Approaches to develop the Mental Factor

What is visualisation?

Visualisation is a process of picturing events in your mind's eye before they happen. 

• I did this in my bedroom which was dark and quiet with all electronic devices turned off. I lay on my back and closed my eyes.

• I then visualised myself performing in a high pressure situation where I was required to make decisions. The situation had all the sights, sounds and smells included in my thoughts. 

• To complete this process effectively you should follow 3 cues; environment, emotional and physical skill. 

• Environment cue;  describe the environment you are performing in, what are the sights, the sounds, the location etc. 

• Emotional cue; picture in your mind of a time you played well

• Physical Skill; picture a specific skill (i.e. a high serve) and break it down into stages. 

An approach I used to develop the mental factor was visualisation. I completed this approach by myself in my bedroom the night before a game of basketball. Iput my phone away and lay on my bed with my eyes closed. To fully visualise my performance I focused on 3 queues: physical queue, environment queue and the emotional queue.

The first thing I thought about was the environment queue. I pictured myself walking onto court through the tunnel and seeing all the fans at the side of the court. I could hear the noise and I pictured myself staying focussed and not being distracted.

The second thing I thought about was the emotional queue. In my head I pictured myself from a previous performance making good decisions at the end of the game when my team was fast breaking. I pictured myself getting into space and receiving the inbound pass then driving up the middle of the court and making the decision to pass the ball to the forward ahead of me who drove to the basket and scored a lay up before the defense was set putting our team ahead.

The last thing I pictured was the physical queue. This was where I thought of one particular skill and pictured myself concentrating fully and performing it well. In basketball this was my free throw. I pictured myself standing on the Free throw line with the ball in my hands. I visualized my routine, bouncing the ball twice and looking up at the basket. I thought about how I was going to hold the ball and concentrated on my technique whilst picturing how I wanted the ball to fly towards the basket. I then pictured myself scoring a free throw before taking part in the game.

POSITIVE SELF TALK

An approach I used to develop my Mental Toughness was Self Talk 

This involved me having a series of directional of motivational phrases such as  "come on keep going you can do this" that I could use at different stages to help my performance.  

I could use self talk before an important Badminton game by finding a quiet space and say out loud different thinks I want to do in the match when I am under pressure. For example "Hit your smashes as hard as you can in a downward direction". 

During the game I might say to myself "Move faster" if i was not getting to the shuttle quick enough. 

After I mad a mistake I would say "Relax and forget about it" so my error did not distract me from the next point. 

If I fell behind in a game I would say "Come on keep trying, don't give up" in my own head to make sure that I always gave my best. 

VISUALISATION

'I used visualisation because it required no equipment and was quick and easy to use. This meant that I could use it right before a game to focus on what I wanted to do in my performance to be successful'. 

'By picturing myself performing skills successfully this allowed me to feel more confident as I had pictured how I would perform these skills in specific situations  I knew exactly what I was doing during my performance'. 

' I could also use visualisation during the course of my development plan when learning a new skill. I could picture a model performer executing a particular skill and then picture what it felt like for me to perform this, this motivated me to keep practicing' 

'Visualisation could also help me with my decision making skills, if in a game I kept making the wrong decisions at half time or in between sets I could visualise the decisions I should make instead. This prepared me to perform better in the remainder of my performance. 

POSITIVE SELF-TALK

• By using positive self-talk repeatedly you are more likely to believe it, this means that you start to behave in a positive way automatically for example...

• Preparing words or phrases reminds you how to respond in challenging situations this means that any negative thoughts or feeling are replaced with positive  and helpful thoughts that can benefit me by keep giong me calm and regaining my focus.

• The cue words used will be short and easy to remember this means that the approach can be used quickly for example..........

• The cue words used will be short and easy to remember this means that the performer is less likely to forget their cue words during the performance and is therefore able to use them to achieve the desired effect.

An advantage of using positive self talk to develop mental toughness was that I was able to maintain a high level of motivation and focus throughout my performance a I was able to counter negative mistakes with positive reinforcement. Another advantage was that I was able to counter the negative criticism from external factors (crowd, opposition, parents) with positive self talk therefore not allowing external factors to affect my performance. A limitation of positive self talk is that is requires a confident personality and can be heard to be positive in the middle of a poor performance, it requires strong will power to keep going and not give up. Many performers rely on external factors for encouragement (crowed, parents, coaches).

An advantage of visualisation is that it increases the performer’s understanding of the skills that are required to be performed during the game or performance. It also allows the performer to increase mental toughness before a performance. Another advantage of visualisation is that it allows performers to maintain a high level of motivation by referring back to previous successes when they make mistakes or lose focus. A limitation of visualisation is that it can take experience and maturity to be able to perform it effectively. The performer must be aware of the surroundings and may be required to find a private location in order to concentrate fully.

VISUALISATION

'It was good because it helped me feel more relaxed in high pressure situations than before. When serving against a break point in tennis, I visualised myself being successful which led to my confidence being higher as I was able to perform my serve with a fluid motion and make clean contact with the ball to score an ace.'

'It was also good because it helped me stayed relaxed before big matches. When sitting in the locker room before a tennis final, I visualised myself winning which lead to me remaining calm and entering the court with a positive mindset and taking risks during rallies to catch my opponent off guard and win points.'

'Furthermore, it was good because it helped me concentrate more than before. When serving at the start of the match, I was able to block out any worries I had and focus on the sub-routine of my serve which lead to me executing the serve correctly and getting a powerful first serve in to put my opponent under pressure.'

'Finally, visualisation was good because it helped me make better decisions than before. When my opponent was at the back of the court, I had already visualised space opening up at the front and this lead to me deciding to play an effective drop shot to catch my opponent out and me winning the point.'

POSITIVE SELF TALK

Positive effects

• Performers may use a phrase that reinforces parts of their technique so that they focus on this and carry out their technique perfectly during performance. E.g. “Snap the wrist” when spiking in volleyball or “low to high” when playing a forehand drive in table tennis.

• Phrases such as “I am a very good shooter” can be used to try and increase confidence in certain situations for example I could............

• This benefitted my performance because it can be used when a player has lost self-control and has to regain focus and continue performing this meant that...........

Negative effects

• To control your self talk effectively requires a lot of practice. Performers might not see this approach as being as important as other forms of training such as skills, fitness or tactics training. As a result they may not practice it enough for it to be effective.

• Performers might not actually believe their own self talk. athlete might try to use positive phrases but at the same time be doubting their belief in what they are telling themselves. This will result in the athlete not fully committing to their self talk and as a result not have the desired effect on their emotions or mental state.

• Self talk will not improve an athletes performance on it’s own. If you are physically unable to perform core skills and movement patterns in the game, positive self talk will be ineffective.

• In the heat of the moment the athlete might not be focused on using their key words/phrases. This could result in them not being used at the correct times in order to avoid negative emotions or mental states.

• Requires a level of self belief in what is being said. Performers will often feel awkward and lack focus.