Great "How To" approach to using mental imagery in sports! Great for coaches and athletes!

1. Imagery : Seeing is believing
Stefanie A. Latham, Ph.D.
stefanielatham@yahoo.com
Follow Me @stefanielatham

2. Seeing is Believing
• “I’ll Believe it when I see it!”
• Seeing is Believing
– Seeing yourself perform well creates
positive beliefs about your ability
– Tiger’s story “where I want the ball to go
daddy!”
– Annika’s story “I won because I imagined
myself hitting the ball perfectly every shot”

3. Seeing is believing Cont.
• Imagery is a mental technique that
programs the mind and body to
respond optimally.
• Gives athletes the ability to see &
believe
• Seeing = Believing = Confidence
• Must be controllable to work!

4. How it really works…
• Muscle Memory
• Athletes all have brains that send
impulses to the muscles to execute a
skill correctly
• Similar impulses occur in the brain and
muscles when athletes use imagery
• Imagery strengthens athletes muscle
memories

5. How it really works…cont.
• Mental Blueprint
• All movements are encoded in the CNS =
blue print
• Imagery facilitates performance by
making it more familiar and more
automatic
• Imagery strengthens athletes mental
blueprint to make a skill more
automatic

6. How it works…(cont.)
• Response Set
• Imagery conditions athletes to make
proper responses by creating a
psychological & physiological response
in the brain

7. Using Imagery to Reach Peak
Performance
• All athletes have the ability to use
imagery
• BUT not all athletes do or do it correctly
• All the senses SHOULD be used
• What you See Should be positive

8. Polysensory experience
• Sight is NOT the only significant sense!!
• Images should include as many senses as
possible: Visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile,
kinesthetic (the feel of the body as it
moves…
• The more VIVID the image the more
effective it is!
• Emotions may also be a key to control
anxiety, anger, etc.

9. Perspective
• Imagery perspective
– Internal
• Athletes see the image from behind their
own eyes as if they were inside their
bodies
– External
• They see an image from outside their
bodies as with a video camera or TV
screen

10. Considerations…cont
• Elite athletes report a more internal
perspective
• IP has been shown to produce more
neuromuscular activity than external
(more muscle memories)
• IP or EP can depend on the type of
imagery used
• IP to help a golfer become more aware of how
his body feels during the swing
• EP to enhance a v-ball player’s confidence
while stepping outside of her body to watch
her performance from the previous night…
(Hale, 1982; Harris & Robinson, 1986; Salmon et al., 1994)

11. Considerations…cont
 Many athletes switch back and forth
from IP to EP depending upon the
situations
 Have athletes practice BOTH
 Use what Feels comfortable first, but
if they have trouble w/ IP, then they
need practice

12. Considerations….cont.
• To help athletes develop IP:
• Have them physically practice
the skill (serve a v-ball) then
immediately have them close
their eyes and try to replay the
way the serve looked and felt
from inside their body
• Practice, practice, practice

13. Re-creating or Creating Imagery
• Mimic or modeling
• We are able to imitate others because
our mind takes a picture of the skill;
like a blueprint
• Can be recall as well
• Ideal performances…

14. Re-creating or Create Imagery cont.
• Olympic athletes take pictures of
upcoming competition sites
• They create effective images of
themselves performing in those
contexts
• What is familiar to us is not so scary
• Familiarity builds confidence
• Once our minds believe something the
body follows!!

15. MENTAL Practice
•Using imagery repetitively to perform a
sport skill in the mind
•Mental practice can enhance
performance AND is better than no
practice at all (Martin, Moritz, & Hall, 1999)
•Has been studied extensively in basketball shooting, volleyball
serving, tennis serving, golf, football kicking, swim starts, dart
throwing

16. Preparatory Imagery
• Used immediately prior to performance
• Has been shown to improve
performance
• Used in combination with or opposition
to other mental strategies such as self-
talk and focusing attention

17. Multi-modal mental training
• Doing imagery in conjunction with relaxation,
attentional focusing, and self-talk
• All can enhance athletes’ competition-related
thoughts and emotions
• All enhance self-confidence and motivation
• Decreased pre-competitive anxiety

18. What the research says…
•Imagery enhances learning and performance
AND
•Helps control competition thoughts and
emotions
•Imagery can facilitate not only HOW athlete
perform, but how they think and respond in
competition!
•Gould & Weinberg, 2003; Tynes & McFatter, 1987; Vealey & Greenleaf, 2001

19. Top athletes say it works…
• “I never hit a shot, not even in practice,
without having a very sharp, in-focus picture
of it in my head…(Jack Nickalus)
• “I did my dives in my head all the time..at
night before going to sleep, in the locker-
room, before I climb the ladder, even as I
stand on the board…(Greg Louganis)
• “I had no idea what my score was until I was
finished…I just kept standing behind my ball
before each shot and saw myself hit the
perfect ball…(Annika after winning U.S. open
in a playoff)

20. Using Imagery
• Imagery is better than no practice at all,
BUT…
• It does not take the place of physical
practice
• Imagery is like a vitamin supplement
that gives athletes an edge in
competition
• Should take place in conjunction with
physical practice

21. 4 stages of using imagery
with athletes:
1. Sell it to the athletes
2. Imagery ability should be
evaluated
3. Develop basic imagery skills
4. Systematically practice

22. Introducing athletes to imagery
• Hook ‘em
• Define and give evidence
• Explain how it works
• Practice
– Vividness
– Controllability
– Awareness

23. Vividness Exercises
• A friend in mind
• Empty gym then add spectators
• Equipment in your sport
• Skill mental practice
– Start simple, then work in complex skills, or
placing the skill in a competitive context
such as reacting to certain defenses

24. Controllability Exercises
• Friend in mind again, but change
• Mental skill practice, but w/ a partner
• Trouble skills

25. Awareness Exercises
• Good Performance/Bad Performance
• Re-create anxiety
• Suddenly good to bad

26. About Stefanie
• Stefanie has worked in and around athletics all of her life. She was a dual
collegiate athlete in volleyball and track. Following her playing career she
immediately began coaching high school volleyball establishing a winning record
of 187-12 in seven short years. She was selected as the Oklahoma Coaches
Association coach of the year for two years in 2001 and 2002. She directed and
coached a premiere United States Volleyball Association club for five years with
teams advancing to nationals every year.
• Stefanie left the world of coaching in 2003 to pursue her doctorate degree in
Sport Psychology. She was a Professor of Exercise Science at Oklahoma City
University for several years and now is making her way in the advertising
industry as a consultant. She also serves as a mental training consultant to
many sports teams at OCU and has contributed to the peak performance of
numerous winning teams across a variety of sports at the collegiate and high
school levels across the nation including Oklahoma State University, University
of Central Oklahoma, West Texas A&M University, and Southwest Baptist
University.
• Stefanie is a frequent and popular motivational speaker at many schools,
workshops, and professional conferences across the country. As a result of her
work and experience with elite athletes and teams, Stefanie has authored and
co-authored several articles, books, and video programs covering peak
performance issues and team-building. In her spare time, she enjoys spending
time traveling, golfing, and playing with her four year old daughter, Brynn.