Imagery: An Incredible Tool for your Mental Toolbelt
Baseball is a particularly visual sport. Known as the Game of Inches, it is famous for bang-bang plays and amazingly fast action. However, baseball’s intense play is very broken up throughout the game. Each piece of action is rarely over a minute in length and is often separated by an equal, if not longer, amount of down time as players reset for the next pitch. Compared with sports such as hockey or basketball, both with potential for long periods of uninterrupted play, baseball can seem boring at times. However, the ‘stop and go’ element affords baseball players an unparalleled advantage for using the mental technique of imagery.
So, what is mental imagery and how can you harness it to improve your performance on the field? Mental imagery is best explained as visualization on steroids. Where visualization utilizes solely visual aspects to prepare one’s mind for peak performance, imagery taps into all five of your senses. To fully reap the benefits of mental imagery, one needs to systematically break down the skill they wish to imagine into these five different facets. And because baseball is a combination of short snippets of action, you can easily separate a specific skill you want to imagine.
Let’s take batting for example. The act of getting a hit is a fairly easy task to comprehend. The pitcher delivers the ball, and hopefully, you make solid contact, driving the ball into the field of play. There aren’t a ton of variables that can muddle this process. Conversely, in hockey, scoring a wrist shot can bring with it an endless supply of scenarios that make imaging that situation a difficult task: what direction are you heading, what is the defense doing, where is the goalie positioned, etc. For the batter, you need only focus on the ball coming toward you.
So, you’ve decided you want to improve your line-drive batting. Great! Let’s create an imagery script to assist you. Take a moment to write out each of your senses: sight, touch, smell, sound, and taste. By including all five senses, you strengthen the neurological effects visualization alone brings. It is imperative that you set a clear beginning and end to your imaging scenario. An example would be tapping the plate to begin, and taking your first step toward first base to end. Next, list in order everything that you see, touch, etc. Be specific! Don’t think you taste anything? What about the gum/seeds in your mouth or the salinity of your sweat? Jot down the smell of the dirt, grass, and rubber grip on your bat. Hopefully, you’re grasping the fact that this imagery list can become quite extensive; this is good!
Once you have a fully comprehensive list for each of your five senses, take a moment to order each thing you wrote down into a flowing chronological script. It may begin, “I see my bat extend toward the plate and hear the clicking sound as it taps twice. My hands bring the bat to my shoulder as I direct my gaze to the pitcher. I can feel my heart rate increase as my hips and legs tighten, yet feel flexible and fluid. I take a deep breath and smell the field’s freshly cut grass, readying my hands to react quickly, yet controlled.” You get the idea. Once this script is created to your liking, you have a couple options. Many athletes like to record themselves reading the script, upload it to their phone, and listen to it before bed or on the bus ride to the game. Others simply like to read it aloud. Whatever trips your trigger, be consistent and let yourself be transported to the batter’s box. You may be surprised at how real mental imagery can feel. Strong physiological effects can be felt from simply imagining the scenario you choose.
The big draw? Next time you’re in that game-time situation, it will feel like you’ve practiced it over and over. And you have! Simply in your head.
Baseball is a particularly visual sport. Known as the Game of Inches, it is famous for bang-bang plays and amazingly fast action. However, baseball’s intense play is very broken up throughout the game. Each piece of action is rarely over a minute in length and is often separated by an equal, if not longer, amount of down time as players reset for the next pitch. Compared with sports such as hockey or basketball, both with potential for long periods of uninterrupted play, baseball can seem boring at times. However, the ‘stop and go’ element affords baseball players an unparalleled advantage for using the mental technique of imagery.
So, what is mental imagery and how can you harness it to improve your performance on the field? Mental imagery is best explained as visualization on steroids. Where visualization utilizes solely visual aspects to prepare one’s mind for peak performance, imagery taps into all five of your senses. To fully reap the benefits of mental imagery, one needs to systematically break down the skill they wish to imagine into these five different facets. And because baseball is a combination of short snippets of action, you can easily separate a specific skill you want to imagine.
Let’s take batting for example. The act of getting a hit is a fairly easy task to comprehend. The pitcher delivers the ball, and hopefully, you make solid contact, driving the ball into the field of play. There aren’t a ton of variables that can muddle this process. Conversely, in hockey, scoring a wrist shot can bring with it an endless supply of scenarios that make imaging that situation a difficult task: what direction are you heading, what is the defense doing, where is the goalie positioned, etc. For the batter, you need only focus on the ball coming toward you.
So, you’ve decided you want to improve your line-drive batting. Great! Let’s create an imagery script to assist you. Take a moment to write out each of your senses: sight, touch, smell, sound, and taste. By including all five senses, you strengthen the neurological effects visualization alone brings. It is imperative that you set a clear beginning and end to your imaging scenario. An example would be tapping the plate to begin, and taking your first step toward first base to end. Next, list in order everything that you see, touch, etc. Be specific! Don’t think you taste anything? What about the gum/seeds in your mouth or the salinity of your sweat? Jot down the smell of the dirt, grass, and rubber grip on your bat. Hopefully, you’re grasping the fact that this imagery list can become quite extensive; this is good!
Once you have a fully comprehensive list for each of your five senses, take a moment to order each thing you wrote down into a flowing chronological script. It may begin, “I see my bat extend toward the plate and hear the clicking sound as it taps twice. My hands bring the bat to my shoulder as I direct my gaze to the pitcher. I can feel my heart rate increase as my hips and legs tighten, yet feel flexible and fluid. I take a deep breath and smell the field’s freshly cut grass, readying my hands to react quickly, yet controlled.” You get the idea. Once this script is created to your liking, you have a couple options. Many athletes like to record themselves reading the script, upload it to their phone, and listen to it before bed or on the bus ride to the game. Others simply like to read it aloud. Whatever trips your trigger, be consistent and let yourself be transported to the batter’s box. You may be surprised at how real mental imagery can feel. Strong physiological effects can be felt from simply imagining the scenario you choose.
The big draw? Next time you’re in that game-time situation, it will feel like you’ve practiced it over and over. And you have! Simply in your head.