliminary dive that day in order to reach the championship round and defend his Olympic gold medal title. He had thirty-five minutes to get temporary sutures in his head and prepare himself for the next dive.
Louganis completed one of the more remarkable recoveries in sport and Olympic history when he completed his next preliminary dive with his highest marks in the preliminary rounds. He successfully conquered his fear brought on by the disaster of hitting his head on the springboard and the next day he won the gold medal.
One of the tools Louganis credits for his ability to overcome the springboard incident is his ability to visualize his performance and create a belief that he can perform his dives at the highest level every time he steps onto the springboard. His visualization skill allowed him to forget the disaster of the previous dive and focus on his ability to execute the next dive that he trained for.
Breaking the Surface by Greg Louganis
Breaking the Surface: The Greg Louganis Story
During a Practice Session - Learning a New Skill
Practice sessions are the time used by coaches to develop new skills. Peak performance athletes do not just focus on the physically aspects of the skill, but also the mental aspects. Unfortunately, even in this enlightened age of successful coaches, far to many coaches only concern themselves with teaching physical attributes of a skill and forget about the mental requirements of perfect practice and self-confidence. Therefore, it becomes the responsibility of the player to fill in the mental side. The player is responsible for using mental imagery to reinforce their skill development and increase the number of practice repetitions.
Many players "just go through the physical motions" when they practice without the necessary concentration to create the vivid images for quick recall. This approach to practice increases the propensity toward wrong movements that, when unattended to and uncorrected, is left in the body's program and is likely to be become a habit. Errors cannot be corrected on the playing field or in the mind unless a player is willing to exert the mental energy essential for concentration. Visualization requires concentration. You cannot just go through the motions. If you do, you lose whatever image was created. Far to often, athletes will not expend the effort necessary to make visualization work. It's not easy, but the player whose goal is to reach his physical potential does not look for the easy way, he looks for the most effective way.
During practice, an athlete can physically act out the new skill. When they are "on stage," they need to concentrate their energy and focus on physically creating a proper image in their mind. When they are "off stage," such as when they are standing in line waiting for their turn or taking a water break, an athlete can rehearse both the physical and mental actions. Athletes knows what is expected from them when they are on stage, since they have been doing this from a very early age; so let me give a simple example of off stage rehearsal.
At an early age, all basketball players learned to shoot lay ups with their off hand (left handed lay ups on the left side of the basket for right handed players or right handed layups on the right side of the basket for left handed players). You are on stage at the front of the line and dribble the ball toward the basket, taking a good 45-degree angle toward the hoop. As you approach the basket at full speed, you take your last dribble and bring the ball up to head level to keep the ball high, jump off the inside foot extending your hand toward the top corner of the square on the backboard, and release the ball at the apex of your jump. As you pass under the basket, your last view of the ball is from underneath as it is on a trajectory toward hitting the square. After securing your landing and taking another step to slow yourself down, you turn around and watch the ball drop out of the bottom of the net. What do you not see: the free throw line version of the ball hitting the square, coming off the backboard, going through the rim without touching the rim, and it dropping out the bottom of the net because you are under the hoop as a participant, not a spectating player or coach.
When you return to the back of the rebounding line, you have gone off stage and this is where the mental and physical rehearsal can begin. Close your eyes and picture yourself running full speed toward the basket. Feel the muscles flexing in your legs and the ball being dribbled with your fingertips as you approach the basket. As you reach the basket, physically jump off your inside foot and extend your arm. Mentally picture this occurring with perfect form and full arm extension toward the square on backboard. See the ball in flight toward the corner of the square on the backboard, feel yourself landing under complete control and decelerating. Mentally, turn your head around to see the ball dropping through the bottom on the net.
Do this exercise one more time before it is your turn to rebound and pass the ball to the outlet. After getting in the back of the shooting line, run through this exercise twice more.
What have you just accomplished? Five perfect off hand lay ups. One physically perfect and four physically / mentally perfect lay ups. How many have your other teammates done? One. Who is going to learn faster and who is going to develop the correct mechanics quicker? What is worse, your teammates were probably watching the other eight or nine players do it wrong, so they are reinforcing the mental image of incorrect fundamental lay ups.
Coaches use practice time to teach players new skills, it is up to the player to fully concentrate to develop these skills quickly, create perfect mental images, and then to improve upon them. Players can use the quiet moments in their days to continue the mental practice.
In the Quiet Moments of the Day - Improving Performance
“I used a lot of visualization in terms of who I would be guarding and who would be guarding me. When I was walking down the street for, say, lunch, I’d imagine those individuals in front of me. I’d imagine going around them." - Isaiah Thomas
Just like physical practice, research shows that you can improve your mental skills by being more conscious and attentive to them, and by employing them in one's daily routines. Athletes practice their physical skills daily and elite athletes mentally practice daily. Allow yourself 15 to 30 minutes every day or every other day for visualizing your goal. Set aside time in your daily routine to rest and remove yourself from everything else going on. Find a quiet, uninterrupted area to perform your visualization techniques. Remember, the more you focus on your goals, the sooner you will achieve them.
Within your daily routine, establish a spot that is private and quiet where you will not be disturbed by others and you are not likely to be distracted. It is often suggested that first thing in the morning or just before you go to sleep in the evening are two of the easiest times to routinize your mental practice. It does not have to be either of these two times, but find a time that occurs regularly within your day. Baseball Hall of Famer, Duke Snider, used to arrive at the ballpark an hour early and lay down on the physical therapy table for his mental practice. He would review his opponent's pitchers and "imagine" what types of pitches were probably going to be thrown to him during that days game. He would see himself hitting those pitches and running them out. When is your quiet time?
Be certain you bring yourself to this setting in a relaxed condition: your mind, body, and spirit. If you are not that when you arrive there, spend some time calming yourself before attempting to begin your visualization. Whenever conflicting or intrusive thoughts interfere with the activity, stop visualizing. Deal with the interfering thoughts, rather than trying to block them out. Having done so successfully, begin again the visualization process. If the interference continues after a number of restarts, end the session, and try to resolve the matter of those thoughts by the next scheduled time for visualization.
Let me provide a personal example. As a sophomore in high school, I practiced with the varsity basketball squad. Because of the speed of the game, I was rushing my shots and had a horrendous shooting percentage from the floor. The coach recommended that I use visualization techniques to rehearse receiving a pass from a teammate, taking a 10 to 15 foot shot with perfect form, and swishing the shot. My quiet time was just before I went to sleep. I would go to my room, turn off the light, sit on my bed, and mentally rehearse shooting jump shots for 15 minutes every night. After about one week, I started feeling more comfortable shooting the ball during practice. It took another week or so before my shooting percentage started to noticeable improve and teammates started mentioning this fact to me. That whole season in the evening before I fell asleep, I spent 15 minutes mentally rehearsing shooting the basketball and other game situations. The familiarity and confidence I developed in those 15 minute sessions had a lot to do with my success at earning a starting spot on the varsity basketball team that year.
The personal experience from this season made me realize the value of visualization on my game. In addition, players can get the benefit from the calming effects and confidence that mental imagery can provide by using these techniques on game day.
Quick Check During a Game - Maintain and Refocus
Unlike during practice or your quiet time, a game situation is not conducive to developing or improving a skill with visualization techniques. During a game too much is happening and your attention needs to be focused on the activities required on the field of play or intently watching the game from the bench so you can quickly get into the game flow when the coach tells you it is your time. But what you can do is steal a few seconds during a game break to mentally rehearse some expected game scenarios. Your objective at this time is to recall the correct mental images from your subconscious for quick retrieval when needed during the game.
In the post, Why Use Visualization and Imagery I gave an example of a ball player who had a poor at-bat rehearsing and preparing for his next time to the plate. You can find time to do this in between innings, in the on-deck circle, or while another batter is batting. This is a quick mental rehearsal check up for 10 to 30 seconds. This is not enough time to develop a new skill by creating new mental images, but it is enough time to refocus your mind and recall the images from your subconscious for quicker recall the next time your in that situation.
Similarly, during a basketball game, use the time outs and bench breaks to mentally rehearse your foul shots, receiving a pass from a teammate for a jump shot, or picturing the opponent telegraphing a pass and you jump into the passing lane for the steal. In basketball, every player gets a few minutes on the bench that they can use to refocus and recall proper images (even the superstars at the professional level get a few seconds on the bench every game). Two additional times where you can practice mental imagery in a game situation is at the beginning of half-time before the coach arrives in the locker room or after the team comes back out onto the court before the start of the second half. I personally found that at the start of halftime, I would quickly get into the locker room, close my eyes, and do deep breathing exercises to calm myself down. I found this helped me pay attention to the coach at halftime and physically provide my body with a recharging break. When I would return to the court for warm-ups before the second half, I would then mentally rehearse any adjustments that the coach made at halftime, physically take one free throw and one jump shot, and mentally take a dozen or so shots in my mind. Most players return to the floor and talk about almost anything but the game, I did not want to be a part of that, so I would mentally start playing the second half in my mind to prepare for the events to come.
The challenge with the using visualization techniques during a game is the amount time a player has to reach the proper state of recall and the quantity of external distractions that can interfere with this process. In order to be truly successful, a player needs to already be a proficient visualizer. Unfortunately, this is probably the most common use of mental imagery by athletes and they have not laid the ground work during practice and their quiet time, so when they cannot quickly recall vivid images they generalize and say "visualization does not work for me." This is like jumping into multiplication without laying the fundamental groundwork of addition. Guided imagery take practice.
Summary
Elite athletes can using mental imagery to increase their peak performance in three ways: 1) during practice to increase focus and complement and reinforce they perfect physical image when learning a new skill, 2) during a set aside 15 to 30 minute quiet time to reinforce existing mental images or create new mental images that will improve your skill set, 3) during quick game breaks to bring the proper images into the conscious brain and refocus on the immediate task at hand.
In the next post, I will revisit the visualization process.
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