How Visualization Helps Me Get My Skills In Gymnastics

I'm sure a lot of gymnasts have heard their coaches tell them at a meet, "Visualize what you're going to make your routine look and feel like before you compete." 

In the compulsory levels, I didn't really know the reason why my coaches were telling me that, but I did what they told me to do and most of the time, I performed how I visualized I would do in my head. In the beginning optional levels, I still visualized, but not nearly as much as I used to in levels 4 and 5. As I decreased the amount of time I spent visualizing, I saw a decrease in my performance at meets; I realized that I was not as confident and prepared as I should be going into my routines.

In the beginning of last year, my sister recommended I read Extreme Focus by Pat Williams and Jim Denny to help me learn some tricks to help me tap into my fullest potential. As I read the book, I began applying what I learned to my gymnastics and saw a dramatic increase in my performance, efficiency, and confidence. I not only spent time in the gym visualizing each turn, but also spent time at home visualizing how I wanted my practices to be like. The more time I spent on visualizing, the better my practices and skills became. 

Once I felt that my routines were consistent enough at practice, I starting laying off the amount of time I would visualize my practices, but I still spent a good amount of time visualizing how I wanted my routines to feel and look like at meets. Particularly, I spent time visualizing my Bar routine and how it would feel to compete it at a meet. At the last meet of the 2020 season, which was also only my 3rd meet that season because it got cut short due to COVID restrictions, I got a 9.050 on my level 9 Bar routine and tied for 4th place. Before this meet, I was scoring low to mid 7's on Bars because I would fall or catch my release low because I was nervous to do it. Also, my endurance for Bars in the beginning of the season was not very good, so I also had a hard time getting through and making routines with good form. 

Going into the last meet of the season, I was confident in myself and in my ability to perform my routines, which was the main factor that positively effected my performance that day. I also qualified for states at that meet, but it unfortunately got cancelled because of COVID. I believe I had the potential to qualify for Regionals and then for Western Nationals had it not been cancelled. 

So, why does visualization work? 

In short, it works because your brain can't tell the difference between what's happening in your reality and what's happening in your imagination. You could go through an entire day in your head before it has even started and your brain wouldn't even know that your day hasn't even actually begun in your reality. When you visualize doing something enough times, you strengthen neural pathways in your brain that you will use in real life. When you do that skill in real life, you're more likely going to perform how you did it in your head because those neural pathways are now easier for you to activate, which in turn makes it easier for you to do the skill how you imagined it. 

How do I visualize? 

I visualize any skills I feel uncomfortable or nervous doing. When I begin visualizing these uncomfortable skills, I find that my visualizations feel and look like how I currently do them. As I perform this skill in my head, I try to make it feel and look better than the last attempt. By the 20th or 30th time doing the skill in my head, I begin to feel confident. When I continue to attempt this skill, each time making it better, I begin believing that I can do it in real life. When I reach a point where I have no doubt that I can perform this skill in my reality as good as I did in my imagination, and I feel excited to try it at the gym, I know that I have visualized the skill enough times that day. This is the magic of visualization: it makes you feel confident and prepared for what's ahead of you.

For me, it's a mental tool to help me get new skills and feel prepared before a meet. However, it will only get me so far. I can't do my entire practice in my head and then skip going to practice. That would be a waste of time and it wouldn't benefit my gymnastics in any way. By visualizing my practices, I am mentally preparing myself for what is coming in the future. And when I prepare myself for the future, it's like I have already experienced my future. This makes me more likely to manifest the experience I had in my head because this new experience occurring in my reality is no longer new for my brain. 

This is probably a lot to take in, so let me try to explain with an analogy. How did you learn to brush your teeth? You watched your parents or older siblings and tried it for yourself. The first few times you did it yourself, you probably felt awkward and uncomfortable. But as you did it more and more, you created neural pathways in your brain for brushing your teeth and now you know how to do it without even thinking. 

Now what if you wanted to brush your teeth with your non-dominant hand? It would feel really weird, because it is a new experience and you don't have any neurological connections in your brain for doing this. I know this may sound silly, but what if you visualized yourself brushing your teeth with your non-dominant hand a bunch of times before you tried it? Do you think it would feel less weird or uncomfortable? I think it would. And it's because you have created a neurological connection, or memory, in your brain for how to brush your teeth with your non-dominant hand. 

Visualization can be used in nearly every part of life; it's a tool that will help you prepare for whatever task might be ahead of you. And that's what most things in life test you on: how prepared you are for what's ahead of you. 

Anika placing 4T on Bars at her third meet of 2020 season.

Comment if you've ever tried visualizing and your experience trying it. Or if anything doesn't make sense, feel free to ask questions. I will be happy to answer any of your questions about this topic! This has been a big read, so I give you a round of applause if you got to the end without skipping anything.