Mastering Visualization
Your how-to guide.
In the last blog post, we explained how visualization can improve your performance and help you through athletic and academic challenges. In a sporting context, this could be overcoming injury, getting better at handling pressure to create “clutch” moments, or building skill mastery. It is important to not overcomplicate things and instead focus on creating clarity of situations.
Firstly, it is important to know why you are doing it and what the intended purpose is of the exercise. Once this is established, you can create processes and establish a routine to benefit you. There is not necessarily an ideal time, but whenever you can fit into your schedule best and when you feel it will benefit you most. For example, if I am preparing for a specific skill session, I will visualize maybe an hour or so before, if my schedule allows, so that I have clarity in action. But when I was returning from injury, the evenings were best as I had more time and was more relaxed, which enabled me to go through broader scenarios and more situations. However, for all of these types of visualization, a quiet room where you can find some peace and where you will not be distracted is desirable. Finding a comfortable position, this may be in a comfortable chair or laying down. If you struggle to find time or sit still, it is possible to visualize while doing low-energy activities that you find peaceful, whether that is cleaning or brushing your teeth. As long as you can create clear mental imagery, there is no required position. Start by concentrating on your breathing initially to enter a more relaxed state; the 5-second breathing technique tends to work for me: 5-second inhale, 5-second hold, 5-second exhale, 5-second hold, and repeat 10-20 times. Now here is where the nuance of visualization is dependent on the scenario.
Visualisation for injury:
The main goal here is to help create confidence in your ability—confidence that re-injury won’t occur. Creating visualization scenarios where the injured area is tested but manages the stress and function as before the injury. While missing out on physical reps can be painful, skill development can still be achieved through visualizing reps. How to approach visualization for injury:
Create a detailed scene of you performing; imagine what the weather is like, what kind of field you're playing on, and what clothing you’re wearing as vividly as you can. Visualize as close to real-life game scenarios as you can.
You can visualize a game played out, specific scenarios, or parts of the game you are involved in.
Take in how you feel and the emotions that come with certain moments, whether that is when the start whistle sounds or when you perform a key skill.
Visualize the injured area and how it feels; go through scenarios where it may be slightly painful or scary but it continues to operate at 100%. There will be times where you visualize negative things; replay these scenarios over until you get positive results. Think about how to react to make sure you feel comfortable in the game, or if it's logical to see these things.
As you visualize the positive things, how happy and grateful you feel to be back playing the sport you love.
Visualization for the “Clutch” moments:
Pressure is something that all athletes feel, whether that is when taking a free throw or a penalty kick in game scenarios. High-stress moments can be rare and challenge us mentally more than physically. These may be common in a training scenario, but during last-minute game-deciding moments, you may not be prepared. In these moments, you must be able to enter a controlled and confident state.
Create a detailed image of your surroundings; make it as real as possible. Note what you see in front of you, what you hear, and what you feel. What is the scenario, why is there pressure, and who is around you?
Work through the scenario to create a confident emotional state. If you visualize clearly enough, you feel the pressures and challenges of the situations; embrace these feelings to be able to turn them into something positive.
Once you have established the correct emotional state, create clarity in your processes, what you are focusing on, and how you approach the skill as you do in the low-pressure scenarios. Run through a checklist of your preparation and execute. Visualize through to end; imagine the feel of the ball in your hands, the sound of the crowd, the sight of the ball swooshing through the net, and the feeling of victory as your teammates cheer.
Visualization for skill mastery:
Mental imagery is a fantastic tool to utilize mental reps. The benefit of this technique is the building of neural pathways that build your skill execution without actually performing the skill. While not a substitute, learning and executing through mental exercise can be a valuable supplement to physical training.
Here again, you must create a detailed picture of your surroundings. The field, the equipment, the weather—all in as much detail as you can.
Visualize the feel of the equipment and the position of the surrounding elements as if real, for example, lining a golf ball on a tee with the green in front and the hole in sight. It can be in a practice scenario, such as at a driving range or in practice drills.
As mentioned above, mental imagery for a specific practice session where skills will be tested can be a great way to prepare.
This can be progressed to competition- and game-like scenarios. Scenarios where you have control and can execute the skill perfectly, thinking back to times you have executed well and the feelings that came with it both physically and mentally.
Visualization is undoubtedly a useful tool. It does require some time, not much, and focus to immerse yourself in the experience, but we believe it can help overcome obstacles. It may not work for everybody and not for every situation, but if it helps through a specific struggle, as it did with my knee recovery, please give it a try. Trial it for as little as 2 or 3 times a week to as much as every day for a month and see if you feel a difference. It takes time to fully realize its benefits and gets better with practice; if you have goals for it, you will see progress. We would love to hear how you use it and what benefits you get from it.
