I recently read about a study researching the influence visualization has on an athlete’s performance. The article, Effect of mental practice on the development of a certain motor skill , by Professor L.V. Clark, who tried to determine the effect visualization had on athletic performance.
He studied two groups of high school basketball players of a two week period. One group practiced shooting free throws in the morning, and the others who visualized their practice, but did not actually do any practice. Clark found that both groups were able to improve their free throw shooting.
The idea of the study is that an athlete’s performance could be greatly improved by combining physical practice with mental practice.
Nowadays, when an reporter asks an athlete what they are doing to prepare for a fight, they’ll say things like, “I visualize myself winning.” When you hear that question asked of a boxer, you might hear them say, “I see the referee raising my hand at the end of a fight.” You might hear a marathon runner say, “I see myself breaking through that finish line,” or a quarterback saying, “I envision myself throwing that winning touchdown.” You hear those key words: “I see,” and “I envision.”
In essence, what these athletes are doing is visualizing themselves being the champion. They are envisioning the outcome of each game or match. This is becoming common in many professional sports like the NFL and NBA. In fact, some teams actually hire coaches to train the whole team to visualize themselves on that level. The goal is to start seeing yourself in the role where you want to be. With that thought comes emotion – your subconscious actually begins to “feel” that you are the winner, which is a powerful combination that leads to the creation of your reality.
Because of the fundamentals of the Law of Attraction is visualization, it’s a great tool that you can use in sports to attract the things you want at a conscious level. When you practice seeing yourself where you really want to be, you’re already picturing yourself as a winner, and you are bringing that feeling and emotion, which really makes the manifestation possible.