
I’ll be in the shower or brushing my teeth. RUSH: “I’ve tried to keep the track in my mind throughout the year. Olympians and Visualization in SportsĪs Olympic athletes gear up for 2016 Rio Olympic Games, many athletes are following the successful blueprints laid out by their 2014 winter Olympic counterparts who competed successfully in Sochi.Ĭanadian bobsledder Lyndon Rush credited imagery with helping him keep his head in the game throughout the long, arduous four years of training between the 20 Olympic Games. Many athletes prefer to feel movements and engage in the kinesthetic past of imagery. However, sports visualization or mental imagery is more than just a visual experience. Guided visualization or imagery is purposely rehearsing a skill, routine or performance in your mind’s eye to program your body for success. You created an image in your mind of how the skill should look or the successful execution of the skill. One example of guided imagery that you having unknowingly used is when your coach was teaching you a new skill. Guided visualization or imagery for athletes is consciously controlling the images or directing an athletic script in your head. Imagery has long been a part of elite sports and many Olympic athletes have mastered the skill with the help of Sport Psychologists and Mental Game Coaches. There is one thing that separates elite athletes from average athletes… Elite athletes utilize the power of guided imagery or visualization.

Some athletes unintentionally have recurring images of missed opportunities, injuries, mistakes and losses. Whether you realize it or not, you visualize during sports or mentally rehearse naturally. Visualization for athletes is a skill that you can improve and benefit from. Sports visualization is an experience… a training experience, a preparation experience and a warm-up experience. The Importance Of Visualization In Sports
