Imagery involves using all of the body's senses to re-create or create an experience in the mind.
Ideally, imagery includes every one of the senses; visual, auditory (sound), olfactory (smell) gustatory (taste), tactile (touch), and kinesthetic sense (feelings of the body as it moves in space) as well as the emotions (anger, joy, pride, etc.) involved with the event!
It is often difficult to include multiple senses when beginning to utilize imagery, and it should not discourage you from continuing with mental training! All things come in time and so will the ability to re-create very detailed images with your mind.
We often use imagery and focus on negative events and failures. The key with mental skills training is to learn how to control imagery and be productive, learning from those mistakes, while programming the mind and body to both function optimally.
By using imagery as a mental training tool, you are able to see and believe, which gives confidence and focus to then perform successfully.
You may be thinking to yourself that imagery sounds a lot like dreaming. That's because dreaming is actually a form of imagery, but it is not a mental training tool for performance enhancement. Dreaming is uncontrolled and not systematically practiced. It happens randomly with little to no direction.
Imagery must be used in a continuous and systematic manner for it to qualify as mental training, and for the benefits to influence performance. Just like weight training once a month will not increase muscular strength, performing imagery with no consistency will not increase performance.
Two main factors need to be addressed and understood to properly utilize imagery: vividness and controllability.
Controllability is the ability to imagine exactly what you intend to imagine,as well as the ability to manipulate desired aspects of the images as you wish. Remember, the goal is to be productive and program your body and mind for optimal performance. For example, after a poor performance, imagining and creating an ideal performance will increase the liklihood of a better outcome in the future.
Vividness refers to how clearly you can see an image and how detailed the image appears. Vividness involves features such as if the image is in color, how many senses are being used, or the emotional and physical sensations experienced when engaged. Overall, the more vivid the image is, the more effective it is.
Imagery training may take on either one of two focuses.
1 - An external perspective. This occurs when you see the images from outside of your body, similiar to a video camera following the event.
2 - An internal perspective. This is when you see the image from behind your own eyes, as if you are doing the activitity.
Ideally you should try to have an internal perspective during your imagery, though this may be more difficult for some. Regardless of which perspective you achieve more easily, both viewpoints have been shown to have an influence on behaviors.
It is extremely important to not focus on times you choked or were in a slump. You should focus on images of times you excelled and were at the top of your game. Focusing on positive events rather than avoiding negative events will provide a significant boost to your mental outlook.
One of the tops assets of imagery is that mental practice provides an excellent opportunity to hone skills after physical fatigue and attention overload occurs.
Research has even shown that mental images result in neuromuscular activity similiar to the actual event (though at reduced intensities)*
In addition to re-creating performance situations, imagery can be used to find the optimal pre-performance arousal state regardless if you need to psych up or calm down to be prepared for an event.
If you are interested in learning more about imagery and how to optimize your progress, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Materials and information adopted from Seeing Is Believing: Understanding and Using Imagery in Sport by Robin S. Vealey of Miami University and Christy A. Greenleaf from the University of North Texas. The original chapter was published in Applied Sport Psychology: Personal Growth to Peak Performance. (5th ed.) which was edited by Jean M. Williams and published by McGraw-Hill (2006).
* (Harris, D.V. & Robinson, W. J. (1986). The effects of skill level on EMG activity during internal and external imagery. Journal of Sport Psychology, 8, 105-111.)
