Can We Apply Visualisation To Sir Dave Brailsfords Marginal Gains Theory?
This four week series aims to look at some ‘Secret Gems’ that not only support the mental health of those players and exercise participants you work with in their daily lives but also have a huge effect on their actual performance within a session. They can support those at the very lowest level of participation to move up another level and actually access something that is more structured and tailored around their needs. Through the sequence of blogs we’ll scroll through some Visualisation, Relaxation, Breathing and Art & Craft Therapy. All based around Sir Dave Brailsford’s Marginal Gains Theory - Improving everything we do by 1% to enable a cumulative effect.
This isn’t just for elite athletes and can be applied in many settings including health and mental well being. So today we focus on visualisation.
Time to think outside the box again!
In case you have missed the introduction to this theory, this short video Road To Glory is a brilliant way to understand it. The brains behind it is Sir Dave Brailsford, who revolutionised British Cycling. The video talks heavily about focusing on the outcome and not the process. Developing knowledge about everything the sport or exercise requires to perform and then picking it apart and making it happen and continually looking for 1% improvements in any area that you can.
That’s where our 4 ‘secret gems’ come in.
Look at each of these four blogs as three tiers of a Rainbow Cake! I.E. There is something for everyone, doesn’t matter what level you are at. Each blog will be organised into the following;
Optimum Performance/Professional Sport/National & Above
Those participating at a Club Level, Gym or regular Fitness Sessions
The ‘Wanna Be’s’ and the Home Exercisers Wanting More.
Read though the research and scene setting and then you can skip to whichever area you wish or read them all through. The choice is really yours to digest, enjoy and hopefully try!
This week the focus is on our first ‘Secret Gem’ that we believe could help all participants to engage, access, encourage and help performance. We are bringing ‘visualisation’ to life!
This is possibly the one people will recognise as being the biggest and widest used method in sport. But usually it is associated with high level performers as they seek to gain an edge on their opponents. However, this could also be the very first step that a person takes to get going at all.
First off though just think about what you actually need to visualise? Let’s look at a basic definition;
‘Generally speaking, visualisation is the process of creating a mental image or intention of what you want to happen or feel in reality. An athlete can use this technique to "intend" an outcome of a race or training session, or simply to rest in a relaxed feeling of calm and well-being’.
Visualisation Techniques for Athletes - Very well Fit http://www.verywellfit.com
Keep that thought in your mind as we begin! Most peoples visualisation exposure is through top level sporting activity, something that you see athletes undertaking in front of your eyes on the TV. For some this may be obvious but for others perhaps not. Let’s go with a few examples first;
Ever watched gymnast standing at the end of a run up twisting and moving and swinging their arms and wondered what they are doing? They are visualising, going through every segment of their vault in their head, picturing the best they can do, the contact with the board, the position of their hands on the vault, the point at which they block off the top, the timing of their twist, the opening out and the landing. Thinking and focused on the task ahead of them.
Formula One drivers sitting in their cars, we are mesmerised and amazed at their ability to recall the entire race track, the way the car needs to be positioned going into each twist and turn as they zoom round the circuit, the accuracy required to deliver this at high speeds is a challenge in itself and without that insider knowledge and intense focus how on earth would they not only manage to get around the track but to attempt to race, communicate with their team over the radio and know the exact strategy that the mechanics have agreed and perfected in the garage then the ability to adapt accordingly with safety cars, incidents, reacting to other strategies! The mind boggles and its a fascinating subject to look into. But part of that is visualisation too. Like an average person driving to the shops and planning their route.
What about pole vaulters at the end of the run up, psyching themselves up to launch themselves upwards of 5-6 metres using a very bendy and potentially breakable pole! As they psych themselves up they are picturing everything, feeling the way the wind may blow or the added complexity of rain, often looking to their coach to know the best point at which to begin their sprint. They have pictured and practised the precise steps, length of stride, movement of the pole, position on the ground, the first phase of flight, the position of the turn and twist over the bar, the exact point at which to release from the pole and the downwards positioning, lifting the chest and landing safely and successfully on the padded mat.
So three entirely different sports but all dangerous! Training needs to be varied and strategies brought in to allow the Drivers, Gymnasts and Athletes to perform as they do. Breaking things down is essential but mind boggling and utterly fascinating.
As we now go through into the ‘three tiers’, you’ll see how some things may repeat because each section compliments the others and certain types of the more traditional methods of visualisation and active visualisation, utilising equipment or technology can be completed at all three levels. Therefore, to allow for people to just read what is relevant we will encounter some repetition.
On some levels as we look at technology and support aids in particular we hope that if nothing else this gives you an insight to the type of activities that are utilised at each level specifically but not exclusively! Not only that if you are aspiring to be a top level athlete then the optimum level may well give you some tips to help you move up a level, honing in on those 1% gains for those days when exercise is beyond your reach these ideas can keep the mind sharp.
We also need to remember that this is aimed at those with Long Term Health Conditions and disabilities and so passive visualisation methods and active/guided visualisations that can be done at home give an added extra to your toolbox that allows you to stay in the game both mentally and physically.
Optimum Performance/Professional Sport Level/National & Above
‘Sports visualisation is an experience… a training experience, a preparation experience and a warm-up experience. Visualisation for athletes is a skill that you can improve and benefit from’.
This is something that should and probably is already in the minds of Athletes at National Level and beyond. How and why and what this involves will be different for each athlete depending on their pre-race or match rituals and preparations. The type of sport will also dictate what is required and how. Transferance of sports psychology skills from home to the competitive arena can be a crucial part of giving you that edge. Staying in the game and in the right frame of mind.
For this group of Elite Athletes most will still be able to train at least to a certain extent, like for example Professional Footballers. Don’t forget there may well be some shielders and vulnerable people around, throwing training plans, confidence, anxiety and stress into the mixture. Concerns about their own health and safety from the virus. This form of visualisation may need to be supportive of your condition and allow you to visualise more and stay strong with the segments that may now be missing or that cause the most anxiety. An opportunity to strengthen your mind and hold onto your positive mindset and confidence in your bodies ability to withstand what it is being put through right now could be key.
The Secret Weapon Of Athletes is a fantastic read and brilliant for this level of performance.
Guided visualisation is at the heart of this article and a great method to try with success shown by numerous top class athletes. They state that;
‘Guided visualisation or imagery for athletes is consciously controlling the images or directing an athletic script in your head….
‘Emily Cook, veteran American freestyle skier and three-time Olympian, described how her specific imagery scripts and mental rehearsal involving all the senses have helped her maintain longevity in her sport.
COOK: “Visualisation, for me, doesn’t take in all the senses. You have to smell it. You have to hear it. You have to feel it, everything.”
COOK: “I would say into a [tape] recorder: ‘I’m standing on the top of the hill. I can feel the wind on the back of my neck. I can hear the crowd,’ kind of going through all those different senses and then actually going through what I wanted to do for the perfect jump. I turn down the in-run. I stand up. I engage my core. I look at the top of the jump. I was going through every little step of how I wanted that jump to turn out.”(https://www.peaksports.com/sports-psychology-blog/sports-visualization-athletes/)
Earlier we mentioned Formula One racing and we have two great videos to show you. Technology is vital in this sport and there are huge teams of people in the background which enables just two people in each car to actually perform at the highest level. The first is from a set of videos from Mercedes Behind The Scenes . This one shows how support drivers use the simulators of the racing tracks in order to inform the drivers better in terms of how the car works on each circuit, a huge weight on his shoulders to deliver information back to the team. Progression from that is Max Verstappen from Red Bull in the stimulator himself actively working through the laps of the Monaco Grand Prix using information from his team to really home in on the track before he has the chance to actually drive his car around it and lessening the physical stress on the body by spending less time in the car itself which involves the need for an extremely strong fitness base and conditioning programme.
In this next video Pole Vaulter Isinbayeva from Russia sets a new world record here and you can see the intense concentration on her face as she waits for the perfect moment to come. A highly skilled and talented performer envisage something quite remarkable and follows it with precision.
In Gymnastics Morgan Hurd is a firm believer in visualising her routines right before she starts. This takes years of training to achieve and won’t happen overnight. Perseverance is vital to success. Watch here as Morgan is followed behind the scenes of her American Cup Victory in 2020 to see what it takes. You’ll see her talking about pressure, adrenaline and what it means to win. Notice in particular her beam where she makes a mistake on a regular skill but is able to pull herself back and execute a new dismount skill. It reinforces how focused she is and you can see from the second she starts to prepare for the dismount that she has put the rest behind and is focusing with intense determination to succeed. To put this in perspective, if she had given in and fallen she would loose 1.00 from her score, the wobble only 0.3. Then she is crucially aware that the bigger discount increases her start value, so although not perfect you can see the importance of her tireless training.
Then before floor you’ll see a snippet of the mental rehearsal as she moves her arms and body through her first tumble. Another notable fact is how she switches so quickly from happy go lucky to I mean business mode in seconds. Something that has to be developed over time so don’t think this mental game is easy!
Staying with Gymnastics according to Gymnastics HQ there are 5 habits that Gymnastics utilise in their training;
‘They stay that (Gymnasts) know how important it is to spend time envisioning the success they want to achieve. And they make this a nonnegotiable part of their daily routine. Whether in the morning after they wake up or before they go to sleep at night, they take the time to mentally focus on their goals. Many elite gymnasts also create Vision Boards to help them visualise their success (Nastia Liukin is famous for this)’.
You can read the full article here which highlights working on their weakness first, envisaging success, taking flexibility and conditioning seriously, assessing goals and using their mistakes as a learning tool. We’ll look at Vision Boards more closely in the ‘Craft Secrets’ blog in a few weeks time.
Those Participating at a Club Level, Gym or Regular Fitness Sessions
In this group in the current climate things can be very difficult. With the Elite who sit just above being able to continue to train and compete to a certain level you may be feeling left behind and concerned about the gap in performance increasing and your concerns about lacking in performance. Therefore, what better time to not only utilise the time you have to get out and exercise each day but why not try some alternatives to sharpen your skills, hone in on the specific areas that you need to for improvement. Keep in touch with your coach or instructor and get some visualisation going! It’s about making the best of what you can access.
At Time to heal we have experience at this level and visualisation was key to success. Every race would be pictured, from the start, to the pace, the feel of the stroke, breathing and turns. Most of the time this worked to great effect. However, there were occasions where we let distractions arrive and one particular memory was a race following a very successful event. The first race was British Record level but the next although a longer distance was extremely slow on the first length. The reason? The guard was dropped, instead of sticking to plan and focusing on our own race looking for other competitors meant loss of form, doubts and a poor result. But that’s part of the learning curve and shows the difference that this method can make. Service to say that was a steep learning curve at a high level event and preventing the desired outcome.
The Power Of Visualisation is a great place to start at this level and gives depth of detail in 5 top tips;
Practice Makes Perfect
Visualise what you want
Shift perspective
Pump it up
Follow a system
According to this model you need to devote just 10 minutes a day to achieve successful outcomes. If you are looking to advance a level then this is what you would need to commit to and of course it may not work for everyone but it certainly doesn’t hurt.
Shifting perspective explains how to get started with this activity;
‘Let’s do a quick exercise. In a moment I’ll ask you to close your eyes, and take your awareness to your breath. Trace the movement of the breath through your body. If possible follow it all the way to your belly, and then back up, releasing any tension as you go. With each breath you relax a little more. As you continue to relax, bring up an image of you in the sporting arena, competing. Where is this competition being held at? Who are you competing against? See if you can involve all the senses. What do you see? What do you hear? What do you feel? Go a little deeper. What do you smell? Play around with this image of yourself. See yourself performing at your very best. Give yourself permission to dream, to push your current boundaries’. (http://www.sportpsychologytoday.com/sport-psychology-for-coaches/the-power-of-visualization/)
Following this is a fascinating section on increasing the power utilising a ‘dial’ method and intensifying your visualisation through colours which you can turn up and down! Well worth a try if you want to progress from the basic process.
The suggestions delve deeper and suggest the following system which includes a six step process.
‘The PPS 6 Step Visualisation System
1. Physically relax using one of the 4 PPS (Peak Performance Sports) relaxation scripts.
2. Mentally relax using PPS zoning down method.
3. Connect to your ideal learning state.
4. Visualise yourself performing at your absolute peak.
5. Pump it up and anchor the experience.
6. Close session bringing new learning’s and developments with you’.
You can access numerous videos and articles at Peak Performance Sports which will keep you busy over lockdown and extend your ability to utilise the above techniques. They span across numerous sports so although an American site you can be sure to find something that will help and support you.
Hopefully, this can give you some hope, strength and a new skill mastered that can support you in training once that can resume to its full potential. Until then a positive mindset and the willingness to adapt and try new things could help you come back stronger and a better more confident athlete.
The ‘Wanna Be’s’ and the Home Exercisers Wanting More.
Right at the beginning we looked at what visualisation is in it’s most basic format. So lets return to that with a simple definition;
‘The formation of a mental image of something’ (Oxford Dictionary of English, App Version)
Beginners can look at creating a simple image in their heads. Find somewhere that you are comfortable, where you have some quiet space. Close your eyes and try to breath slowly in through your nose and out through your mouth, with each out breath blowing away thoughts in your head. This in itself can be a hard thing to master. But for it to be an effective tool this is how to begin. Once you can do this successfully try picturing simple images along the lines of the list below.
Only a few minutes a day is enough when you are beginning;
Something you love
A happy place
Somewhere you visit
Something active that you do around the home
Progress to exercise once you have mastered the simplest version.
Use the 5 in 5 cards that We Are Undefeatables produce
Watch some videos and research activities you think you can enjoy
Watch a session on YouTube (Just make sure it’s a trusted source)
Break it up
Visualise yourself doing that activity.
Think about your senses; so how each move feels, what the sounds are around you, what you can see, what the room smells like, who and what you can hear. Creating these kind of images can make things easier when you arrive at your activity or complete your home workout. A powerful tool for those with mental health problems, sheilder’s and the vulnerable.
You may only be imagining simple things but the benefits of staying in the moment and taking your time with this could help post ‘lock down’. It certainly can’t do any harm and being at home more there should be some slots in your day when this could be completed. You don’t need to be an elite to benefit from visualisation.
If you want to follow a specific programme for beginners that will progress you further, then how about trying the Magnetic Memory Method. At this link Anthony Metivier highlights There are at least 8 Magnetic Modes:
Kinesthetic
Auditory
Visual
Emotional
Conceptual
Olfactory
Gustatory
Spatial
The programme starts simply with an exercise around blowing out a candle, the next around an apple, theres also some number skipping! So a great, simple way to get started then should be both helpful and enjoyable.
At all levels it’s important to remember that success doesn’t happen overnight. It has to be repeated over and over to become effective. Then it needs to be applied into the correct setting. So visualising a race at home in a quiet space is completely different to doing it whilst in the call room or standing on the track.
The key thing to remember with this is that’s its all about the process and not the outcome. That is unpredictable and will not only rely on your own process but other peoples and even how you feel differently from day to day, what the weather is like or how you slept the night before. Just trust in the process, experiment and don’t be afraid of change. The outcome should be great but if not you will now have the power to decide what worked and what didn’t. The process continues, the outcomes will differ.
We need to remember that it’s OK to fail or to remain consistent for a while until we do find those 1% gains. You will make progress if you continue to challenge yourself, your team or participants to try new things, it’s all about what is right for YOU! Coaches should also remember that these skills may work for some athletes but not for others. Knowing your participants and being aware of other factors in terms of physical health problems and barriers to exercise will also need to be addressed.
Coming up next week; we are bringing relaxation to the forefront of investigation!
In the modern world as it is there are many worries and mindfulness is regularly referred to for our mental health and that is where we will begin to help launch us into something that could have significant effects on the ability to participate and the ability to improve performance through some simple techniques that can be implemented easily and efficiently to even the most sceptical people!
Comments