USING VISUALIZATION FOR SPORT SUCCESS

 Part 1: Strengthening the Mind-Body

Connection for Top-Level Execution

   A post player who has been playing in Europe for two seasons and was the Defensive Player of the Year in his league last year wrote me with the following question:

“I would like to use visualization in my mental approach.  I have tried it before a bit but would like to improve on this and become more consistent with it.  Do I visualize myself doing shooting drills and such - or do I try to picture actual game situations? How often should I visualize? And for how long?”

ANSWER:

   First, keep in mind the goal of visualization – which is to reproduce and experience IN YOUR MIND certain situations that you have had (or would like to) experience IN YOUR BODY. It is something we all do naturally (such as when we remember a past event from our lives and can picture it in our mind) – but for an athlete this can have special benefit when we use it as a strategy to improve our execution as a player. Research has demonstrated how we can experience – at least in some measure – precisely the same things in our mind that occur in our body in actual activity For example, when downhill skiers use visualization to picture their run down the slope, they activate the exact same muscles in sequence as if they were in actual competition.  Using visualization strengthens the neuro-muscular connections that we activate when we translate our intention (in a drop-step shot for example) into action.   

   Thus, the main benefit of using visualization is to improve and strengthen your physical skills by repeatedly strengthening the mind-body connections.  

– such as a play in a past game – or any experience you might like to have – such as shooting free throws, or making certain post moves decisively and aggressively..

   One question to ask yourself is: What is it that you want to improve?

   For example - a player who has been doing drills every day to get better in some part of his game could visualize doing the same drills in his mind.  As he does this, he could notice what is happening when he does a drill in his mind. Does it feel like it flows well or is there hesitation? Does it feel like he is executing precisely or that he is struggling a bit?  After doing this a few times – he will get a good idea of what he needs to do better or do differently to get that move or play to perfection.

   The next step is what we call MASTERY – that is, doing the drill over and over in his mind with the proper moves, timing, and feel of his body.  There is research that athletes who use visualization in this way along with doing the drill itself in the gym perform better than players who ONLY do the drill itself without spending time using visualization. (For example, individuals who practiced their free throw shooting AND engaged in visualizing successful free throw shooting were able to improve their free throw shooting percentage significantly higher than others who spent the same amount of time in practice but did NOT do the visualization.)

   Visualization can also help prepare for game day. One very effective thing to do the day before a game or the morning of the game is to picture certain situations that might come up and see yourself making successful moves to score, rebound, pass, or defend in each of those situations. 

   Baseball Hall of Fame legend Hank Aaron used to go to the ball park early the day of a game, and while some of his teammates were in the clubhouse playing cards, he would take time to visualize whoever was pitching that day, and each possible pitch he might see… and how he would respond to that pitch. Doing this as part of his pre-game routine gave him increased confidence and decisiveness when he was at bat.

  

   A player might use visualization with regard to MISTAKES he made in previous games – seeing what he did wrong - then “rewinding the tape” to the moment just before he made the mistake, and then picture doing it a better way. Doing this a few times can really help LEARN FROM MISTAKES or missed shots, missed rebounds or missed defensive moves in order to CORRECT and IMPROVE his level of play.

   He could also use visualization to picture various situations where he wanted to work on his decision making with the ball, seeing himself with the ball and picture himself making STRONG MOVES and FEELING CONFIDENT.

   The value of visualization might be seen in the fact that over 90% of Olympic athletes report using visualization in their quest for an Olympic medal. Athletes who routinely use visualization with consistency report improving such things as going strong to the hoop, feeling confident in being able to outplay their defender, and quickly finding their game rhythm when they are on the floor.