Visualization: A Tool That Brings Clarity

An Old Trick

As many of us are becoming aware, player or coach, the skill of visualization is becoming more and more applicable and appropriate to our game.  Professionals in many sports have been using visualization in many different ways for decades.

Jonny Wilkinson, England’s iconic rugby union fly-half spoke many times of his targeting during his kicking routine whereby, after a suggestion from the then kicking coach Dave Alread, he manifested an older lady by the name of Doris, sitting in the crowd right in the middle of the goal posts.  Wilkinson aimed to land his kick in her lap on every occasion, and his statistics represented incredible accuracy.

There will be several other examples of this ilk.  I imagine that if you speak to any professional sports person in the world, their experience of visualization will be evident.

Targeting

I think that an important starting point and something that the WGTF considers paramount to the entire game, is the element of targeting.  Most people will use aspects of targeting in their golf game.  A fairway, green or hole perhaps.  However, we, as WGTF coaches, consider these targets as far too big.  We encourage our clients and players to develop the ability to focus in to such a degree that they are targeting themselves to something the size of a pin-prick.  We call this Pin-Prick Aim.

Our main reason for reducing our target to such a degree is to encourage players to focus and visualize with more intensity.  Most people, indeed anyone, would be able to easily use a fairway or green as a target, but if one misses these huge targets by a small margin then the ball could end up in the in the bunker, rough or worse.  If one misses a pin-prick target by a small margin, we could well still be in prime position on the fairway or leaving ourselves with a short putt.  We honestly see no reason in having a target that is any bigger than a pin-prick as then you are expanding the parameters for error.  Essentially, missing larger targets will leave the ball in a worse position.

Building the Visuals

So once we have developed our confidence and skill with Pin-Prick Aim we are then able to begin the building process of imagery or visualization.  I think it is of paramount importance at this stage for the coach to allow players some autonomy when creating their visuals.  Players should feel comfortable with the imagery that has been created.  If something is given to them then it is not necessarily ‘owned’ by them.  Discomfort may follow.  So through careful, exploratory questioning and suggestion, coaches can encourage players to build their own ‘tracker.’

Many of the players I have worked with create lines, strings or ribbons leading from the ball to target.  These ribbons often have a color, sometimes glow, sparkle or pulse and at times have even had a temperature.  What we are trying to create here is a more tangible connection with the target and generating one’s own connection allows performers to believe in the connection, trust in it and grow in confidence.  Of course, players are free to refine and amend their connections as they develop their understanding of how to visualize.

Developing Strength – More Than Seeing

Once players have been given to opportunity to create a connection, strengthening this bond is now a key element in being able to apply it on the course.  Practice and self-reflection can help to increase the strength and players may decide to alter elements such as the size or tone of color to generate a developed strength of connection.

At this stage, I would always advocate asking players to work on the imagery without actually hitting shots.  Allowing a player to firstly create the connection from ‘down the target line’ is a great starting point.  We can then move onto our whole pre-shot routine.  Applying it to the pre-shot routine of course puts the entire process into context and again, builds strength of connection.

It can take more time but I always encourage players to first visualize, then address, then get ready to swing whilst maintaining the imagery.  Once ready to hit the ball I have them step away.  I find that this approach maintains the focus to a point in time when they could easily become distracted.  During this phase it is important to practice two key elements: ‘eyes on the ball’ and ‘mind on the target.’  This can be a true challenge for some people as no longer are they looking down the target-line, they are standing over the ball.  The feedback I have received from approaching the sessions in this way however, is that when players step away, they feel truly energized by a desire to swing the club.  The confidence has grown to such a degree that the willingness to swing is extremely strong.  I have had entire sessions without ever hitting a single ball.  Players have been fascinated by their own ability to visualize and how connected they feel to the target.  Confidence of this type can transcend all previous experiences.

It is then possible to discuss with players how to affect the strength of this connection in other ways.  Can we begin to manifest things in our mind about what it would genuinely feel like to hit this shot?  How the swing itself that is going to allow us to hit this perfect shot would feel?  How it will feel as the ball impacts the club face.  The feeling you experience as you watch the ball leave on its path.  How you feel when it lands, what it looks like as it jumps and rolls exactly as you imagine it will.  The sounds you hear when you strike the ball.  The image of the divot or tee peg flying away in front of you!  And of course, the feeling and the noise as the ball rolls into the hole.

It is possible to create far more than just ‘seeing’ and in my experience, the greater the strength of imagery, the greater the possibility of our intended outcome being realised!

Belief In The Process

At this juncture I feel it pertinent to mention the coach-player relationship and the structure of the session or sessions.  Consider the above information and content and think about how much time would need to be invested in going through this process.  Depending on the player and their ability to manifest these feelings and imagery, it could take quite a long time, let’s say a few sessions.  A player should be made aware of this right from the start.  Coaches could and should make this process abundantly clear so that a player is fully aware that they may well not be hitting balls for these particular sessions and that hard work and dedication is required in an area that may be unfamiliar.  However, once explained, understood and agreed, players buy into this kind of approach and the feedback I have experienced has been very positive.

Players feel more comfortable, confident, focused, calm and relaxed.  Alongside this, they genuinely find developing their skills in this area fascinating.  Who doesn’t like to imagine that they will hit all of these outstanding shots that feel, look and result in perfect outcomes?  And of course, it is even possible to then lend these skills and techniques to one’s personal life.  Imagine how your day will go, how you want your life to move in a particular direction or how you want to approach certain aspects of your future.  It is possible to build and develop connections every day, in many different areas of your life.  Be creative and try it! ‘ Walking the talk’ in your every-day life allows for huge amounts of practice time and the subsequent developments can be profound.

Get Off The Range

I would recommend that these sorts of sessions take place firstly at the range.  It even makes sense to begin with the short game.  Sessions could begin with short putts on the green as it is certainly easier to visualize and imagine things that are closer and over a shorter distance.  As confidence develops and players become more accustomed to the process, demonstrating an ability to manifest powerful images more rapidly and with growing intensity and sustainability, then the distance can increase according to the player’s needs.  Of course, this is assuming that the player is being honest with their feedback to their coach regarding their development.  Once an agreement has been made regarding the degree of development then of course, at some point, this entire process will need to be applied and practiced on course and in real game situations.

The degree of change from a range to the course can be dramatic within our games and it is no different when working with imagery.  There are so many different, ever-changing elements to consider whilst playing and manifesting these imagery tools developed in the relatively closed environment of the range can be quite a challenge for some players.  But with such challenges come great successes so as long as players maintain their belief in the process, the ability to transfer these skills to the course is inherently possible and certainly exciting.

Focus On The Imagery

I would like to finish this article by making clear my view on the actual focus of a ‘visualization’ coaching session.  Throughout this entire process, until the player is extremely comfortable with their ability to generate and apply imagery to their game, I feel that the whole session should focus solely on the quality of the visualization that takes place and not on the result of the shot.  If one is not hitting balls then of course it will be easier to maintain the focus on the actual imagery but once balls are introduced, these can act as a major distraction and players can easily switch attention to the shot, the ball flight or the result.

As coaches we can assist our players with their focus by simply reinforcing that the objective of the session is to maintain focus on the imagery we create.  A simple feedback question after every shot or asking the player to rate (on a scale of 1-10) the intensity of the imagery, can certainly help in this regard.  But coaches must ensure that we ask for the feedback after each and every shot.  Players will then very quickly understand and remember the focus of the session and once a certain rating has been achieved, targets can be set to not drop below that.

In my experience, sessions like these are truly enlightening. I have worked with adults and children whom have varying degrees of performance and understanding of the game and they enjoy the process to the same degree. It is often something they have never experienced before but once they have, I’m not too sure if they will ever again play a shot without using it, such is the power and engagement it provides.

Cover Photo by Lionel Fellay via Flickr