“If you want to WIN, do the ordinary things BETTER than anyone else does them day in and day out.” Chuck Noll

Quality mental imagery harnesses athlete’s natural tendency to create vivid mental representations of their beliefs, desires, experiences, and goals.

It is also a simple and powerful tool for improving your football mental game and creating positive change.

Over the last few decades, sports psychology for football has started to look inside the mind of the athletes.

What they have found is the brain carries a mental advantage to situations on the field and beyond.

This sports psychology research also provides a unique context about the mind, such as how the football mind and body work together to rewire brain circuits over years of practice.

Since each athlete is unique, the “one size fits all” approach will not work for all.

With increasingly customized mental imaging techniques, you can also start to see what your mind is capable of at the highest level.

Create a Powerful Imagery through Outcome Visualization

The most highly effective imagery techniques are those with vivid game plays, where the athlete has complete control over a successful performance.

To achieve this state, you need to use more than your visual sense.

Dr. David Yochelson of Pennsylvania State University has studied mental imagery and has compiled a list of key characteristics to take into consideration when developing a good imagery protocol:

• Devote 10-15 minutes a day to imagery training.
• General relaxation and slow, deep, diaphragmatic breathing should precede imagery practice.
• Focus on a time when you were performing optimally. Re-create that feeling as vividly as possible: the setting, the atmosphere, the sights, the sounds. Feel the energy, adrenaline, intensity, and positive emotions running through your mind and body.
• Imagine yourself performing with confidence.
• Integrate imagery into practice.

Imagine Positive Conditions

The most important part of mental imagery is feeling it in your body. That is how you ingrain new mental skills and habits.

A useful way to increase the feeling in your mental imagery is to combine imagined and positive sensations.

Imagine yourself performing well and move your body along with the imagery.

The best imagery involves the multi-sensory reproduction of the actual competition.

You should duplicate the sights, sounds, physical sensations, thoughts, and emotions that you would experience in an actual football game.

It involves how clearly you see yourself performing. If you get nervous before an actual competition, you should get nervous in your imagery.

The key to getting the most out of mental imagery is consistency.

You would not expect yourself to be physically strong and good in your position by practicing every now and then.

The same is true for mental imagery. The only way mental imagery will be beneficial is to practice it consistently.

*Download the free mental game assessment and get started on Improving your Mental Game in Football.