Summer Olympics. A reporter asked an athlete her opinion about the
skill levels of her competitors. I found her answer intriguing.
She believed that most world-class athletes are pretty much at the
same level phyically. She continued her statement by saying that the
difference in athletes lies with how they use their minds - their
skill at using imagery.
As I mentioned in my previous entry, if you want to improve
performance and build skill you need to speak the appropriate language
- the language of imagery. Again, this not only applies to the realm
of sport. It applies to business people, muscians, surgeons, pool
players and so on.
I was planning to delve into the specific skills of imagery, but I
will leave that for later on. The reason is that I think it is
important to elaborate further on imagery. To learn a certain skill-
set is good, but it's even better if you understand the theory that
lies behind it.
Imagery is often used as a synonym for visualization. Unfortunately,
this really limits the proper use and application of imagery to
enhance performance. Simply visualizing something is not nearly enough.
French researchers from the city of Lyon studied the relation between
imagery and performance in the sports of shooting and archery.
They studied three periods of the athlete's concentration: before they
took the shot, when they were taking the shot, and while imagining
taking the shot during training.
The researchers found that when athletes imagined the activity it
produced the same changes in the body (i.e. increased heart rate,
breathing etc.) as if they were actually in the situation.
They found the athletes were not just simply visualizing. They were
fully immersed with all the senses they actually use in thier specific
event. They heard the sounds associated with the shot and the feeling
in their body. As a result, when they were imaging their bodies were
reacting In the same way as if they were actually competing in the
event. The better they were at imagery, the better the shot.
Try this exercise. Imagine you are holding a bag of groceries. Now
using your imaginary arm, while keeping it straight, extend it out to
the side up to shoulder level. Hold it there for a count of ten, and
then slowly lower your arm. Repeat the mental exercise five or six
times. Remember, it's important to not only visualize, but to feel
the bag and the strain on your arm caused by the bag's weight. Did you
notice your mental arm getting tired? Any pain?
This is one of many image exercises that athletes use. If you are
using imaging correctly and with detail, you should feel the burn in
your shoulder from this mental exercise. How tired you feel will
depend on how vividly you imagined it.
Another study looked at the effects of mental versus real-practice in
tensing and relaxing a finger. The participants trained for 5 sessions
per week over 4 weeks. Half of the participants did the actual
physical training. The other half simply did the mental training.
At the end of the training period, both groups were compared to the
control group (no training of the finger either mentally or
physically). The physical group increased the physical strength of
their finger by 30%. The suprising result was with the group that only
imaged increased their finger strength by 22%.
This means that you don't have to physically train to increase
strength. In this study, strength increase was attributed to changes
in the brain. The brain changes were caused by the repetitive use of
the neurons used to control finger movements.
The question remains - how does your brain do this? I'll have to
answer that in my next posting.
Cordially,
Jason W Liem
MINDtalk@email.com
www.mindtalk.no
1 kommentar:
Excellent Article!
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