GET MENTAL: ERIKA CARLSON
If you are one of the hundreds of athletes who’s been in my office looking to improve your performance, than you’ve heard me say this, “The skill that transforms good athletes to great athletes is imagery.” Scientific studies provide us with evidence that athletes who add imagery practice to their physical practice out-perform those who don’t. These results have been replicated over and over again.
Using imagery (often called visualization) is relatively simple. Let’s use swimming as an example. Replay key starts, strokes, and kicks off the wall in your head. To maximize the power of imagery be sure to follow these best practices:
“º PERFECT PRACTICE “” Remember a time when everything felt just right; your technique was great, you stayed on tempo. This is exactly what you need to repeat over and over again. The greatest advantage of using imagery vs. real life practice is that every rep can be perfect. Repeat, repeat, repeat.
“º HIT DELETE…QUICKLY!! “” It’s important to remember that you are learning while you’re imaging (your nervous system is hard at work!). That said, do you want to reinforce that mistake you just made or reinforce the time you got your stroke technique just right? Delete your mistakes ASAP.
“º SENSORY DETAILS “” To get the most out of your imagery reps you must feel (moving through the water), see (the wall or the flags), hear (starting “beep”, cheering), smell (chlorine or salt water).
Just 5-10 minutes each day is all it takes. If you are an athlete looking to level up in your sport, then you can’t afford to NOT practice imagery.