Visualization for Athletes (That's Us) by Jill & Cassie

We found an interesting article about how athletes (that's us) can use visualization to help them achieve their goals.  We thought we'd share it with you, and add in some of our commentary, wisdom gained over FOUR WHOLE WEEKS of running.  Our comments are in parenthesis. 

VISUALIZATION PREPARATION FOR ATHLETES

For some time, visualization in sports has been granted "weird" status by many who do not understand it (oh, WE understand it). In spite of that bias, visualization has continued to grow as a valuable tool used by nearly every Olympic and professional athlete (That's us.  We're runners.  You're not). There was also a time when people pooh-poohed the idea of using computers to analyze physical movement and train for improvement, but that is now commonplace also (My pooh poohing wasn't commonplace either, but I took the Activia challenge and it fixed that.)Whether you call it visualization, imagery, mental rehearsal, or mental practice, the idea is to place importance on improving your cognitive performance along with your physical performance.

...It is also important that we use all 5 senses in the process. When you examine the methods and even the language we use in sports, you can tell how important these senses are. A good visualization should include all your senses, even when the image is relatively short-term. Here's how they relate:


Sight - It is important to actually "see" what you will do (Cassie:  I see my tight, taut, tanned legs with no cellulite, draped in cute Nike running shorts.  I don't SEE my legs rubbing together when I run.  Nope, they DON'T do that. Jill: I visualize finally wearing a sweatband, crossing the finish line with my entire family wearing Running Spuds t-shirts and greeting me there with signs that say my name in glitter, and a Five Guys cheeseburger). Again, think of those bobsledders at the Olympics, golfers, etc.who stand and "see" what they are about to do, then go and do it. We even use the term "you have that look in your eyes", as though we can recognize when someone looks as though they are about to succeed, though we can certainly see determination or concentration or seriousness of purpose (yep, we got all that). 


Touch - What will you literally feel during the activity? (I feel sweaty.  I feel tired.  I feel like I need a nap.  And there's a brief point right before the halfway mark that I feel really angry and just wanna hit that cute running mom with her sporty jogging stroller.  How dare she pass me so arrogantly as I sit here and pant for my last breath!  Then of course that feeling passes, and I jog up next to her and say, hey, isn't it great that we're runners?)  It may be the touch of the ball/bat/club in your hands or the grass/turf under your feet. We talk about an athlete having "that feeling of power" when they are performing exceptionally(Hopefully what we don't feel is the dog poo under our shoe on the track.).


Smell - Will there be popcorn (we HOPE!!), fresh grass, rain or water, locker room odors (oh God, who forgot deodorant?), etc. in connection with your activity? ...We often hear the phrase "the sweet smell of success", even though we know that success has no actual odor (Shoot, our kind of success smells like it needs a shower afterwards!).


Sounds - There are lots of natural ones that occur in games and practices - bat hits ball, pads crash, swish of the net (swish of my swishy pants) - so it is important for us to filter the ones we enjoy into our visualizations. We say, "It sounds good to me".  (After the first initial groans of the run, we just mainly hear our asthmatic wheezing as we take the last corner and head for the car.  We hear the beautiful sound of the lady on our Couch-To-5K running app, also known by us as The Potato Masher, saying "Walk Now".) 


Tastes - In sports, these are not always the greatest things (They must be in the wrong sport.  Have they tried competitive eating?). We might taste our own sweat, blood in our mouth, acrid odors, etc. (which, by the way, can all be washed away by a post-run chocolate chip cookie), yet we recognize others as positive. We say that victory is "sweet", and that losses are "bitter".  (Wait.  Who's competing?  I thought we were doing this for charity!)
It is vitally important that when you are structuring your visualizations, you incorporate as much from your senses as possible, so the image will be as real as possible. The more real your imagery, the more successful your technique will be.