Many athletes have used the technique of "mental imagery," or visualization, to up their game and perform at their peak. Research on the brain patterns of weightlifters found that the patterns activated when a weightlifter lifted heavy weights were activated similarly when they simply imagined lifting, Psychology Today reported, and some studies have suggested that mental practice can be almost as effective as physical training. One study, published in the Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology in 1996, found that imagining weight lifting caused actual changes in muscle activity.
"Mental imagery impacts many cognitive processes in the brain: motor control, attention, perception, planning, and memory," researcher Angie LeVan wrote in Psychology Today. "So the brain is getting trained for actual performance during visualization. It’s been found that mental practices can enhance motivation, increase confidence and self-efficacy, improve motor performance, prime your brain for success, and increase states of flow."
But visualizing is more than just thinking about an upcoming event. When athletes use visualization, they truly feel the event taking place in their mind's eye.
"During visualization, she incorporates all of her senses into the experience," sports psychologist Dr. JoAnn Dahlkoetter wrote in a blog on The Huffington Post about a speed skater she works with. "She feels her forefoot pushing off the track, she hears her skating splits, and she sees herself surging ahead of the competition. She experiences all of the elements of her race in explicit detail before executing her performance."
Meditate daily.
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