Directing the Movies in your Mind

As coaches, we want our athletes to develop their skills to the point where they become automatic, especially under pressure. Although nothing can replace the endless hours of practice that are required to make physical skills automatic, athletes can enhance their ability to perform sport skills automatically by using visualization.

Visualization or imagery is a proven tool of top-level athletes. Many successful athletes use imagery to create the perfect performance, seeing and feeling themselves perform at their potential. They also re-create past successful performances, calling to mind what they saw, felt, and thought. This kind of visualization allows athletes to create their performance twice: once in the mind and once when they actually perform the act they have visualized. In addition, visualization can help athletes manage their emotions, build confidence, refine their skills, improve focus at practice and prepare them for competition.

I like to think of visualization as mental movie making. Here’s a sample ‘script’ to help you introduce visualization to your athletes:

Picture yourself sitting in a theater watching a favorite movie. What images do you see as you look at the screen? What colors do you see? Who are the main characters? Who are the actors playing these characters? What are they doing? Now imagine yourself watching a different movie, one in which you’re the star. This movie will feature you performing at your absolute best at your sport. Imagine what you look like on the big screen. What are you wearing? How are you standing? What expression do you have on your face? Picture the opponent, the playing area, the fans, your coach, the referee. Make your images as vivid as possible. Engage all of your senses as you fill out the scene: sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste. Watch yourself as you perform at your highest potential. Bring up all the emotional pieces as well: how it feels to perform well, the connection with your teammates, and so on.

In order to realize your potential as an athlete, make this movie again and again in your mind until it is vivid and believable. Remember, you learn new skills faster using a combination of physical practice and mental imagery than using either one alone.

Coach, visualization is a great tool for you as well. Incorporate it as part of YOUR preparation routine. See yourself running practice exactly the way you’d like to; coaching your best during competition; handling a difficult meeting or conversation with grace and integrity.

In addition, you can change your emotional state in the moment, by evoking the appropriate images during visualization. The chemistry of billions of cells within your body changes in response to what you imagine. In other words, you can change your emotional state by evoking the appropriate images during visualization. So if you need to calm down or psyche up prior to a practice, competition, meeting, phone call etc., take a few moments to visualize the appropriate images.

Enjoy the show!

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