SPORTS VISUALIZATION: WHAT IT IS FOR AND HOW TO PRACTICE IT - ARTE - 2025

The sports viewing is to use your imagination to modify physical patterns and / or emotional present in different situations. Although it is a complex technique, it is possible to learn it. In this article we are going to expose some points that can help you understand what it is and how to practice it.

The use of visualization is not only limited to the sports field. You can use visualization to work with the emotions you feel in moments that are important to you such as giving a conference, attending a job interview, facing an exam, etc.

Are you an athlete and want to optimize your performance in training and matches? To achieve your maximum performance, it is very important that, in addition to training physical, technical and tactical skills, you spend time training your psychological skills.

Goal setting, relaxation, imaginative practice, attention skills or self-assessment and activation control are some of the fundamental psychological skills that athletes should master.

What is it for?

It can be of great help to you with any of the following goals:

-To mentally reproduce the movements corresponding to the technical execution, manipulating the speed to be able to master the small details that may be essential.

-Learn to make tactical decisions, since you can position yourself before certain stimuli and make the correct decision (in this way you will be enhancing the functional relationship between the stimuli and the decision).

-Prepare performance in competitions, exposing yourself to the conditions that you may encounter in competition (for example, anticipating psychological difficulties and testing skills to control them).

-Rehearse behaviors just before executing them (for example, a javelin thrower rehearses his movements a few minutes before it is his turn to throw).

-Contribute to the recovery process from an injury: reduces anxiety levels and helps the athlete maintain their self-confidence thanks to training in different situations of their sport.

What are the benefits of visualization?

1. Shorten the learning time.
2. Improves the stability of the learned skill.
3. Improves accuracy and speed of execution.
4. No material is needed.
5. The risk of injury is practically nil, since you do not move.

As always happens, not everything is advantages. And it is that the visualization also has some drawbacks:

• It is a complex skill that requires training to be applied correctly.
• It is necessary to have a good technical-tactical knowledge of the actions to be improved.
• Being a strategy that demands a lot of concentration, it is not advisable to extend it more than two or three minutes.

Why is visualization effective?

There are different theories that support the effectiveness of visualization. The objective of this article is not to make a theoretical justification of the technique, so the three that stand out the most will be briefly explained according to the criteria of the author of the article.

Psycho-neuromuscular theory

He argues that when you visualize, there are micro-contractions of the specific muscles involved in the movements you are imagining even though you are not really moving.

Different professionals in Psychology and Physical Activity have been able to demonstrate this fact (among others: Jacobson, 1932; Eccles, 1958; Hale, 1982).

Attention regulation theory

It suggests that mental practice helps you focus your attention on those stimuli that are most relevant to a good performance.

Theory of self-efficacy

It proposes that visualization favors an improvement in your performance thanks, in part, to the fact that your expectations also increase.

If you are interested in delving into the theories that defend the use of visualization, we recommend that you take a look at the Theory of Symbolic Learning, the Bio-informational Theory and the Triple Code Theory.

Steps to visualize

Go to a quiet place

You need to find yourself in a space away from interruptions where you can relax for as long as you need. If possible, make sure that the space has little light, it will facilitate your relaxation.

just relax

Reaching a state of relaxation is vital for you to practice visualization. Diaphragmatic breathing exercises can help you reach that state of relaxation.

In this article you can learn relaxation techniques.

Concentrate

You must focus your attention on the relevant stimuli. Sometimes these stimuli will be in the body itself and, in others, you will have to focus your attention on external references to which you have to look to make the appropriate decision.

Whether your objective is to improve a specific technique of your sport, or if what you want to improve is decision making, it is very important that you know the technical / tactical instructions. Coach and sports psychologist can help you with that.

Take control of your images

The ability to control the images on your display is one of the keys to the technique. You must ensure that the image you want is the one that is in your mind and not another.

View from an internal or external perspective depending on the objective

When you visualize, you can see the images as you would see them in a real situation, that is, from your own eyes (internal perspective), or you can do it as if you were a spectator sitting in the stands looking at yourself (external perspective).

If what you want is to work on a technical element, it will be appropriate for you to visualize it from an internal perspective, while if your objective is to review a global action it will be more appropriate to do it from an external perspective.

Modify the speed of the images according to your needs

You must learn to modify the speed of your images according to your needs. Slow motion to correct a certain technical aspect, normal speed to review the execution and fast motion when the task is long.

Involve your senses

Visualizing is not just building visual images. You can also involve the rest of your senses: hearing (visualize the noise of the public or the instructions of your coach), smell (perceive the smell of the field of play), taste (feel the taste of your sweat) and cenesthesia (perceive sensations). Involving your senses will give your images greater liveliness.

Use the environment

People in the audience, colleagues and rivals or noise are elements present in your competitive reality, but they do not always have to appear in your visualizations. If you want to improve technical actions, it will be easier if you visualize without taking into account the context, since it will allow you to focus on the action.

To work on emotional situations or tactical movements, it will be important that you take the context into account.

At first it may be difficult to control the images in your mind, the perspective from which you view them, or the speed at which you view them. Rigorous work with the specialist and a lot of practice will help you improve this skill.

References

1. Notes from the Master's Degree in Sports Psychology and Physical Activity - UNED.
2. Buceta, JM (1998): Psychology of sports training. Madrid: Dinkinson.
3. Budney, AJ and Woolfolk, RL (1990). Using the wrong image: An exploration of the adverse effects of imagery on motor performance. Journal of Mental Imagery, 14, 75-86.
4. Carpenter, WB (1894). Principles of mental physiology. New York: Appleton.
5. Eccles, J. (1958). The physiology of imagination. Scientific American, 199, 135.
6. Lippman, LG and Selder, DJ (1992). Mental practice: some observations and speculations. Journal of Sports Psychology, 1, 17-25.
7. Sánchez, X. and Lejeune, M. (1999). Mental practice and sport: What do we know after a century of research? Journal of Sports Psychology, 8, 21-37.
8. Suinn, RM (1997). Mental practice in sport psychology: Where have we been, where do we go? Clinical Psychology, Science and Practice, 4, (3), 189-207.