PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF PEAK PERFORMANCE

Part II

 VOLUNTARY RELAXATION

The ability to voluntarily calm the mind and relax the muscles of the body

An Innate, Involuntary Protective Response that Allow the Body to Normalize

 RELAXATION RESPONSE

RATIONALE:

The mind and body perform best when they are not too relaxed and not too tight

“Relaxed Yet Highly Energized”

 PEAK PERFORMANCE CURVE

Performancelevel

Low

Arousal

High

Difficult tasks Easy tasks

• Performance peaks at lower levels of arousal for difficult tasks, and at higher levels for easy or well-learned tasks

 AROUSAL NEEDS VARY

"My tapes helped me to concentrate better and maintain my aggressiveness when climbing and sprinting.“

Marion Clignet, French National Cycling TeamWorld ChampionSilver Medal ’96 &’00 Olympic Games

MENTAL REHEARSAL

The use of mental images to rehearse a performance or behavior

IDEOSENSORY CAPACITY

The ability of the individual to develop sensory images that are kinesthetic, olfactory, visual, auditory, tactile or gustatory

RATIONALE:

“Virtual Practice” recruits the same neuromuscular pathways as actual practice

“Multiply Quality Practice Time with Mental Rehearsal”

"Dr. Beale's methods and tapes have been a consistent part of my mental preparation for the last eight years of my athletic career. They have worked great for me!“

Henry Rolling, Linebacker Los Angeles Rams

A systematic approach to the influencing of thoughts, attitude and emotions in very positive and powerful ways

COGNITIVE RESTRUCTURING

IDEOMOTOR CAPACITY

The capacity of human muscles to respond instantaneously to thoughts, emotions and ideas

RATIONALE:

Thoughts and emotions have an instantaneous and involuntary effect on the muscles of the body and therefore our ability to perform

“Train the brain to consistently achieve the ideal attitude”

Brock Marion, Defensive BackDallas, Miami & Detroit3 Time Pro Bowl Player

"....my tapes helped me to greatly increase my ability to perform and make the team in my rookie year."

MENTAL REHEARSAL

DoesPractice

Make Perfect?

Most of us are familiar with the concept of Mental Rehearsal but did you know that there are three major aspects of Mental Rehearsal?

VISUALIZATION

The ability to produce and creatively manipulate

mental images

VISUAL REHEARSAL

The use of visualization to rehearse a performance or behavior

IMAGERY CONDITIONING

Repeated mental rehearsal to condition automatic responses to cues in the performance environment

"....thank you for the valuable skills you taught us. If you find that skiing doesn't satisfy your summer time needs come take a big bit of fresh air with your friends.“

"Plane Crazy", US Parachute Team1994 Sequential CRW ChampionsWorld Record Holders

One of the earliest studies of the power of mental rehearsal was done with basketball players. The players were divided into four groups. Each group practiced free throw shooting in one of four ways.

THE POWER OF MENTAL REHEARSAL

I. Physical practice onlyII. Physical practice and mental

rehearsalIII. Mental rehearsal onlyIV. No physical practice and no

mental rehearsal

The group that mentally rehearsed and physically practiced had the highest free throw shooting average followed by the group that only practiced physically.

Research and experience tend to support the axiom that athletic skills tend to improve more rapidly when physical practice and mental rehearsal are paired.

The group that only mentally rehearsed had a free throw shooting average that was higher than the group that did nothing at all.

These result suggests that mental rehearsal alone does improve skills and is better than no practice at all.

End of Part II of III

Click here for Part III