In L.A. Lakers’ coach Phil Jackson's book, "Sacred Hoops," former Bulls' guard B.J. Armstrong states: "I'll be able to react to it without thinking, because I'll already have seen it in my mind."Dr. Denis Waitley, author of Quantum Fitness, states that visualization is the ability of the mind to carry out the vivid images of performance as if they have been achieved before and are merely being repeated.
Dr. Kay Porter uses the term "Visual Athletics" and believes that cross-country runners who image a successful performance build pre-race confidence and help identify and overcome possible raceday obstacles.
Great athletes "go to the movies" (in their minds) before they actually perform in competition.
Dr. Robin S. Vealey claims that whenever you imagine performing a particular sport skill, your muscles will fire in the same sequence as an actual performance.
The mind cannot distinguish the difference between an imagined experience and a real one. It, therefore, responds to what you imagine. It becomes a "Mental Blueprint," if you will.
Increasing numbers of athletes are using visualization to help them gain a competitive edge. Sean McCann, the sports psychologist for the U.S. Olympic Committee in Colorado Springs, states that the most dramatic changes in sports psychology have occurred in the past 20 years.
