Mental Preparation and Training
Mental training is important for athletes, whether striving for a personal best or competing against others. Mental imagery, which Bruce D. Hale of Penn State calls "No Sweat Practice," is very effective. The mind cannot tell the difference between what is real and what is not. Sometimes mental imagery can be a practical and efficient substitute for actual practice.
Ask the athletes to sit in a relaxed position, in a quiet place with few distractions. Tell them to close their eyes and picture performing a particular skill. Using basketball as an example, tell your athletes they are seeing themselves on a basketball court on a large movie screen. Walk them through a skill, step by step. Go into as much detail as possible, using words to elicit all the senses — sight, hearing, touch and smell. Ask the athletes to visualize rehearsing the skill successfully — even to the point of seeing the ball going in the basket.
Some athletes need help starting the process. Others will learn to practice this way on their own. The link between performing the skills in the mind and performing the skills on the court may be hard to explain. However, the athletes who repeatedly imagine themselves correctly completing a skill and believing it to be true are more likely to make it happen. Whatever goes into one's mind and heart comes out in one's actions.
