Imagery can improve performance

Many athletes use visualization techniques routinely as a part of training. There are stories and examples of how such techniques provide not only a competitive edge, but a renewed mental awareness and sense of well-being.

Visualization has also been called guided imagery, mental rehersal, mediation, and a host of new names. Generally speaking, visualization is the process of creating a mental image or intention, of what you want to happen or to feel.

An athlete can use this technique to 'intend' and outcome of a race, training session or simply rest in a feeling of calm and well-being.

By imagining a scene, complete with images or movies, of a previous best performance or a new desired outcome, the athlete will simply 'step into' that feeling. While imagining these scenarios, the athlete should try to imagine the detail and the way it feels to perform in the desired way. These images can be visual (images and pictures), kinesthetic (how the body feels), or auditory (the roar of the crowd). Using the mind, an athlete can call up these images over and over, enhancing the skill through repetition or rehearsal, similar to physical practice. With mental rehearsal, minds and bodies become trained to actually perform the skill imagined.

Both physical and psychological reactions in certain situations can be improved with such visualization. Such repeated imagery can build both experience and confidence in an athlete's ability to perform certain skills under pressure, and in a variety of possible situations. The most effective visualization techniques result in a very vivid sport experience in which the athlete has complete control over a successful performance and a belief in this new 'self.'

Guided imagery, visualization, mental rehersal, or whatever you like to call it, can maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of your training. In a world where sports performance and success is measured in one hundredths of a second, most athletes will use every possible training technique at hand. Visualization is used by many to gain that very slim margin. via