Mental Moment-Competitive Situation Imagery

Imagine yourself before competition

Make it as real and vivid as possible. If you typically have a pre-competition routine, imagine yourself following the steps of that routine up to the point where you are competing. Remember to use all your senses.

Write down your pre-competition routine.

Competition time

Imagine yourself in an actual competition situation, doing what you would typically do. What are your typical emotional and physical reactions?

At the beginning and throughout competition, I feel:

At the beginning and throughout competition, I do:

At the beginning and throughout competition, I think:

At the beginning and throughout competition, I see:

Go to that place

Approach a place, through imagery, where you have recently competed or have vivid memories of a competition. Allow yourself to experience the sensations that may accompany a competitive experience for you, that is, if you typically get nervous before competitions, allow yourself to feel those emotions.

List some typical emotions or feelings that you experience before competing:

a.

b.

Facilitative vs debilitative

It’s important to have a pre-awareness of what you are doing, feeling and thinking so that you can figure out what skills you need to develop to adjust  for being in the right place for competition. Some of what currently happens for you will be facilitative and some of it debilitative. There are ways to combat the debilitative and build the facilitative. For example, if you realize you need energy, there are ways to energize. If you realize that you have too much energy (anxiety) there are ways to de-energize. A preperformance routine can help facilitate proper preparation for competition and you can utilize pieces of it throughout various times of competition. Some elements of a preperformance routine include: imagery, relaxation, breathing, mantras, etc.

Dr. Michelle