The "Mental Training" applied in sports psychology.

A basic process for the elaboration and management of information processed by the brain.

Mental Training: discovering the importance of sport

It is very common nowadays to see in the media how sportsmen and women dedicate a great part of their time to their practices before competing in their disciplines. Sports practice is one of the best tools athletes have to acquire and improve their skills and techniques on the playing field.

But there is an area of these practices that does not usually receive much attention from the media, and yet it is widely used in several sports disciplines. I am referring to the great influence that psychologists have in improving the performance of athletes. Psychological science has been expanding exponentially into fields that years ago were totally alien to its influence. This is because the research and interventions that have been developed increasingly cover a wider range of behaviors and mental processes. behaviors and mental processes, including thoseincluding those performed in sports.

Thus, relatively recently a new area within sport and psychology was born, in which both converge to mutually enrich each other for the understanding of behavior and the improvement of performance and quality of life of athletes: Sport Psychology.

This new batch of psychologists appears to gain an understanding of the behaviors and mental processes that occur in sport and physical practice, as well as to develop techniques and interventions that help to increase the skills and abilities and skills of athletes. Among these techniques developed by sports psychologists is, for example, mental training through imagination regulation.

Mental Training through Imagination

The Mental Training through Imagination is based on the principle that the imagination is a basic process for the elaboration and elaboration and management of the information processed by the brain. Imagination is directly influenced by both sensations and emotions and is used to order, explore and examine thought. It facilitates, to the extent that it adapts to reality, a grasp of the demands of each situation. It serves, among other things, to recognize a situation quickly without great difficulty and without great deployment of energy by forming "coherent accounts of reality. As the British neurologist Oliver Sacks In his TED talk on hallucinations:

"We see with our eyes but we also see with our brains, and seeing with our brains is often called imagination....".

The regulation of imaginationin Mental Training through Imagination as in any other field, assumes an important role for the development of all motor processes. We learn, through imagination, about objects, people, environmental conditions and experiences. Each experience is composed of certain relationships that model our behavior in front of the existence of them.

In short, the imagination influences, consciously or unconsciously, our action (this principle is the basis, for example, of therapies of exposure to phobias by means of computer simulations). This is because every time we have an experience, it is captured in our brain forming neuron activation patterns that correspond specifically to that experience. Every time we perform the action of imagining, we are reactivating those neuron patterns and as these circuits are activated recurrently, they are strengthened in such a way that they manage to form learning, automating movements, reactions and skills.

Applications of Mental Imagination Training

Cognitive development

Imagination can play an important role in cognitive development. This has been emphasized by a number of social scientists, the most notable in the 20th century being the work of Jean Piaget. Popular beliefs allow us to believe that children spend a greater amount of time imagining than adults, demonstrating its importance in development. However, we are not aware of studies that have attempted to 'quantify' the amount of time spent on imagination among groups of the same age.

Skill acquisition and improvement

Data in the literature indicate that imagery performance and practice of a specific motor skill can improve the performance of that skill in 'real life'. This has been proposed in athletes (as we will describe in this article), surgeons, and musicians.

Behavioral testing

The behavioral rehearsal within the stages of the mind is perhaps one of the most important human qualities. Imagination provides a unique and safe platform for behavioral rehearsal prior to actual behavioral development, without the risk of negative consequences for the imaginer.without the risk of negative consequences for the imaginer. The multiple alternative solutions to problems, considering the numerous potential outcomes, can be safely tested and practiced within the field of the mind. It is widely used in the field of psychotherapy due to the positive effects on the acquisition of new behaviors.

Anxiety reduction

Imagination provides a setting to safely carry out behavioral sequences that can aid in the amelioration of anxiety. For example, revenge for a misdeed is possible and easy within the realm of imagination, with no apparent consequences. Many psychotherapeutic modalities use the imagination process to treat anxiety, phobias, and other disorders.

Creativity

George Bernard Shaw stated "Imagination is the principle of creation. Imagine what you desire, desire what you imagine, and in the end you create what you desire." While the cognitive process involved in creativity is unclear, many creative individuals, such as artists, explain that they imagine a creation before creating it in the 'physical' world. In fact, within the stage of our imagination, we are free to create with fewer limits than exist in the 'real world'.

Mental Training through Imagination Regulation in Sport

Research shows a great positive influence of imagination demonstrate a strong positive influence of imagination on sport performance.. Both scientifically controlled studies and experimental reports of the use of imagination to improve performance provide positive results. (Robin S. Vealey, 1991).

By means of imagination techniques it is intended that the athlete assimilates and internalizes the movement through a codified system, which represents it in a symbolic way and makes it more familiar and more automatic. It is so important that its correct application leads to an improvement in the process of retention and memorization of motor tasks. (Damián Lozano, 2004).

The psychoneuromuscular theory (Weineck, J. 1998), argues that similar impulses occur in the brain and muscles when athletes imagine movements without putting them into practice. Scientific evidence maintains that experiencing events in the imagination generates an innervation in our muscles similar to that produced by the actual physical execution of an event.

What is the process of applying the imagination technique as mental training? Kemmler (1973), establishes three degrees of mental training:

Practical applications of Mental Training through Imagination

In this way, thanks to Mental Training through Imagination, different applications to the sports field can be developed, among which the following stand out:

So now you know, the next time you have to train for your sports practice do not hesitate to use Mental Training through Imagination, a resource developed and implemented by sports psychologists. The results obtained are of great magnitude and it does not require great efforts or energy to be applied.

• Viewing of a demonstration-model. It is another way of being able to make conscious the sequences of movements, in this degree it is possible to visualize externally how such sequence is developed. It is closely related to the activation of mirror neurons involved in the observation of other people's behavior.
• Execution of the movement by representation of gestural developmentAt this stage, the kinesthetic sensations accompanying the movement, as well as the specific technical difficulties of the movement structure, are taken into account. At this level, the kinesthetic sensations that occur in the movement become conscious, i.e., what is felt when moving a certain group of muscles. In this way, corrections can be made to facilitate the improvement of movement and sports skills.
  • To accelerate and activate motor learning processes, especially technical skills and abilities.
  • As a rehabilitative and integrative technique in competition, after a period of inactivity, either due to injury or other factors.
  • As a complementary restorative technique in situations where the physical or psychological load is very high, or the volume of the same is very prolonged and monotonous.
  • As a technique that helps to reduce the stress produced by the competition itself, it is manifested by the appearance of traumatic experiences in the form of failures.
  • As an element that helps the transition in the training phase after the competition.
Bibliographical references:
• • American Psychological Association (APA). Division 47, "Exercise and sport psychology".
  • Drubach a,b, E.E. Benarroch a , F.J. Mateen. (2007). Imagination: definition, utility, and neurobiology. Journal of neurology. http://www.neurologia.com/
  • Gil Rodriguez Cristina. (2003, May). Sport psychology: implementation and current status in Spain. Multidisciplinary Encounters Journal. http://www.encuentros-multidisciplinares.org/
  • Kemmeler, R. (1973). Psychologisches Wett-Kampftraining. Blv LeistungssportMuchen-Bern-Wien.
  • Ossorio Lozano, Damián. (2004, June). Mental training: the regulation of imagination. Digital Magazine efdeportes.com. 
  • Sacks Oliver. (2009), TED Conference: "What do hallucinations reveal about our minds?
  • RS. (1991). "Conceptualisation of sport confidence and Competitive orientation: preliminary investigations and instrument development". Journal of sports psychology.
  • Weineck, J. (1998) Optimal training. Hispano Europea.