Visualization (or Imagery) is not crazy mind tricks performed by witch doctors….it’s actually one of the most powerful things in this world and yet it goes unrecognized in so many sports. There have been books written about it, studies done to confirm the power of visualization and athletes all over the world that use it to enhance their ability. While some of the media and other organizations take it to an absurd level saying that anything you visualize will come to fruition, I believe it to be one of many tools used by elite athletes to outperform competition. Visualization dates back to the early 1900′s when Coleman Griffith pioneered research into this topic with his “Psychology of Athletics” piece in 1926. Since then it has grown to be a staple in elite athletes training regimens, right up there with physical training.

It’s pretty easy to understand that athletes perform on different levels when outside elements are introduced. Imagine shooting 10 free throws in the your local gym by yourself….not too hard, right? Now imagine you were in Madison Square Garden, on national TV with 50 thousand fans screaming and millions of people watching? Do you think you would make the same number of free throws?

To bridge this gap in performance, visualization can be used to simulate game-like situations and train your body and mind to perform better under pressure.

Visualization
The definition of visualization in relation to sports can be defined as using multiple senses to create or recreate experiences in one’s mind. (1) Similarly, the more vivid the images and situations that your brain creates, the more likely your brain will interpret them as actual events, which increases effectiveness. (2) The better you are at re-creating the situation including sights, smells, timing, opponents and actual scenarios then the better you will perform when that situation becomes reality. There are 6 specific autonomic nervous system (ANS) responses that correlated with mental rehearsal & visualization that improves performance. Basically this means that visualization actually teaches the body how to perform better at rehearsed tasks. This trains your brain and body how to react without having to think.

In the free throw example I mentioned above, visualize the noise, the crowd screaming, the cold air in the building, the popcorn smell coming from concessions, the feel of the ball in your hands, the feeling of being in front of millions of viewers, the feeling of anticipation for the shot. If you imagined that every single day, then walking up to that free throw line wouldn’t be as nerve-wracking. It is no longer a brand new situation which you have never experienced before. You have played this moment in your head and now  you can stop and focus on what you can control, the actual shot.

My experience with visualization and baseball quickly confirmed all the research done on visualization. I had the opportunity to play in Fenway park, one of the most iconic baseball stadiums in the world. Red Sox fans are crazy, passionate and loud as hell. I was extremely nervous walking into the stadium for the first time, which made me a little concerned that I was nervous since I had been mentally preparing for this game several days beforehand. I was worried my nerves would cause me to lose focus. I was nervous all the way up until I got in the game. The minute I was in the game those nerves quickly went away and I was completely zoned in on the game, the situations at hand and my role on the field. I still had a nice kick of adrenaline going because this was an exciting time in my life, but what I realized was that I had been mentally preparing for game situations and not all the pre-game warming up. As soon as I got to the situations where I had rehearsed in my head I was completely under control and not nervous. This was one of those big moments when you stop and realize that what  you are doing really does have an effect on your performance.

So next time you are preparing physically for a game, match, competition, race or whatever it is you do, take 5 minutes every night before you go to bed and imagine the potential situations you will face in that game. Visualize all the sights, sounds, smells, actions and opponents and re-play in your head outperforming everyone else and succeeding in every situation. Imagine the possible obstacles, weather, opponent actions and other outside factors that could come into play. Imagine as much detail as possible. When you get to that situation, you will have handled it several times before in your imagery training and your body/brain will instantly be able to overcome it.