Personal Highlight Examples

To close out this chapter, let’s put it all together. There are three parts to your personal highlight reel, with each part containing three to five specific highlights lasting approximately sixty seconds. Part one is either a recount of one great performance from your past (option one) or a combination of highlights from several of your great perform ances (option two) and a recollection of your single greatest moment in sport. Part two of your personal highlight reel focuses specifically on how you want to perform in an upcoming competition of elevated importance; part three focuses on the details of how you want to perform in the next scheduled competition. Be sure to really hone in on what it physically feels like to emphasize your performance statement and emotionally focus on your ideal arousal state as you go through parts two and three of your personal highlight reel. By doing so, you will dramatically increase the effectiveness of your visualization. Following are two full-length examples of how personal highlight reels unfold. The first is Sean Townsend’s, and the second is Tyler McIlwraith’s. Notice that both Sean and Tyler keep their focus simple and concrete. At the end of Chapter 5 you will transfer the details of your personal highlight reel to your Mental Workout Work Sheet. Sean Townsend’s Personal Highlight Reel Part 1 (Successful Past Performance): World Championships ’02 ▶ Good training leading up to World Championships ▶ Felt calm and confident in warm-ups; everything was smooth and fluid Hit four solid routines on the first day of competition ▶ Superhit P-bars to win the gold ▶ Personal greatest moment in sport: gold medal ceremony (freeze frame: standing at the top of the podium) Part 2 (Next Elevated-Pressure Competition): USA Championships ’08 ▶ Good, solid warm-up, feeling calm and confident and taking one skill at a time, one routine at a time ▶ Hit all six routines on day one while feeling calm and confident and taking one skill at a time, one routine at a time ▶ Hit all six routines in finals while feeling calm and confident and taking one skill at a time, one routine at a time Part 3 (Next Competition): WOGA Invitational ▶ Good, solid warm-up, feeling calm and confident and taking one skill at a time, one routine at a time ▶ Hit all six routines on day one while feeling calm and confident and taking one skill at a time, one routine at a time ▶ Hit all six routines in finals while feeling calm and confident and taking one skill at a time, one routine at a time Tyler McIlwraith’s Personal Highlight Reel Part 1 (Successful Past Performance): SLU vs. Arkansas ▶ Good warm-up, feeling relaxed and confident ▶ Playing aggressively on offense, calling for the ball and being very vocal with teammates Creating offense with good moves and shot selection ▶ Playing strong defense, continually moving my feet and hands ▶ Rebounding on both sides of the ball, strong and aggressive ▶ Personal greatest moment in sport: beating University of Richmond to qualify for conference tournament (freeze frame: celebrating in the locker room after the game) Part 2 (Next Elevated-Pressure Game): Conference Championship Game ▶ Aggressive play for all forty minutes of the game: start strong, strong in the middle, finish strong ▶ Offensively driving hard to the basket and going after contact ▶ Defensively keep my feet moving and have active hands ▶ Pay attention to being extremely vocal with my teammates, calling defenses, and calling for the ball Part 3 (Next Game): Next Regular-Season Game ▶ Aggressive play for all forty minutes of the game: start strong, strong in the middle, finish strong ▶ Offensively driving hard to the basket and going after contact ▶ Defensively keep my feet moving and have active hands ▶ Pay attention to being extremely vocal with my teammates, calling defenses, and calling for the ball