Visualization and Sports
Visualization in sports is nothing new but what science is learning about it is. Most recently two research studies have shown that visualization can have a significant impact on an athletes performance.
Visualization started to get noticed in the 60s and 70s and was really something that was only practiced by athletes in the Olympics. Now, athletes like Sydney Crosby, Peyton Manning and Michael Jordan have said how it is or was an important part of their preparation for achieving excellence.
Research wise, professors like Dr. Blaslotto of the University of Chicago have found that by using visualization alone, people could improve their free-throw percent by about 20% over a month. Or at the The Cleveland Clinic, researchers found that people could increase their muscle strength through visualization. Think of the implication for athletes who are traveling frequently. While they are traveling, they could be increasing their accuracy and strength further during their season.
In a world where people say that sports is 90% mental, how much should athletes include this in their training. It is hard to say but I believe it should be a frequent part of their weekly schedule. It is recognized that to become a master in any sport or art that it requires approximately 10,000 hours to achieve that level. That is a lot of passes thrown, shots taken or bats swung. However, the body can't distinguish between visualizations and real training. Therefore, this technique can drive their sports excellence deeper into their muscle memory on down times.
In combination with techniques like meditation, goal-setting, energy boosting and biofeedback, visualization can be an element that both boosts and refines a player's performance.
Here are two other interesting article on this topic:
Visualization and Muscle Strength
Sports Psychology and Its Impact on Athletics
Visualization started to get noticed in the 60s and 70s and was really something that was only practiced by athletes in the Olympics. Now, athletes like Sydney Crosby, Peyton Manning and Michael Jordan have said how it is or was an important part of their preparation for achieving excellence.
Research wise, professors like Dr. Blaslotto of the University of Chicago have found that by using visualization alone, people could improve their free-throw percent by about 20% over a month. Or at the The Cleveland Clinic, researchers found that people could increase their muscle strength through visualization. Think of the implication for athletes who are traveling frequently. While they are traveling, they could be increasing their accuracy and strength further during their season.
In a world where people say that sports is 90% mental, how much should athletes include this in their training. It is hard to say but I believe it should be a frequent part of their weekly schedule. It is recognized that to become a master in any sport or art that it requires approximately 10,000 hours to achieve that level. That is a lot of passes thrown, shots taken or bats swung. However, the body can't distinguish between visualizations and real training. Therefore, this technique can drive their sports excellence deeper into their muscle memory on down times.
In combination with techniques like meditation, goal-setting, energy boosting and biofeedback, visualization can be an element that both boosts and refines a player's performance.
Here are two other interesting article on this topic:
Visualization and Muscle Strength
Sports Psychology and Its Impact on Athletics
Posted by Rob Hartt at 9/2/2010 3:43 PM 
Categories: Visualization
Tags: athletes sports elite training visualization
Categories: Visualization
Tags: athletes sports elite training visualization
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