Another great way to make use of visualization it to create your own video showing yourself successfully performing key skills in your own sport. As we discussed before, the same areas of your brain light up in an fMRI machine when you visualize doing an activity just as if you were actually performing the real actions. The same holds true for watching videos (whether they be of you or someone else like a professional athlete). With the help of my daughter (the videographer using my iphone) and my wife (throwing targets for me!), I created the following video:
This video is about 4 minutes of nothing but me smashing targets! I just imported them into iMovie on my phone, but you can use any software you like. I would suggest only capturing successful actions in your sport. In doing so, you are priming your subconscious with the results you want to achieve. No need to show your brain how to miss targets!
When you have a few spare minutes, just watch your video to get a little off-line practice in! Make use of audio too if you can to involve more of your senses. It doesn’t replace real practice, but it will help! You may also learn a few things in the process about your technique that you may have not grasped before. There is a reason professional athletes make extensive use of video, and you can too!