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Seeing is Believing Tiger Wood’s father remembers asking his son what he was thinking about as he stood on the first tee of his very first international event. Tiger replied: “Where I want the ball to go Daddy.” Imagery is all about creating, or more often than not, re-creating experiences in the mind. Imagery is a very powerful technique, which allows players to gain confidence for upcoming performances by recalling previous great performances, or examples of outstanding shot making, movement, or fighting spirit. “Whether re-creating or creating images, athletes learn to see and believe. Through imagery, athletes can review previous peak performances to see and believe that they can do it again. Also, athletes can create powerful images of upcoming performances that allow them to see and believe that they can achieve their goals. And remember, once our mind believes something, our bodies typically follow through to carry out those beliefs" (Vealey & Greenleaf, 2001) As you can see from the above quote Imagery can affect a number of other areas of sport psychology e.g. confidence. Research has also shown that Imagery improves skill learning (Martin, Moritz, & Hall, 1999), mental preparation (Gould, Weinberg, & Jackson, 1980), self-confidence (Garza & Feltz, 1998), motivation (Martin & Hall, 1995), and is effective in decreasing anxiety (Hale & Whitehouse, 1998). Imagery therefore is critical in influencing athletes’ performance in sport and has been shown to specifically improve tennis performance (Daw & Burton, 1994). Many great tennis champions including: Chris Evert, Pete Sampras, and Roger Federer have used Imagery before matches as a way of visualising opponent’s styles of play and then seeing and believing how to respond to their opponents style of play. If you can see yourself as a professional tennis player, and believe that you can make it, brilliant! Remember though that Imagery is a skill, just like a forehand or backhand, and needs to be practiced in order to succeed at the highest level.
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