Sports Psychology: Visualization for Enhanced Performance
by Teige West
Visualization is the process of using guided imagery to encourage an outcome. You probably do some kind of informal version of visualization every day, whether you picture yourself winning a race when you’re lifting, getting that promotion at work, or doing well in a class you’re taking. This type of visualization is common for many people, but research shows that you can actually use these mental images to enhance your chance of success and improve your confidence, rather than only using mental images to experience the feelings of accomplishment.
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An Australian psychologist Alan Richardson conducted an experiment, referred to as the Australian Free Throw Experiment, which showed the correlation between visualizing success and achieving success. He put volunteers into one of three groups. Group 1 practiced free throws every day for 20 minutes. Group 2 visualized shooting free throws for 20 minutes each day, and Group 3 neither practiced nor visualized. At the end of experiment, Group 1 improved, but surprisingly, Group 2 improved at almost the same rate as Group 1, demonstrating that the mind plays an important part in your success. And research has shown that visualization isn’t only helpful for your athletic performance, but also for your mental well-being. Psychologists routinely use visualization to help people gain confidence, release negative thought patterns, and feel more prepared for whatever obstacle lies ahead, whether that obstacle is a job interview, a major test or the first hurdle of your next race.
Visualization can be pretty straightforward if you are already a visually-inclined person. Do you picture yourself hurdling when you’re doing something completely different, like running in the gym or watching TV or lifting weights? Sometimes the images we carry of ourselves or that we can recall most easily are negative: when we said the wrong thing, when we made a major mistake at work or school, or when we remember an embarrassing situation. When you think of one of these examples, you may remember, picturing in your mind where you were, who was around you, how you felt, all of which is the most common form of visualization: imagery. Most people prefer to use mental pictures/movies for visualization, but if that doesn’t work for you, don’t give up yet! There are people who aren’t able to mentally picture images easily, and if that’s you, you may need to practice. There are also some individuals who lack the ability to create mental pictures, even with practice, but there is a form of physical or sensory visualization that can be effective.
Types of Visualization: First or Third Person
There are several ways to create mental images to help with your performance. If you can easily recreate your friend’s face or your neighbor’s house in your mind, then you are a visually inclined person. When you close your eyes and picture yourself, say, sitting at your computer, what do you see? Do you see yourself as though you are a separate person, as though you are someone else watching you at the computer? Or when you think of yourself typing, do you see yourself inside of yourself? Do you watch your fingers move across the keyboard? Do you see the screen and the environment behind your computer, whether it’s a park, a library, an office or a window? If you watch yourself like you’re another person, you probably tend to be a third person visualizer. If you picture yourself inside of yourself, then you are more likely to be a first person observer by default.
Some research suggests that first person visualization is more effective, but both types can be useful. For example, if you often lack confidence before a race, first person observation can allow you to confront your anxieties and concerns in a non-confrontational environment. You can picture yourself at the starting line and imagine the crowd and the other competitors stretching or chatting. When you recreate those images, you may feel your breathing increase, your chest tighten or any other symptoms of stress. When you’re actually at the starting line, you may find it difficult to push away those feelings, but when you’re working with visualization at home or away from the track, you breathe through those feelings and then picture yourself running a race without any of your fears being realized. The more you work through the visualization, the more you program your mind and body to operate in the way you desire.
The third person observer can be useful to detach from your feelings or senses so that you can focus on something specific without being distracted by emotion. For example, let’s say you clipped a hurdle and fell down in your last two races. You can’t stop replaying what happened. You keep picturing yourself coming up to the hurdle and your foot is out and then you’re falling and you’re down. Then you picture the second race and you replay falling again. You’ve talked to your coach who has suggested that your trailing ankle is too far down—you need to remember to bring your foot up when you clear a hurdle. Visualization is a great way to prepare your mind to bring that ankle up, but every time you picture yourself hurdling, you feel nervous, stressed. If you detach from your inner observer to intentionally see yourself from the outside, then you can watch your technique more neutrally. You can stand at the sidelines and watch yourself move over the hurdle, your ankle is up, you watch yourself land cleanly, and now you see yourself sprinting again to the next hurdle, and you see that ankle is up again, and again, you land cleanly. Instead of replaying your fall, you’re watching yourself practice your coach’s instructions. And just like training your muscles, your mind is absorbing your visualization, remembering to keep that leg up.
Visualization Exercises
Below you will find a suggested visualization exercise. This exercise is almost like a form of meditation; you should find a quiet environment away from distractions and other people, if possible. Doing this activity every day is the most effective way to use visualization, so work it into your morning routine before you get out of bed, or your evening routine before you get ready for bed. If you are visually inclined, try to use both first and third person, but if only one perspective comes to mind for you—if you have a difficult time seeing yourself from the outside because some people do—then focus the bulk of your attention on that particular viewpoint; slowly work with the difficult perspective until you are able to use both observation types. Set aside ten or fifteen minutes for this exercise, but as you progress, you may need more time.
Step 1: Sit in a comfortable position and relax. Try to breathe deeply, using belly breaths, for several minutes.
Step 2: Let’s say that, as an example, you have been working on endurance. In the past, you have started your races feeling strong, but the last 50 meters have been a struggle: you’re tired and you “lose steam.” But over the off-season you’ve been strength training, doing drills and you’ve made some dietary changes, and in a couple of weeks you’re going to have your first race this season. As you breathe deeply, begin to imagine that first race. You’re on the track. You’re waiting for the announcer to call your name.
Let’s try first person observer first. What do you see from your eyes? Picture your environment. Look in front of you, down the track. You see the hurdles and the spaces between the hurdles. On either side you see your fellow competitors. What are they doing? Stretching? Talking? You see the crowd. Is the crowd yelling? Or quiet, waiting? You hear your name, and you hear the competitors’ names. You hear the announcer tell you to take your mark. You’re ready, you’re set, the gun fires and you’re off. Picture what you do: you’re sprinting, you’re moving over hurdles, and you feel strong. You see other competitors to your side and you’re in the last 50 meters, and you still feel strong. You feel stronger than last year. And then suddenly you don’t see anyone beside you and you’re over the finish line and you’re first! Your endurance work has paid off! You can replay this first person exercise, working through feelings that may arise, such as anxiety or doubt. You can add senses to your experience: what do you hear? Smell? Taste?
Now, if you can, switch to the third person observer. Replay the same race, but this time watch yourself outside of yourself. Think about being on the sidelines. What do you see yourself do before you get ready to hurdle? Watch yourself crouch at the line. Hear the gun fire and watch as you clear hurdle after hurdle. Watch at that 50 meter mark as you pull away from the other hurdlers and then cross the finish line first.
Step 3: Repeat these visualizations as needed for your allotted time. Just like lifting weights, you need several replays to condition your mind.
Step 4: Take another two minutes or so to breathe deeply and come out of your visualization. Notice how you feel after this exercise. Write down any thoughts you have that may help with this exercise in the future.
“Visualization” Without Images: Get Moving
If you’re not able to form mental images, there are some other techniques you can use. The first suggest is to get physical. Instead of sitting comfortably in a quiet room, find a place free from distractions, but where you can move freely. You can either stand in one place, or you can move forward, but physically go through the motions of hurdling without actually sprinting or jumping. Bring your lead leg up and watch your leg go into proper position. Do the same with your trail leg. Recreate a slow-motion clean landing. Talk through the motions, saying out loud what you desire from that particular movement. From our example above about the low trail leg, you could say as you move that leg: “I’m at the hurdle. I feel my leg going up. I feel my ankle, which is high enough to clear the hurdle. My leg is in proper form.”
If there is a specific aspect of your training you want to improve, find a physical way to recreate that improvement.
Alternatively, you can have someone film or take photos of you in competition or while training, so that you can see yourself succeed. Replay the video and study the photo to see yourself improving. You can also use the video or photo to find other areas that you may need to work on.
Visualization is a popular technique for athletes of all levels. You spend so much time working on your body, but your mind needs conditioning, too. Repeat the above exercise every day and you will see an increase in your confidence and performance.
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