I created a picture in my mind. I knew the exact trajectory that I wanted the ball to take the moment it left my foot. It was a very vivid picture in my mind. I knew I could kick the ball through the posts because the image in my mind was so clear.
Michael, ex-professional fly-half
Mental imagery refers to the process of using your imagination to see yourself and feel yourself performing a particular movement (e.g., making a tackle) or particular skill (e.g., making a pass).
Does mental imagery involve only seeing images? The answer is no. In addition to seeing images in your mind, your mental imagery should incorporate
• feelings,
• noises, and
• smells.
By incorporating these sensations, your mental imagery will be more realistic and therefore more beneficial.
Over 200 studies published in the sport psychology literature have provided evidence that mental imagery improves sporting performance. In particular, research suggests that mentally imagining a particular skill, such as making a lineout throw, catching a high ball, or goal kicking, can improve your performance of that skill.
Callard the PLAYER
I was big on mental imagery, especially for the position I played. It was huge for me! As a goal kicker I would spend hours rehearsing my routine and kick in my mind, carefully checking the tangible signs that go into a successful action. The plant step is solid, the body looks tall, and my arm is out to the side to balance the action through the point of impact. It included not only what it might look like to the outside world watching but also how it felt to me. I rehearsed both images and feelings.
I can remember in a semifinal of the European Cup at home to Pau. The first half was poor. I had missed a couple of gettable shots at goal. The negative thoughts were starting to creep into my mind. At halftime I took a couple minutes just to rehearse the sequence again and go through my routine. I had done imagery a million times before, but never during halftime. It gave me so much confidence and allowed me to look forward to the next kick with anticipation.
Four theories have attempted to explain how mental imagery improves performance, which we have called (1) muscle memory hypothesis, (2) sequence of movements theory, (3) long-term memory theory, and (4) attentional arousal set theory. These are briefly outlined here:
1. Muscle memory hypothesis. This approach suggests that imaging something creates small innervations in the muscles that you will use for the movement that you are imaging, such as the shoulders and the arms in a lineout throw. If you imagine yourself taking a lineout throw, the muscles used in the movement will become activated. Support for this theory is mixed. Some researchers found increased activity through electromyographic (EMG) machines (Harris & Robinson, 1986), but others found no EMG activity (Mulder et al., 2004). With this in mind, Murphy et al. (2008) suggested that imaging improves performance by priming the nervous system for the muscles that will be recruited when certain actions are performed, such as kicking or passing.
2. Sequence of movements theory. This theory states that imagery helps your performance of skills by allowing you to become more familiar with the sequence of movements involved in performing them. All skills in rugby contain a variety of specific movement patterns that, when combined, form the complete skill. For example, with the goal kick you would (1) plant the nondominant foot, (2) take a back lift of the kicking leg, (3) make a hip rotation, (4) drive the kicking leg through to the ball, and (5) follow-through in a kick. As such, imagery enhances performance by repeatedly activating mental representations of the range of movements that contribute to the overall skill, thus strengthening your memory (Kosslyn et al., 2001).
3. Long-term memory theory. This theory states that all movements are stored as different patterns within your long-term memory, and that imaging different movements strengthens these patterns in your brain. According to Weinberg and Gould (2011), this theory states that images contain stimulus images and response images. Stimulus images refers to images related to specific scenarios (e.g., people sitting on the sidelines/in the stand, the ball that is going to passed or kicked, or the coach giving a team-talk). Response images are your responses to particular scenarios, such as the physiological responses (e.g., increased heart-rate, feeling of excitement/nervousness, or butterflies in your stomach) when you imagine people standing on the sidelines, having to take a kick, or listening to your pre-match team talk.
4. Attentional arousal set theory. This explanation of how imagery works is not a theory per se; rather, it describes how imagery might help your sport performance by achieving the optimal arousal state. For example, some rugby players play better when they are psyched up and use imagery to psyche themselves up, whereas others might play better when calm and use imagery to calm themselves. Engaging in imagery will help you achieve your optimal mind-set for rugby. Research has indicated that imagery is successful in helping athletes reach the desired arousal level (Hale & Whitehouse, 1998).
At least some evidence supports each of the theories of how imagery can improve performance. In essence, it appears that engaging in imagery triggers nerves in the muscles that you use for various skills and strengthens the movement patterns required for various skills, besides helping you achieve your optimal arousal. Regardless of how imagery does it, the important point to remember is that mental imagery will improve your performance!
Research has indicated that mental imagery has a number of other benefits such as
• enhancing motivation,
• enhancing self-confidence,
• coping with injury and pain, and
• managing stress.
Callard the COACH
I have always talked about the picture I want when I coach and have asked players what various skills look like. I also ask what is needed to paint this picture and what the best way to colour it is. Take the offloading game, for example. This high-paced game has players attacking the holes of the opposition’s defence and getting their arms and shoulders through to create passes out of or beyond the tackle. The theory behind an offloading game is that the defence is taken out of its comfort zone and the attacking team get behind it.
The mental picture is pace and fitness with lots of dynamic movement at the line. The paint is the players’ ability to off load and produce a variety of passes beyond the line, and the colour is the support lines that go to make an off load successful. They all come together to make the offloading game work. Players practice in small groups first and then are put into a competitive environment with full-on contact. They see the image of a perfectly timed off load executed on the game line with support runners gambling to take the ball forward. They can store this image in their mind and use it within their imagination. A feel and tempo come with it too; it’s not just about the sight and the outcome to a player.
I love the expression “See it, read it, and feel it.” See where it is to be executed, read the cues to execute it, and the feel your way through the execution. As a coach, the more mental imagery work that you can do with the whole team, the better off you’ll be. Imagery gives the team greater understanding of what you want to achieve and how they may want to perform it.
When mentally imaging yourself doing a particular skill such as making a last-ditch tackle on an opponent, you can use two different views. These are known as internal and external images.
• Internal images. In these images you see what is happening as you would from your own eyes. Essentially, you see exactly what you would be seeing when making a last-ditch tackle (e.g., your opponent running whilst carrying the ball), passing the ball (e.g., the position of your teammates), or catching a high ball (e.g., the ball in the sky).
• External images. In external images you see yourself as if you were on television. In an external image of yourself tackling, you would see your whole body making a tackle on your opponent.
People generally prefer one perspective or the other, but it does not matter whether the pictures in your mind are internal images or external images. Both types of images are beneficial to performance. Some athletes use a mixture of internal and external images. If you do this, that is fine as well.
TASK What Type of Imagery Perspective Do You Have?
Think about the last try you scored, tackle you made, or other memorable incident in a match. Re-create this event in your mind using your imagination by doing the following in one minute or so:
• Sit in a comfortable position in a quiet room.
• Close your eyes.
• Re-create the situation in your mind by visualising what you saw, how your body felt, what noises you heard, and what the weather was on the day of the incident.
Question: Did you see the images as they happened to you (internal image), or did you see yourself as though you were looking through a camera lens (external perspective)? Alternatively, you might have struggled to form any images, which means that you need to improve your imagery ability. Imagery ability can be measured, and it can be improved through training. Improving your imagery ability will make mental imagery more effective in enhancing your rugby performance.
Nearly everybody can generate images in the mind and engage in mental imagery. But not everybody has the same ability, and some players are better at creating images in their mind. Imagery ability is important, because the better your ability to create images in your mind, the more effective imagery will be in improving your performance. People who can create detailed and controllable pictures in their mind can have the highest imagery ability. You can now measure your imagery ability.
To measure your imagery ability, you perform a series of movements and then rate the ease at which you can see images of yourself performing the same movements (questions 1 through 4) and then feel yourself performing the same movements (questions 5 through 8) in the following text.* This method of measuring mental imagery ability has been widely used in the sport psychology literature for the last 40 years. The following series of questions is adapted from a published mental imagery questionnaire called the Movement Imagery Questionnaire–Revised (Hall & Martin, 1997). You may feel self-conscious performing the movements, but this method is the most accurate way of measuring imagery ability and monitoring any changes in imagery ability over time. As you complete the questions, make sure that you answer them honestly!
Close your eyes and try to see yourself moving your arms upward without actually doing it. Rate the ease in which you could see this movement on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being very easy to see and 1 being very hard to see.
Standing back in the original position, close your eyes and try to feel yourself raising your right leg. Rate the ease in which you could feel your right leg rising to 90 degrees on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being very easy to feel and 1 being very hard to feel.
Close your eyes and try to see yourself performing the star jump without actually doing it. Rate the ease in which you could see yourself performing this star jump on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being very easy to see and 1 being very hard to see.
Close your eyes and try to feel yourself moving your left leg and arm out to the side without actually doing it. Rate the ease in which you could feel your left leg and left arm move out to the side on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being very easy to feel and 1 being very hard to feel.
Standing back in the original position, close your eyes and try to feel yourself moving your arms upward without actually doing it. Rate the ease in which you could feel this movement on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being very easy to feel and 1 being very hard to feel.
Close your eyes and try to see yourself raising your right leg to 90 degrees without actually doing it. Rate the ease in which you could see your right leg rising to 90 degrees on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being very easy to see and 1 being very hard to see.
Close your eyes and try to feel yourself performing the star jump without actually doing it. Rate the ease in which you could feel yourself performing this star jump on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being very easy to feel and 1 being very hard to feel.
Close your eyes and try to see yourself moving your left leg and left arm out to the side without actually doing it. Rate the ease in which you could see your left leg and left arm move out to the side on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being very easy to see and 1 being very hard to see.
After you have completed all the questions, you can enter your results into the table for the seeing imagery questions and the table for the feeling imagery questions. To get your total score for the seeing imagery questions, add up the scores for each question. For instance, if you scored 4 for question 1, 3 for question 3, 1 for question 6, and 2 for question 8, your total score would be 4 + 3 + 1 + 2 = 10. Enter your scores in the seeing imagery question table (table 6.1) and then the feeling imagery table (table 6.2).
The total score that reflects your seeing mental imagery ability will range from 4 to 20. Likewise, your feeling mental imagery score will range from 4 to 20.
• Scores ranging from 4 through 10. If you scored between 4 and 10 on either seeing or feeling mental imagery, you struggled to see or feel the various images. As such, mental imagery will not benefit you as much as it would rugby players who have greater ability. But by practising imagery by recording your own imagery script (which is provided in this chapter) and then listening to your recording of the imagery script at least five times per week for a month, you can improve your imagery ability. The more your ability improves, the more of an effect mental imagery will have on your rugby performance. Complete the imagery questions again after a month to see whether you have improved. Do the same every month for six months to monitor your improvement.
• Scores ranging from 11 through 15. By scoring between 11 and 15 in either the seeing imagery questions or the feeling imagery questions, you are already fairly proficient at either visual or feeling imagery. Your rugby performance could benefit from mental imagery, and by practising mental imagery you will be able increase the benefits that it will have on your rugby performance. Make your own imagery CD by reading the script provided in this chapter and listen to it on a regular basis, at least five times per week, and then in the buildup to matches, such as the night before you play. Monitor whether your imagery ability has improved by completing the questionnaire on a monthly basis.
• Scores ranging from 16 through 20. Your score indicates that you are getting maximum benefits from using mental imagery. To maintain your current levels of mental imagery, you should continue to practise mental imagery. Use the script provided in this chapter to help you do this. Monitor your progress by completing the questionnaire to ensure that your imagery ability remains at this high level.
Note that you may have very different scores for your seeing imagery ability and your feeling imagery ability. If so, do not worry. When you practice imagining, try to improve the type of imagery in which you are weaker. For instance, if you scored 12 on seeing imagery questions and 4 on feeling imagery questions, spend more time trying to feel different images when you practice. Some people, no matter how much they practice, will always better at either seeing or feeling images. If you notice no improvement in your weaker form of imagery after several months, it might be best to stop practising that type of imagery. For instance, suppose that you initially have a seeing imagery score of 12 and a feeling imagery score of 4. If after three months of practising your feeling imagery score is still 4, it might be best to concentrate on improving your seeing imagery score.
The easiest way to start using mental imagery is by using the imagery script provided in this chapter. Using this script will show you which types of images you should try to imagine and how long you should be imagining. Most mobile phones have the capability to record voices, so you can read the imagery script, record it, and then listen to it.
The imagery script provided is a generic imagery script that is suitable for all rugby players, but it is not performance specific. You can adapt and modify the imagery script for the position that you play. For instance, if you are a hooker you can change the imagery script to involve elements typical for that position, such as throwing the ball in at lineouts and scrummaging.
If you do not have access to voice-recording equipment, familiarise yourself with the imagery script by reading it several times and then spend about 10 minutes carrying out the different mental imagery exercises that you are asked to conduct.
Get into a comfortable position and close your eyes. Focus on the centre of your body and take several slow deep breaths. With each inhalation imagine that you are pulling all the tension from your body into your lungs. With each exhalation, imagine that you are releasing all the tension and negative thoughts from your body. Continue this breathing, becoming more focused and confident.
Thirty-second pause. Now imagine that you are about to perform a skill associated with playing your position such as [insert skill here—goal kick, lineout throw, lineout jump, catch high ball]. As you partially exhale, let your shoulders drop and arms relax. See yourself performing a [insert skill here—goal kick, lineout throw, lineout jump, catch high ball]. When you have exhaled to the point where you feel comfortable, perform your skill again in your mind but this time say your keywords “confident” and “focused” to yourself as you perform the skill. Besides seeing the skill, notice how your body is feeling. Notice how you feel what you would normally feel when performing this skill. Feel a sense of ease and lightness in imaging yourself performing this skill, almost as if performing this skill is effortless. Practice this skill in your mind again, saying your key words “confident” and “focused.”
Thirty-second pause. Now rehearse this skill several more times in various scenarios that would occur in matches. See and feel yourself successfully executing the task that you are imagining. Imagine that other players and coaches are present, but don’t let them rush you. Notice how your concentration shifts from a broad focus as you are looking around to a narrow focus as you prepare to execute your skill. Imagine feeling that you have the ability to meet any challenges that you face. Spend some time practising your skill now as well as other skills associated with playing rugby and your position such as making tackles, passes, defensive formations, and attacking formations. Remember to say your keywords, “confident” and “focused,” as you practice each skill for the next few minutes.
Three-minute pause. Now imagine that you are about to perform a skill and are feeling a little tight. You want this one, and you start to worry about making a mistake. But you can stop your worrying by taking one breath. On the exhale say your keywords “confident” and “focused.” Imagine the skill that you want to perform. You are confident and successfully recover by staying focused and in control of your emotions. Practice the skill now.
Twenty-second pause. Now imagine yourself arriving at the ground feeling confident in both your mental and physical preparation, feeling good.
Twenty-second pause. You feel the nervous anticipation of the competition and remind yourself that it is exhilarating to play rugby. You are motivated to perform.
Twenty-second pause. You feel confident in your preparation and are clearly focused on your upcoming match. Your breathing is calm and controlled. Your muscles feel warm and elastic, ready to explode with intensity and precision. You are ready.
Twenty-second pause. Your prematch warm-up goes well, and you remind yourself that you are ready for any unexpected obstacles. You are confident in your refocusing ability and remind yourself that you are mentally tough. You feel optimally energized and ready to go. Enjoy your match!
• Mentally imagery is a skill. As with all skills, good-quality practice will improve the influence that imagery has on your rugby performance.
• If you read out and record this imagery script, playing it back will take about 10 minutes, depending on how fast you speak.
• Remember to have the pauses in the script for the correct amount of time.
• During the first week listen to the recording of your imagery script twice a day. During the second week of your imagery training, listen to the imagery script once a day. After this, use the script the night before a match and on match day to prepare yourself mentally for matches.
• You can also listen to the imagery script before training sessions.
• Don’t listen to the script whilst you are driving. You should have your eyes closed whilst listening to the script.
The four Ws of imagery are presented in table 6.3. Adhere to these principles to maximize the effects of imagery on your rugby.
• Mental imagery refers to the process of using your imagination to see and feel yourself performing a particular movement.
• Using mental imagery can help improve your rugby performance, but don’t expect immediate results.
• Images can be internal, in which you see the skill that you are performing from your own eyes, or they can be external, in which you see yourself performing the skill as though you were looking through a video camera and seeing your whole body. Either perspective is fine.
• The effects of imagery on your performance and emotional well-being depends on your ability, which you can measure and monitor over time. With mental imagery practice, your imagery ability should improve.
• Using an imagery script, such as the script provided in this chapter, allows you to structure your mental imagery practice sessions correctly.
• Make your images as vivid as possible. The more vivid and realistic your images are, the more of an effect they will have on your rugby performance.
*Adapted from C.R. Hall and K.A. Martin, 1997, “Measuring movement imagery abilities: A revision of the Movement Imagery Questionnaire.’ Journal of Mental Imagery 21(1-2):143-154.