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TIPS
DEPARTMENT
Welcome to the Tips Department. These quick tips tell
you how to use basic mental training techniques that can
be helpful for reaching your best performance level.
1. Internal And External Mental Rehearsals
2. An Easy Breathing Exercise, Breathing
3/3/3
3. A Stress Detection System
4. Differences Between Good and Poor Pressure
Performers
5. When to Use Visualization
Internal
And External Mental Rehearsals
When preparing for a competition, it is a good idea to
use both external and internal mental rehearsal exercises.
External mental rehearsal involves previewing an event
or outcome from the perspective of an observer. In this
type of imagery exercise, you watch yourself from the
outside from a close range perspective as though you were
observing on the side lines.
Internal mental rehearsal involves mentally previewing
an event or outcome from the perspective of the actor
or experiencer in the situation. In this type of imagery
exercise, you are the performer. Your perspective is one
of looking out of the eyes of you the performer as you
go through the actions of your sport.
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An Easy Breathing Exercise, Breathing
3/3/3
Relaxation methods are a must for the athlete seeking
to capitalize on his potential. Breathing practices are
powerful methods for achieving desired physical and mental
states. An easy-to-learn breathing method is one that
I call, Breathing 3/3/3.
This breathing exercise involves three sets of deep breaths,
with 3 breaths in each set. for the first set of breaths,
the practitioner breathes in deeply and diaphragmatically
3 times. During this process, the athlete lets go of other
thoughts and feelings and directs his or her attention
to the breath.
For the second set of deep breaths, the athlete focuses
on the exhalation and makes an audible sigh during exhalation.
this second set of breaths consists of 3 breaths. Making
an audible sigh during exhalation ensures that that the
air is being completely expelled from the lungs. (As an
alternative, the athlete can count slowly from 1 to 7
during exhalation. the count from 1 to 7 ensures that
that the air is being completely expelled from the lungs.)
For the third and final set of deep breaths, the athlete
focuses on a feeling of sinking into the chair during
exhalation. This feeling of sinking into the chair is
a feeling that accompanies the letting go of tension.
The breathing 3/3/3 method is continued for a period of
5 minutes by re-cycling through the 3 sets of breaths.
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A Stress Detection System
One strategy for building resilience to pressure involves
a stress detection system. A stress detection system works
like radar to pick up the earliest signs of stress and
anxiety.
Athletes need to be aware of the specific reactions they
experience to stressful events. Do athletes have heart
palpitations and feel muscle tension? Do they get clammy
hands and feel butterflies in the stomach? Some athletes
respond to pressure with predominantly mental symptoms,
such as irritability, confusion, forgetfulness, and lack
of concentration.
To become aware of stress and anxiety reactions, athletes
use a checklist to monitor their reactions to stressful
situations. Athletes need to learn two major points in
relation to stress detection. They need to determine their
current stress level and they need to identify their peak
stress level. The peak stress level is the physical, energetic
state that is associated with an athlete's best performance
level. These two conditions are like the starting location
and the destination in a navigational problem. First,
the current position is determined. Then, the desired
destination is pinpointed.
The stress detection system gives athletes the critical
readings on their current stress level and their peak
stress level. With this information, they can plot their
course to reach their peak activation level. The techniques
for controlling stress are methods that assist athletes
in navigating their way from their current stress state
to their peak stress state.
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Differences Between Good
and Poor Pressure Performers
Under pressure, good pressure performers and poor pressure
performers differ in two main ways. Top performers in
sports under conditions of pressure operate in a peak
stress state. Top achievers experience the pressure as
challenge and they move into their peak stress state,
the energetic state of activation and intensity at which
they perform their best.
Poor pressure performers when faced with pressure points
operate outside of their peak stress state. They may be
flat and below their peak level. Or, they may be overstressed
and in a state of too much energy and activation. They
move beyond their peak activation level into a state of
being overactivated, hyper, and overwrought.
The second difference between good pressure performers
and poor pressure performers centers on the mental/emotional
state that occurs under pressure. The mind of a champion
under conditions of pressure focuses on thoughts and feelings
that are neutral or positive and that create a mental/emotional
state of being psyched up and challenged. The mental/emotional
state is characterized by a sense of challenge and thoughts
such as, “This is it.” “Now is my chance.”
“Now I can show what I can do.” “This
is my opportunity.”
Even when their stress or activation level goes into a
high range of intensity, top performers experience virtually
no negative mental effects. It is as though high achievers
channel the increased energy and activation in a way that
heightens their competitiveness and their performance
and that avoids negative emotional reactions.
In contrast, the poor pressure performer under conditions
of pressure experiences fear, worry and anxiety. These
negative mental reactions hurt performance. They interfere
with performance because they create mental confusion,
forgetfulness and loss of focus.
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When to Use Visualization
Probably the most practiced and the most well-known use
of visualization is in preparing for an important upcoming
event by mentally rehearsing the event. Problem solving
and attitudinal training are the two other major applications
of visualization to sports.
Secondary uses of visualization include visualizing a
correction immediately after making an error. This re-programs
negative expectations caused by the error, and erases
some of the impact of the error. For the same reason,
it is helpful to visualize the correct sequence and the
desired outcome after seeing someone else make an error.
Another situation in which visualization is extremely
useful, but often overlooked, follows experiencing success.
By re-experiencing a successful situation through visualization,
that experience is more strongly locked into memory, thus
increasing the likelihood of repeating that experience
or a similar success experience. Reviewing successful
experiences as soon as they occur builds a personal history
of success, which produces positive effects in confidence
and self-esteem.
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"It's a feeling of wanting to
go Mach 11 with your hair on fire. I have all this internal energy. I
need to go to the wall and well beyond. Part of me wants to be the best-better
than the best."
Quote from a Peak Performer in Aviation |
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