Mental Imagery

Mental Imagery

Mental imagery involves the athlete imagining themselves in an environment performing a specific activity using all of their senses (sight, hear, feel and smell). The images should have the athlete performing successfully and feeling satisfied with their performance.  

What can mental imagery be used for?

Mental Imagery can be used to:

·         Familiarise the athlete with a competition site, a race course, a complex play pattern or routine etc.

·         Motivate the athlete by recalling images of their goals for that session, or of success in a past competition or beating a competitor in competition

·        

Perfect skills or skill sequences the athlete is learning or refining

·         Reduce negative thoughts by focusing on positive outcomes

·         Refocus the athlete when the need arises e.g. if performance is feeling sluggish, imagery of a previous best performance or previous best event focus can help get things back on track

·         See success where the athlete sees themselves performing skills correctly and the desired outcomes

·         Set the stage for performance with a complete mental run through of the key elements of their performance to set the athlete's desired pre-competition feelings and focus.

Mental imagery should not focus on the outcome but on the actions to achieve the desired outcome.

How do I apply mental imagery?

Golfer Jack Nicklaus used mental imagery for every shot. In describing how he imagines his performance, he wrote:

"I never hit a shot even in practice without having a sharp in-focus picture of it in my head. It's like a colour movie. First, I "see" the ball where I want it to finish, nice and white and sitting up high on the bright green grass. Then the scene quickly changes, and I "see" the ball going there: its path, trajectory, and shape, even its behaviour on landing. Then there's a sort of fade-out, and the next scene shows me making the kind of swing that will turn the previous images into reality and only at the end of this short private Hollywood spectacular do I select a club and step up to the ball."

When should mental imagery be used?

To become proficient in the use of imagery you have to use it ever day: on your way to training, during training and after training. In every training session, before you execute any skill or combination of skills, first do it in imagery. See, feel, and experience yourself moving through the actions in your mind, as you would like them actually to unfold. In the competition situation use imagery before the start of the event and see your self performing successfully/winning.

How can I stay focused?

You have probably seen an athlete become angry at their performance. The situation here is that the athlete is focusing on the mistake (negative attitude), something that cannot be changed, and not on how to improve their performance (positive attitude).

In sports psychology "pattern breaking" routines are used to help prevent the athlete falling into this negative attitude. A "pattern breaker" can be a word or phrase used by the coach in training or competition to move the athlete from a negative attitude to a positive one. Many athletes have a role model who they try to emulate. Providing the role model is suitable then their name could become the "pattern breaker" phrase for the coach to use when the athlete takes on a negative attitude to a task. On hearing their role model's name the athlete will shift their focus to how their role model would react and assume a positive attitude to the task. Overtime the athlete will begin to recognise when they are focusing on negative thoughts and use the "pattern breaking" word or phrase (repeating it in their head) to get themselves to switch off the negative thoughts and get back into a positive attitude.

What are the benefits?

Mental Imagery itself can be useful in a number of circumstances including:

·         developing self confidence,    developing pre-competition and competition strategies which teach athletes to cope with new situations before they actually encounter them

·         helping the athlete to focus his/her attention or concentrate on a particular skill he/she is trying to learn or develop   the competition situation

When combined with relaxation it is useful in:

·         the promotion of rest, recovery and recuperation

·         the removal of stress related reactions e.g. muscular tension

·         establishing a physical and mental state which has an increased receptivity to positive mental imagery

·         establishing an appropriate level of physical and mental arousal prior to competition

The "Quick Set" routine

Psychologist Jeff Simons developed a routine that would allow an athlete to achieve an appropriate mental arousal in the last 30 seconds before a competition. The "Quick Set" routine, which involves physical, emotional and focus cues, can also be used as a means of refocusing quickly following a distraction.

An example of this "Quick set" routine for a sprinter could be:

·         Close your eyes, clear your mind and maintain deep rhythmical breathing, in through your nose and out through your mouth (physical cue)

·         Imagine a previous race win, see yourself crossing the line in first place and recreate those emotional feelings of success (emotional cue)

·         Return your focus to the sprint start, think of blasting off on the 'B' of the bang with the appropriate limb action (focus cue)

"You only achieve what you believe"

I use this quotation when I hear an athlete make a negative statement about their ability and to focus their attention when assisting them to develop mental imagery skills.

The way forward

The benefits of mental imagery have been outlined and I have found that when an athlete is in a fully relaxed state, they are particularly receptive to mental imagery. The next stage is the creation of scripts to help in developing and apply mental imagery skills.

Page Reference

The reference for this page is:

·         MACKENZIE, B. (2002) Mental Imagery [WWW] Available from: http://www.brianmac.co.uk/mental.htm [Accessed 14/8/2013]

Additional Sources of Information

For further information on this topic see the following:

·         BEASHEL, P. & TAYLOR, J. (1996) Advanced Studies in Physical Education and Sport. UK: Thomas Nelson & Sons Ltd.

·         DAVIS, B. et al. (2000) Physical Education and the Study of Sport. UK: Harcourt Publishers Ltd.

·         McARDLE, W. et al. (2000) Essentials of Exercise Physiology. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

·         BEASHEL, P. & TAYLOR, J. (1997) The World of Sport Examined. UK: Thomas Nelson & Sons Ltd.

·         GALLIGAN, F. et al. (2000) Advanced PE for Edexcel. Oxford; Heinemann Educational Publishers

·         BIZLEY, K. (1994) Examining Physical Education. Oxford; Heinemann Educational Publishers

·         VILE, A. & BIGGS, J. (2004) Grace Under Pressure. UK; Lulu Press

·         ORLICK, T. (1986) Psyching for Sport. USA; Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc.

·         HALE, B. (1998) Imagery Training. UK; The National Coach Foundation

The Ideal Performance State

The Ideal Performance State

Do you throw your racquet and scream throughout your matches? Do you give up as soon as you are broken once or twice in a set? Are you a great hitter who is a choker, consistently losing to players with much weaker strokes?

Anger, tanking and choking are three of the four mental performance stages in which players may find themselves during a match. Your key is to reach the fourth – the Ideal Performance State.

Sport psychology's main guru, Dr. Jim Loehr, popularized the concept of the Ideal Performance State (IPS) and the various stages players go through to get there, in an effort to help coaches and players better deal with the stress of competition.

Before you can cope with your mental demons on court, you'll need to understand what your emotions mean, in order for you to deal with them on a more subjective level.

The Four Mental Stages

Picture your mind as a bulls eye, which is made up of four concentric circles.

Tanking

The outside circle is tanking. Players who tank simply quit trying, sometimes purposely hitting balls long or in the net. By tanking, a player can rationalize that he or she didn't really lose because they didn't try. They may do this to avoid giving credit to a rival they can't stand, or to save face by avoiding failure. It's always disheartening to try and fail; not trying eases some of this pain.

Prepare for the time you may find yourself tanking. One way to motivate yourself when you feel that the match is lost is to set micro-goals, such as winning the next game, or holding serve the last two games you serve. Instead of simply hitting the ball as hard as you can in an effort to end the point, at least go for winners. Practicing particular shots, such as passing shots, short, crosscourt angles, or other shots may allow you to get some success and enjoyment out of the match, and may even get you back into the match.

Almost anything, even low-percentage tennis, is better than tanking.

Anger

The next circle in the bulls eye is anger. The anger ring is closer to the bulls eye because anger comes from a player who is trying, but losing, and becoming frustrated. The angry player at least cares. Anger may result from the player's reaction to an opponent (who is cheating or practicing gamesmanship) or may be directed at the player himself (for poor performance).


The problem with anger is that is an uncontrolled release of emotions, with no positive impact on the player's game. It is most often accompanied by negative self-talk, which is usually put-downs of the player (e.g., “You idiot. You can't hit two balls in a row!”). Players who throw racquets, swear, scream, hit balls into the fence or kick things are letting off steam, but not doing anything about the cause. Before they know it, they are out of the game, set or match.

Choking

The next circle is choking. Choking is simply fear. When you are trying, but losing, you begin to compensate by becoming more conservative in your play. you hit weaker, shorter balls. Your serve toss becomes lower. Your react to opponent's shots, rather than try to dictate play. your weight is typically static or moving backwards, as you let the ball play you, instead of vice versa. In short, you panic, and your fear begins to paralyze you. Some of the results of choking and methods for dealing with this mental state are outlined in article “How Choking Affects Your Strokes” in the January 2002 issue of High School Tennis Coach.

The Ideal Performance State

The Ideal Performance State, also known as “The Zone,” is that state in which you are able to hit the ball where you want, how you want, when you want. When players enter the IPS, their confidence soars. They become players, thinking tactically on the other side of the net, rather than hitters, who think technically on this side of the net. Even when they are down in a game, or trailing in a set to an opponent who is playing well, they love the battle.

What most players fail to realize is that “The Zone” is more a motor phenomenon than a psychological one. No player who hits the Zone is ever hitting poorly. Players who hit balls into the fence and consistently double fault don't talking about being in the Zone. What players who are hitting badly do, however, is consciously think about mechanics while they're playing.

Players who are in the IPS don't think about their grips or footwork; they are focused on the other side of the net, measuring crosscourt vs. down the line, or trying to wrong foot an opponent by setting him up with a combination of several shots.

Players in the Zone often refer to themselves as “being unconscious.” This means, their brain was responding to the goals it was being given (crosscourt, deep, etc.). When player consciously try to override their brain's stored motor memory by thinking about mechanics during match play, there is no way the brain can do what it has been trained to do.

To help get yourself get into the IPS, make sure you understand which of the four mental states you may be in. If you understand what the IPS is, and that you need to get out of your brain's way and let it do it's work, this may help you clear your minds of the conscious directions that interfere with stored motor patterns.

During practices, try to recall any times you were in the IPS during a match, and try to recreate the feeling you had at that time, during this practice. Recall the temperature that day. Was it a noisy or quiet court? Were there any smells associated with that match, such as fresh-cut grass or a particular sports drink? Was it windy or calm?

Sport psychologists often refer to this technique as “visualization,” however some sport psychologists ask their players to visualize future matches, and future winners. Because the brain has not experienced this yet, it's debatable as to how useful this really is.

Make sure that any time you hit the Zone, you take note of how you're feeling, so you can catalogue it for later use in another match.

Understanding the four mental stages in which you may find yourself during a match, why they happen and how you can deal with them during matches will help you achieve the Ideal Performance State much more easily, more often and will result in more wins.

Source:  The Ideal Performance State - US High School Tennis Association