There is more to imagery than just imagining confidence and envisioning victory. A successful imagery practice doesn’t just happen because you close your eyes and think about your sport.
I closed my eyes – and no, it wasn’t because I was scared.
I mean, sure, ok. I was a bit scared. After all, I was about to compete against another martial artist who’s spent hours preparing a game plan to break one of my bones or strangle me unconscious.
With my eyes closed, I imagined myself pacing the warm-up area. I puffed out my chest and pulled my shoulders back, keeping my chin high as I looked off into the distance.
I forced myself to exude confidence as I visualized the perfect game plan, the ideal execution, and the satisfaction of victory.
I walked with determination and strut to the mat when my name was finally called.
Then I was interrupted by my name actually being called.
“Evan Bishop please report to Mat 2. Evan Bishop please report to Mat 2 or you will be disqualified.”
I opened my eyes – it was my turn to compete. I’m pretty sure I didn’t get the most out of that impromptu, improvised, half-assed imagery session I just attempted before competition.
Is there more to imagery than just closing my eyes and imagining confidence and success?
What Is Imagery?
Imagery is a type of simulation or mental rehearsal that athletes use to:
- Build confidence
- Manage emotions and nerves
- Review strategy and techniques
- Develop and practice new techniques
- Improve focus and concentration
- Deal with pain and injuries
Imagery is said to be like dreaming, except the images are formed consciously – while we are awake. Because of that, we tend to have more control over the nature of our imagery than we do our dreams.
Whereas visualization involves only one sense (sight), imagery is said to incorporate as many senses as possible (sights, smells, sounds, touch, kinesthetic/movement).
These added senses create a more realistic imagined environment and allow for more vivid imagery to take place.
Analytic Model of Imagery
Research has shown that athletes use imagery in a variety of situations and for a variety of purposes.The most common uses of imagery among athletes are to deal with nerves and anxiety or to find an optimal level of arousal before competing.
The Analytic Model of Imagery identifies 5 main functions of imagery that are grouped into one of two categories: cognitive and motivational.
Cognitive – General: strategies and game plans.
Cognitive – Specific: sport-specific skills, techniques, and sequences.
Motivational – Specific: sport-specific goals (ex. winning a gold medal).
Motivational – General Arousal: feelings of arousal, stress, energy, and focus.
Motivational -General Mastery: feelings of confidence, control, and mental toughness.
How to Use Imagery
There is more to imagery than just imagining confidence and envisioning victory. A successful imagery practice doesn’t just happen because you close your eyes and think about your sport.
The PETTLEP model is a useful tool for guiding imagery practices in order to get the most out of the exercise. Each of the letters in the acronym represents a consideration meant to improve the quality (vividness) of your imagery.
P – Physical: Do you want to be relaxed or energized? Determining your ideal state will impact how you imagine your best performance.
E – Environment: The settings in your imagery should resemble the actual environment you will be competing in as much as possible.
T – Time: Imagery should be performed in real-time – so slow-motion or sped up images are not recommended.
T – Task: The nature of the sport and task will affect whether you are imagining in the first person (from your own point of view) or in the third person (watching yourself from an outside point of view).
L – Learning: The quality and content of imagery should change as you learn and improve in your sport.
E – Emotion: Imagery is more effective when there is meaning attached. Winning a gold medal adds an entirely new layer of excitement and passion to the image of competing at a big tournament.
P – Perspective: Consider using a mixture of both internal (from your own perspective) and external (watching yourself from someone else’s perspective) during imagery exercises.
Imagery In and Out of Sport
Understanding how these models work is important for getting the most out of your imagery practices.
Whether you’re an athlete or not, chances are there has been a time in your life when you’ve benefited from some form of mental rehearsal.
Outside of sports, this imagery may have served the purpose of boosting confidence before a stressful situation, reviewing a strategy for an important meeting, or rehearsing parts of a speech before a big event.
A mind is a powerful tool – understanding how to control it and use it to your advantage is an asset that everyone should be aiming to develop.
Using these two models outlined above can help you make the most of imagery practices inside and outside of the sporting arena.
Close your eyes – not because you’re scared – but because it’s the first step to accessing a world of potential for your personal development.
How do you use imagery?
References
Sport and Exercise Psychology: A Canadian Perspective, 3rd edition (2016). Edited by Peter Crocker, Toronto: Pearson.
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