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Victoria Guerrero

Trishia Briones

ENGL 1302-261

17 February 2023

The Visual Preparation

Introduction

Of the many sports cliches, one of the biggest ones involve visualizing before a game or

practice. A popular term called the “5 P’s” is a term widely known to athletes around the world.

The 5 P’s stand for Prior Preparation Permits Proper Performance. Now many may think

“preparation” as is practice; however, preparation could also stand for mental preparation. The

big question lies on how effective visualization is effective and whether there is science to back

that claim up? This experiment puts this research question to the test and provides an answer

backed up with credible resources. This essay will shed some new light on how visualization

positively affects one’s performance in sports, both physically and psychologically.

Method

To begin with, the parameters of this experiment involve a test subject to go to a

volleyball practice for five days. However, the key component to testing this experiment requires

the test subject to take some time prior to the practice to visualize how they want the practice to

go or how they want to perform during the practice. In most cases, when it comes to visualizing

before performing in any sports related event, one would want to visualize positive outcomes and

scenarios in their head and in a way think it into existence. Visualization may be different for

many people. For example, some people like to put themselves in a position where they just
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performed an outstanding play like in a movie while others may just take some time in silence to

prepare their mind. The test subject must do this for five days and document after each practice

about their physical and mental performance and to see if the visualization prior to the practice

had a positive impact. The age and sex of the test subject is a nineteen-year-old female who is

currently a freshman in college. In addition, the required supply for this experiment includes

either a phone or journal where one could document progress. The location for this experiment

was the test subject’s university gym where they attend volleyball practice daily. The style of

journaling that the test subject used for this experiment was recording mini vlogs on their phone

after the practice explaining how they performed, how they feel physically, and how they feel

emotionally. The goal for this experiment is to find out if taking a small amount of time to

visualize before a sports practice or game can lead one to positively perform physically as well

as mentally overall.

In addition, the first focus of this experiment is the mental aspect, meaning how did the

test subject feel after her practice and what were her emotional thoughts? This focus is seen in

this experiment as an even greater contributor to the test subject’s performance, more than the

physical aspect. After all, one of the biggest cliche but valid unwritten rules for sports is that

performance is 90% mental. In order to focus on how the mental aspect of this experiment was

affected is based on the test subject’s feeling post practice whether it was in a positive or

negative way. Moreover, the test subject’s psychological feelings were recorded in the mini vlog.

On day one of the experiment, the test subject recorded that she felt mentally stronger when it

came to harder parts of the practice along with having a better light-hearted mood and attitude.

The test subject also recorded in her vlog that she also felt happy throughout the rest of the day.

On day two of the experiment, the test subject recorded that she also felt like her mentality was
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in a good place as it was the day before; however, the test subject did mention in her vlog that

there were times during the practice when she felt a little down on herself. Overall, the test

subject did in fact, feel that her psychological focus pertaining to the practice was positively

influenced by visualizing beforehand. “Movement visualization teaching method can effectively

reduce the time for teachers to demonstrate and explain actions, so that teachers can spend more

of their free time on teaching itself, thereby helping teachers find and solve students’ problems in

time, and guide students to learn effectively” (Hua and Han). Another interesting thing that the

article mentioned was the usage of imagery when visualizing and how it also plays a huge part in

positively enhancing one’s mental state when practicing their sport. Imagery is the strategy that

the test subject used to visualize her mindset during practice. Furthermore, the test subject’s

psychological state was enhanced due to visualizing before her practice.

In addition, this experiment of visualizing before a sports practice focused not only how

it affected the test subject psychologically, but also physically. “Physically, visualization can be

described as altering the relationship with endorphins and the immune system, and endorphins

and the imagination. The immune system interacts as with all body systems and can be activated

through relaxation and imagery” (Hoffart and Keene). Physical performance is the aspect that

shows the most in this experiment and it is the other important half to see whether this

experiment was successful or not. Physically performing poorly would prove that visualizing

does affect the test subject. The physical aspect of this experiment connects to the previous

section because the test subject can only be successful if both the physical and mental properties

succeed together. On day three of the experiment, the test subject recorded that she performed

exceptional and was satisfied with the way that she played. A few examples of the drills the test

subject had to do were serving the ball from the volleyball endline and sprint to the other
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volleyball endline to retrieve her ball and repeat for another 10 times. After this usually tiresome

drill, she felt as if her stamina and skills flowed more smoothly in a way that she did not get

tired. The different scenarios that the test subject visualized in her head were close to if not

exactly what occurred during her practice. However, when it came to day four of the experiment,

the test subject did not perform as well as she did the day before and recorded in her vlog that her

body felt more lethargic, and her level of play was not as good as it was the day before but still

did not think that she performed poorly. Furthermore, the science behind why visualization helps

improve performance is because “Mindfulness meditation is difficult to describe for empirical

research. However, in absence of a better definition, it can be described as a comprehensive

wholesomeness training involves non-judgment, loving kindness and present-centered awareness

(Marich and Howell, 2015). It requires concentration on aspects of the present by demanding a

firm relation with the body and interception (which is the perceptual process that provides us

with the sense of inner body). Several studies outside the dance realm revealed that mindfulness

programs improved coping skills and self-regulation, decreased tendencies to take negative

emotions of others” (Beddoe and Murphy, 2004; Vago and David, 2012). Overall, the mental

part of this experiment was positively impacted for the test subject from visualizing before a

sports practice.

Moreover, the results in this experiment varied from one day to the next according to

what the test subject recorded on her vlogs which she took on her phone. What was learned from

this experiment was that taking a few moments to visualize prior to playing in a sport event or

practice does positively impact one’s mental and physical performance. The results for day five

involved the test subject feeling both content physically and mentally with her performance. Not

only did her practice satisfy her but it also left her feeling good for the entirety of the day. Some
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of the conclusions found in the research that matched with the findings is that one very impactful

strategy of visualization is guided imagery. In the beginning of doing this experiment, it was

unknown that there was a proper term for the strategy that the test subject used to visualize for

this experiment. Other research also matched with the research of the experiment by the mental

and physical performance being positively affected from taking some time before a sports

practice to visualize. From looking at the success of this experiment, the research question was

answered.

All in all, this experiment revealed if visualization positively impacts one’s performance

both physically and mentally. The outcome was that it did in fact have a positive effect on the

test subject in all aspects. Such positive effects included a better attitude towards the practice

along with a better overall performance of the practice. This five-day experiment shed some new

light on the importance of guided imagery when it comes to visualizing and many athletes may

find this experiment useful in their athletic career.

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Works Cited

Hua, Xia, and Lei Han. “Design and Practical Application of Sports Visualization

Platform Based on Tracking Algorithm.” Computational intelligence and

neuroscience 2022 (2022): 1–9. Web.

Hoffart, Marita B, and Elizabeth Pross Keene. “The Benefits of VISUALIZATION:

Research Suggests That Visualization Promotes Relaxation, Enhances Sleep,

Reduces Pain, and Increases Creativity.” The American journal of nursing 98.12

(1998): 44–47. Web.

Julia F. Christensen et al. “A Practice-Inspired Mindset for Researching the

Psychophysiological and Medical Health Effects of Recreational Dance (Dance

Sport).” Frontiers in psychology 11 (2021): n. pag. Web.