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Imagery is one of the mental skills most used by athletes at all sporting levels. It is among the most important of the skills required for winning the mental game in sport. (Australian Sports Commission 2008) Mental imagery involves the athlete imagining themselves in an environment performing a specific activity using all of their senses (sight, hear, feel and smell). The images should have the athlete performing successfully and feeling satisfied with their performance. (1996-2012 BrianMac Sports Coach - http://www.brianmac.co.uk : Page Last Modified - 13th November 2012) Mental imagery can be defined as the process that occurs when we recreate experiences in the mind using information that is stored in the memory. Dreaming is an unstructured form of imagery, but the type of imagery were interested in here is structured imagery, where the athlete uses his or her imagination in a controlled fashion to recreate specific images. There are a number of different ways of visualising images or experiences recreated in the mind (eg you can visualise yourself feeling movement internally, or externally as a spectator) but research shows that the more able an athlete is to control his or her imagined movements, the greater the potential performance enhancement. (sport-psychology-how-mental-imagery-andself-hypnosis-can-improve-performance-41303.htm)

What is imagery? Imagery is when you go through an event or activity in your mind without making any physical movements. Ideally it involves all of your senses, including sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch and movement. How does imagery work? Imagery is actually a form of simulation. As you imagine yourself performing a skill or competing, you are creating muscle memory within the nervous and muscular systems of how to do the skill.

Imagery perspective
There are two ways to see the image in your mind:

internal perspective (seeing the image from behind your own eyes as if you were actually racing), or external perspective (seeing the image from outside your body as if watching a video of yourself).

You may find that you prefer one perspective over the other, or that you switch back and forth between the two. It will depend on your personal preference and the situation.

Try imaging your last race from both perspectives and see which one you find easiest. Remember to feel the movements you made and focus on creating the full experience using all your senses.

How can imagery improve performance?

Imagery can:

improve your technique by imaging good technique between training sessions assist you to practise skills when you are too tired to physically train or when you are unable to train and want to get an edge on your competitors increase your competition confidence by running through your performance in your head before competing increase your activation levels if you are feeling lethargic. Image yourself riding fast through pain with everything moving effortlessly calm your activation levels if you are feeling nervous or stressed. Image yourself moving effortlessly in the bunch and use calming music to help you relax help you get to sleep by distracting you from all the thoughts racing through your head. Think of a place that you find relaxing. Image yourself on a quiet beach just chilling out.

Mental Imagery itself can be useful in a number of circumstances including:

developing self confidence developing pre-competition and competition strategies which teach athletes to cope with new situations before they actually encounter them helping the athlete to focus his/her attention or concentrate on a particular skill he/she is trying to learn or develop the competition situation

When combined with relaxation it is useful in:

the promotion of rest, recovery and recuperation the removal of stress related reactions e.g. muscular tension establishing a physical and mental state which has an increased receptivity to positive mental imagery establishing an appropriate level of physical and mental arousal prior to competition

Biofeedback Biofeedback is a means for gaining control of our body processes to increase relaxation, relieve pain, and develop healthier, more comfortable life patterns. (2004 by Stephen E. Wall) Biofeedback gives us information about ourselves by means of external instruments. Using a thermometer to take our temperature is a common kind of biofeedback. Clinical biofeedback follows the same principle, using specialized instruments to monitor various physiological processes as they occur. Moving graphs on a computer screen and audio tones that go up and down "reflect" changes as they occur in the body system being measured. (2004 by Stephen E. Wall)

Biofeedback is a technique that trains people to improve their health by controlling certain bodily processes that normally happen involuntarily, such as heart rate, blood pressure, muscle tension, and skin temperature. Electrodes attached to your skin measure these processes and display them on a monitor. With help from a biofeedback therapist, you can learn to change your heart rate or blood pressure, for example. At first you use the monitor to see your progress, but eventually you will be able to achieve success without the monitor or electrodes. Biofeedback is an effective therapy for many conditions, but it is primarily used to treat high blood pressure, tension headache, migraine headache, chronic pain, and urinary incontinence.( 2011 University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) biofeedback-000349 MEANING.htm

Biofeedback training A technique in which a person uses information about a normally unconscious body function to gain conscious control over that function. Biofeedback training may help in the treatment of stress-related conditions, including certain types of hypertension, anxiety, and confidence level..(BMA llustrated Medical Dictionary Copyright 2007 Dorling Kindersley) Biofeedback training familiarizes us with the activity in our various body systems so we may learn to control this activity to relieve stress and improve health. Trying to change physiological activity without biofeedback is like playing darts while blindfolded - we can't see whether we are hitting the mark or not. Biofeedback lets us know precisely when we are changing our physiologies in the desired direction. (2004 by Stephen E. Wall)