Ice hockey is a popular winter sport that involves teamwork, speed, agility, and skill. Old-fashioned stick-and-ball games have evolved into major sports like ice hockey that are both fun to watch and play for people worldwide. Most players are interested in improving accuracy and performance on the rink, and it turns out that mental visualization is one way to do just that.
What is mental visualization?
Mental visualization is the process of imagining experiences and forming detailed images in your mind. People rehearse for certain performances, competitions, or events, or even try to relive memories with mental visualization. It’s a little more than just daydreaming because it’s a technique that’s been studied for strengthening neural pathways.
Researchers explored how mental visualization impacts sports performance and accuracy for hockey players. Does imagining yourself playing the sport actually help you become better at it? Does it matter how you imagine it?
The potent power of mental visualization
In research published in the Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, the researchers looked at a study involving 48 competitive varsity hockey players divided into four groups. For six weeks, every day, the three imagery groups imagined doing 10 penalty flicks, while the control group spent the same amount of time reading hockey literature. After those six weeks, all 48 athletes were tested on their actual penalty flick performance on the rink. In other words, they imagined performing that specific shot (penalty flick), and then they were actually tested on it.
The four study groups
Sport-specific imagery
The sport-specific imagery group mentally imagined themselves performing penalty flicks in a detailed, realistic way. They were instructed to visualize as closely as possible to the real situation, even feeling the weight of the stick in their hands, the pressure in their fingers as they tightened their grip, the slide and grip of the ice under their skates, and more.
Clothing imagery
The clothing imagery group only visualized what their uniform looks like, how their hockey gear feels, and being dressed and ready for the game. They didn’t focus on imagining practicing the skill and taking the shot.
Traditional imagery
The traditional imagery athletes used generic or more vague mental imagery and thought about succeeding in the sport, without the sensory or physical detail.
Control group
The control group didn’t engage in any mental visualization; instead, they spent the same amount of time reviewing hockey literature.
The results
The results revealed the following:
- The sports-specific imagery group performed best and scored significantly higher than the clothing group.
- The clothing group scored significantly higher than the traditional imagery group.
The takeaway
The researchers highlighted that mental visualization techniques really work and really do help athletes boost performance on the rink. Some techniques might be even more effective than others. In this case, imagining themselves taking the shot in a realistic, detailed way yielded superior results compared to the athletes in the clothing imagery group who just visualized the gear and uniform. This study adds to the growing body of research on the power of the mind and the mind-body connection.
