Visualization

The Mental Road to Accomplishment

OVER THE YEARS, OUR Track & Cross - Country coaches have, like other coaches,
based their training on the physical and mental aspects of their sport. In fact they appear
to have progressed as far as they could go in the physical aspects of training and are now
coming to grips with and beginning to make steady headway in the mental aspects.
In Phil Jacksons book, Sacred hoops, B.J. Armstrong states, Ill be able to react
to it without thinking, because Ill already have seen it in mind. Dr. Denis Waitley, author
of Quantum Fitness, states that visualization is the ability of the mind to carry out the vivid
images of performance as if they have been achieved before and are merely being repeated.
Dr. Kay Porter used the term Visual Athletics and believes that imaging a
successful performance builds pre-race confidence and helps identify and overcome
possible race day obstacles. Former University of Illinois basketball coach, Lou Henson,
utilized visualization sessions to teach offensive plays to his squad, and Adams States
successful cross - country coach, Dr. Joe Vigil, exhibited video tapes of cross- country
courses to better visualize and upcoming race.
To be effective, your athletes must be convinced that this technique is important.
They must be informed that great athletes such as Dwight Stone and Jack Nicklaus go to
the movies before every high jump and every golf shot.
Dr. Robin S. Vealey claims that whenever you imaging performing a particular
sport skill, your muscle will fire in the same sequence as an actual performance.
The mind cannot distinguish the difference between an imagined experience and a
real one. It, therefore, responds to what you imagine. It becomes a Mental Blueprint, if
you will.
To implement visualization into our program, we have prepared our own
visualization cassette tapes. Using soft, relaxing music in the background, one of my
assistants or myself will talk the athletes through the visualization session.
Our tapes are event-specific, dealing with techniques and strategies pertinent to
that particular event. After years of experimenting, we have condensed our visualization
sessions down to 10-12 minutes in length.
We believe this time allotment fits nicely into a practice session. To best utilize
visualization , one must establish and adhere to a basic set of guidelines:
1. When introducing the visualization sessions to your athletes explain that they
will be coaching their mind to respond as programmed . Theyll be practicing
inside their head to recreate an experience. Keep in mind , however, that
visualization will work only if they believe in it.
2. Visualization can be used for practice and meets. Use it at practice at least once
a week. Also en courage your athletes to visualize on their own at every
opportunity.

3. We combine visualization and relaxation sessions simultaneously. Research

shows that visualization with relaxation is the most effective. Relaxation
clears the mind and makes it more receptive to positive images. Athletes
are more receptive to these sessions after a workout when theyre tired. The
athletes lie on their back a comfortable distance away from teammates . Its
important for the athlete to be in control of his/her space so that their
concentration is not disrupted.
4. Practice visualizing from an internal and external perspective internal from your
own eyes, external as watching a movie of yourself. The athletes choose the
method that works best for them. However, visualization from both
perspectives is most beneficial.
5. Remind your athletes to use realistic expectations. The athletes should set
goals that force them to strive but not above their physical limits. Its
important for them to understand that visualization will not allow them to go
beyond their physical abilities.
6. Visualize in a quiet, comfortable setting in dim light. Bedtime is the best time to
visualize in the home setting. The athlete is completely relaxed, its quiet,
and the subconscious will replay those final thoughts over and over during
sleep.
7. Practice using all the senses. Visualization not only encompasses seeing with the
minds eye, but feeling with the body. The use of sight, smell, feel, taste, and
hearing will help create a more vivid image of the grass, track surface, track
implements, weather, etc.. The more vivid the image during visualization,
the more effective.
8. Visualize your performance and outcome. Its important to always finish
visualization on a positive note with you always winning or doing well in the
event. Our audio cassettes interjects positive comments and motivational
phrases to enhance positive thinking and confidence.
Increasing numbers of athletes and coaches are using visualization to help them gain
a competitive edge. Sean McCann, the sports psychologist for the U.S. Olympic
Committee in Colorado Springs, states that the most dramatic changes in sports
psychology have occurred in the last 10 years.
We coaches realize that its not what happens to you in competition that counts the
most, but how you react to it. In track & field and cross-country where quarters if an inch
and hundredths of a second separate winning from losing, visualization can provide the
difference.