Search Google for Olympic athletes who use visualization and more than 700,000 results will pop up. Elite athletes use imagery to hear the audience, feel the wind, imagine past successes, and program success for future events. They feel every turn on the bobsled, every move by an opponent, every dive, every part of the gymnastic routine. They hear the roar of the audience. They imagine every step to receiving the medal and the weight of it around their necks.
Michael Phelps spent two hours in the pool daily, visualizing the pool, the water, the audience and every stroke. He visualized potential obstacles and saw himself overcoming those obstacles. Phelps has earned twenty-eight Olympic medals, 23 gold medals, more medals than anyone in Olympic history. Phelps visualizes a race hundreds of times before it begins so that when it comes time to start, his body knows exactly what to do; he has reinforced neural pathways, leading to quicker decision making and better reactions.
Sports psychologist Richard Suinn, Ph.D., the first psychologist to serve on a U.S. Olympic sports medicine team in 1972 used imagery training. While practicing visualizing skiing, some of the athletes claimed they were cold. Suinn hooked up instruments to test the reaction of the muscle and found that the muscles when visualizing the ski run behaved the same way as when physically skiing and he theorized that the brain doesn’t know the difference between actual performance and mental practice.
Thirty-seven studies on mental practice concluded that when visualization is combined with physical practice, performance is better than physical practice alone. Imagery practice enhances learning and performance as well as motivation. Imagery effects are dosage specific: the more you mentally practice, the better the results. A review of nineteen research studies showed that imagery improved sports performance in volleyball, archery, basketball, golf, football, long- distance running, and much more. Most of the studies included a minimum of six weeks of imagery-based training or more. Training for less than a week didn’t show much improvement in performance, but three days was enough time to show improvement in psychological variables such as anxiety, self-confidence, self-efficacy, and attention.
My sister. Deb has demonstrated the power of visualization to develop self-confidence, strength, speed, and grit and to become the remarkable woman she is today! When I was in my early twenties and my sister Deb was 15, Deb spent most of her time in her room. She may have eaten with us or taken a plate up to her room; she was restricting herself to 550 calories a day. She had an eating disorder and was not physically fit. Yet, this past year, Deb completed her 12th Ironman: a strenuous competition that begins with a 2.4-mile swim, followed by a 112-mile bike race then a complete marathon of 26.2 miles.
How did Deb go from living in her bedroom, barely eating, to successfully competing in 12 Ironman, 13 half Ironman, 21 marathons, and over 40 half marathons?
In high school, Debbie started running. In college, Deb studied Nutrition Science and envisioned herself healthy, fit, and strong, helping others with eating disorders. While in graduate school for Exercise Science, Debbie joined some cyclists on rides. A woman excitedly shared her success in completing an Ironman in Kona, Hawaii. When the woman had gotten to the registration desk to pick up her packet, she was questioned about whether this was something she was able to do. They didn’t believe that she could complete it. At that moment, Deb hopes one day she could complete an Ironman. She sets a goal to complete a marathon; this is a tall order at that time. In her 20’s, Deb finishes her first marathon after her son Austin is born. Now with four sons, she starts a chapter of a nonprofit exercise group for mothers, and soon she inspires hundreds of moms who join for weekly runs and motivation.
Deb recently qualified for the World Championship Half Ironman in New Zealand in Dec 2024! Deb visualizes every aspect of the competition, from start to finish. She imagines feeling calm, strong, and light. She imagines herself passing people to get ahead. She envisions the transitions: completing the swim, putting on her helmet, and getting on the bike, then docking it away for the final run. She imagines the timer at the finish line flashing her goal time. She has a mental blueprint for success and absolutely knows she will finish!
Identify how you want your performance to improve, whether it is a sport, job performance, relationship, leadership, or the ideal you. Mentally practice using all your senses, feel your success, act as the success you are, and you will surely realize increased motivation, confidence, skill, and improved performance!
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