Guideline 2: Pay Attention to Detail

The more detail you pack into your mental video, the more realistic and beneficial it is. Try to pay attention to three of the five senses while performing the skill: sight (What do you see on the surrounding field, court, or arena?); sound (Do you hear crowd noise, coaches, teammates?); and feel (What does the ball, bat, racket, club, etc., feel like? Also, what does your body feel like as it performs successfully?). Guideline 3: Frequent and Brief Is the Ticket Visualizing many times for short stints is far more effective than visualizing for extended periods. The ideal is to visualize one time before each physical turn taken. Thus, it is preferable to visualize once before each of three turns than to visualize three turns before performing all those turns uninterrupted. If your mind is focused and working prior to each physical turn taken, then every turn will be of increased quality. In some sports, such as golf, diving, and gymnastics, this is more realistic than with many traditional team sports such as basketball and football. Nevertheless, there are certain aspects of every sport that visualization can hone. The more often you complete your personal highlight reel in your mental workouts, the more inclined you will be to use short segments of visualization in training and competition just prior to performing. In addition, you will become better at using visualization to make improvements and increase consistency. Guideline 4: Visualize from Beginning to End Make sure to view the skill or action in its entirety. Creating a comprehensive mental video helps to reduce distraction and eliminate potential problems with emotional control. For example, you may tend to get nervous while warming up prior to competition. If you visualize yourself remaining calm and confident during warm-up and throughout the competition, you can improve your arousal control during the performance. Also, be sure to pay attention to the desired result. For example, a basketball player wants to see herself going through her pre–free-throw routine, see the free throw, and then see the ball dropping smoothly through the net and landing on the floor. Guideline 5: Emotionally Feel the Way You Want to Feel Be aware of how you want to feel before and during competition, and then train yourself to feel just that way. For example, many athletes like to feel calm and confident prior to and during performances. Unfortunately, this state is not always easy to reach. Some athletes become overly excited or nervous during competition, while others feel underaroused or bored in certain situations. Both underand overarousal can have ill effects on performance. An arousal state is how energized or emotionally charged a person is at a given time. Often it is helpful for athletes to identify their ideal arousal state or what energy/ emotional level helps them play at or beyond their potential. To identify your personal ideal arousal state, answer the following question. On a scale of 1 to 10 (where 1 is half asleep and 10 is running around 100 miles an hour), how “amped up” are you when you play your best? Take a moment and circle your ideal arousal state.