The Technique of Visualization: For Athletes

In recent decades great advances have been made in the world of sports through scientists' study of the human body. The speed, strength, and agility of the professional athlete have all seen improvement through these advances. To promote and maintain an edge over the competition, many athletes work closely with teams of experts, including trainers, doctors, and sports psychologists.

Not all athletes, however, are able to afford their own team of 'experts'. For the avid amateur athlete or the athletic child with true potential to progress to the next level, a technique called 'visualization' is a powerful psychological process used by elite athletes across the globe, and it can easily be incorporated into anyone's training regimen to enhance performance with swift and measurable results. Visualization is easy to learn; it does not discriminate on the basis of age, gender, skill level, or sport; it is free; and, finally, it is completely legal, and it may serve as a legitimate alternative explanation if you ever find yourself under sworn-testimony on Capitol Hill having to defend your batting average to a panel of men and women who likely can't muster the athleticism needed to throw a Frisbee.

Generally, visualization does not start to play a significant role in organized sports until the college level. Perhaps this is why its benefits remain unknown or, at best, mysterious to the average athlete. Typical high school sports programs do not employ the full time services of sports psychologists, though using the techniques they employ when helping collegiate and professional athletes would, no doubt , result in a significant competitive edge. For younger athletes, including those in high school, it is best for an informed coach or parent to guide the actual visualization process for the child until he or she has a firm grasp and understanding of what it is and how it works.

Some people have a superficial knowledge of visualization but dismiss its effectiveness since it does not include an actual, active participation in an athlete's chosen sport. No successful athlete would deny that 'practice makes perfect'. To become skilled in a particular sport (or any other pursuit in life, for that matter), it is necessary to dedicate oneself to a constant practice or repeated experience in the particulars of the discipline. However, visualization, when used correctly and consistently, serves to maximize workouts by encouraging muscular awareness away from the field or court.

At first glance, visualization may strike an uninformed athlete as a type of meditation. This is erroneous; visualization is indeed a practice and discipline of the mind, but the mind's role in the process is of a strictly physiological nature as it relates to the human brain, though the actual presence of a brain in many professional athletes is understandably questionable. Nevertheless, a faulty perception of the visualization technique and its subsequent dismissal strips the skeptical athlete of the opportunity to become faster, stronger, more accurate, and solidly grounded in the fundamentals of his or her chosen sport.

To the skeptical or the curious, a description of how visualization works may be helpful. The Central Nervous System is one of the major, complex systems of the fascinating human body. The brain and the spinal cord are the two main components of the system. Twelve pairs of nerves branch out from the brain and thirty-one pairs branch from the spinal cord. These nerves divide, split off, and weave themselves into every last millimeter of our bodies. Scientists estimate that if all the nerves in one human body were joined end to end, the chain could wrap around the world two and a half times.

Any conscious movement a human being makes involves the communication of the muscle and brain via the neural pathway connecting the two. Simply put, sports require the use of muscles for movement; the movement of muscles requires a brain to send a message via a nerve to those muscles. Although this is a very simplistic explanation, you can use this knowledge of the way your body works to your advantage.

If you know how to type, a quick illustration can show you visualization at work. Right now, keep reading while allowing your hands to remain exactly where they are keeping them as relaxed as possible. Now, without moving any part of your hands or fingers, think about typing the word 'visualization'. Concentrate on each finger as you slowly 'type' the word in your mind.

When you type the v, can you feel anything in your left index finger? It's almost difficult to not move your fingers. Your brain and the muscles in your hands and fingers share an 'understanding' about the typing process. The brain says 'v' and the left index finger is sent an impulse to move. The brain says i and the right middle finger is sent an impulse, and so on.

On the first day of typing class, it takes concentration to type a, s, d, f, s, s, f, f, a, a, d, d. After you practice for several weeks, however, it becomes second-nature. The repeated practice of typing the letters is important, but in that process, you have developed a keener neural awareness between your brain and your muscles. Incidentally, this is why a pianist can become a fast typist in a short period of time. The pianist's brain and finger muscles have already developed that awareness through repeated communication with one another while playing the piano. Given the task of learning how to type, no time has to been spent 'opening' those lines of communication -- they are already open.

Switching to a slightly more physically-strenuous activity than typing, visualization can bring almost instantaneous results in the sports realm, from a simple 100 meter sprint to the multi-faceted mechanics involved in a golf swing. The use of this technique can be accomplished anywhere, as long as you have the ability to truly concentrate while you're doing it. In addition, it doesn't require you to be properly rested, hydrated, nourished, or stretched.

Of course, each sport utilizes different muscles and muscle-groups, and the process of visualization can be tailored to any of them. You can use this technique to improve in any area of your sport, perhaps spending even greater amounts of time in those areas needing the most improvement. By developing a neural path between your brain and the muscles used, your muscles become more accustomed to acting in the way you are visualizing. When you engage in the actual movement, your muscles will 'feel' the correct way to move as visualization begins to hone and perfect the movement.

Of course, for actions that are more complicated (a golf swing, for example), be sure you are visualizing the correct way to do it, or you can do more harm than good. If you throw a football like a sissy and visualize the movement in the same way, you are building faulty neural pathways, reinforcing your bad habits while simultaneously ensuring that your looks and net worth aren't the only things that keep people from mistaking you for Tom Brady.

A sample exercise of how one would go through the process of visualization is given in a companion article.