Imagine Being the Best
You may recall the story of Marilyn King from the Mind of a Champion class. To summarize it, Marilyn competed in the Pentathlon in the 1972 and 1976 Olympic Games. Several months prior to the 1980 U.S. Olympic trials, Marilyn was in a terrible car accident. As a result, she could not physically train for her event. Instead of giving up on her dream to compete again, she decided to put together a strict regimen of mental skills training using a number of different techniques. When the Olympic trails finally arrived, she had recuperated enough to compete and she ended up placing 2nd and making the team! An incredible feat considering she was going up against some of the best athletes in the world who had been practicing physically for months beforehand.
One part of her mental training that Marilyn did while lying on her couch healing, and not able to move very much at all, is something you can do just as easily. What she did was watch video recordings of the very best Pentathlon Olympians competing at that Olympic event. She would study their form and technique very carefully, then she would close her eyes and vividly image herself performing the event in the exact same way.
With the incredible amount of video we have at our fingertips today, this is a technique you can easily do as well.
Just pull up YouTube and search for something like
Michael Jordan free throw
Serena Williams serve
Ray Lewis tackles
Misty Copeland dancing
Or the name of whatever athlete you admire and the name of the skill you are trying to improve upon
Now watch that athlete performing the skill very carefully.
Study their form and technique
What exactly do their feet, legs and the rest their lower body do when performing that skill
How about their torso, arms, hands and head?
Pause the video at key points, rewind, and rewatch it several times to make sure you have got it.
Then close your eyes and vividly image yourself performing the skill in the exact same way.
Make this a consistent part of your training and preparation and there is no telling what you can do!
Pass It On
If you know of an athlete or coach who wants to improve their mental game, or that of their entire team, they can sign up here for this free Mind of a Champion monthly tip.
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