Sunshine, great seats, a bunt, a first and third, steals, a pick-off gone wrong that led to a run, a couple of long balls, and a Cleveland Guardians win at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario (as they say in the CLE). All that would have made it a great day (shout out to my former player Stotty, for the tickets!). But that wasn’t all! Jungle Jerry was on hand with snakes to hold (yuck) and animals to see…add in a caricature of my favorite little baseball fan and me and that’s just icing on the cake!
And in all this baseball (and animals we’ll never have in our house) it’s the caricature artist that got me thinking.
He looked at us and put his pen to paper. He looked at us again. Back to the paper. And on and on until we had a cute image that looked a little like us to take home as an account of a great day.
You don’t often hear the arts and sports talked about in the same conversation, but there are more similarities than meets the eye. If you’re going to create something worthwhile, it takes more than what meets the eye…literally!
In the world of art, whether you’re drawing a million-dollar portrait or a silly caricature, capturing a live subject is not just about replicating the physical appearance; it's about seeing beyond the surface, using the mind's eye to translate what the artist perceives into a tangible representation on canvas.
The mind’s eye. Hey, that sounds familiar!
And that is all I could think about as this guy looked at my features…and enhanced them…well…drew them 😊!
I was wondering what he saw. Then I wondered how he took what he saw and translated it into a picture. Think about it, when someone is drawing you, or something that isn’t in front of them, they have a picture in their head. They “see” it even when they aren’t looking at it.
They visualize! If they couldn’t see a picture first, they would need to draw WHILE LOOKING at the subject.
Try that!
And as Michelangelo famously said, "I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free." He saw David in the stone before he ever started chiseling.
Even Monet used his mind’s eye to capture the effects of light and atmosphere in his paintings. He would mentally picture how light would change over time and how it would affect the scene, allowing him to create beautiful scenes.
I know nothing about art but I do know that our mind’s eye is VERY POWERFUL and if we aren’t using it to make us better, we are missing out!
Like my artist friend and some of the most prolific artists of all time, we can harness this same power as we “create” our masterpiece, whether that be a movement, skill, speech, conversation or anything we do!
I like to call it “mental rehearsal” because a rehearsal seems so much more involved than “visualizing” or using “imagery”, but no matter what you choose to call it, it is all about creating or recreating experiences in our minds.
Study after study has found that athletes who regularly practiced mental imagery experienced improved performance, particularly in complex motor tasks. Just as an artist uses their mind’s eye to bring a portrait to life, athletes use mental imagery to see themselves executing a play, perfecting a technique, or even overcoming a challenging opponent.
A kid from Akron uses it, too. As part of his pre-game routine, LeBron imagines different scenarios on the court, seeing himself making critical plays, passes and shots, which helps him stay focused and confident during games.
Not surprisingly, Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn used visualization to prepare for her races. Before each run, she would mentally ski down the entire course, rehearsing every turn, jump, and potential hazard. This practice helped her achieve precise execution during her races and helped her get back in the game after injury.
Even the best need to see what they want to do to remain confident and at the top of their game!
But it’s not just about watching yourself execute a play or a race. You can rehearse ANYTHING! A conversation, how you will approach a test, how you will (or want to) feel in a stressful interview...ANYTHING!
The power of mental rehearsal lies in its ability to activate the same neural pathways that are engaged during actual physical performance. Dr. Aymeric Guillot, a leading researcher in motor cognition, explains that “mental imagery can facilitate motor learning by simulating the neural patterns that occur during physical movement.”
In other words, when an athlete rehearses making a perfect pass or landing a difficult move, their brain is effectively practicing that action. The same stuff is firing…that’s the technical way to put it 😊!
Mental rehearsal enhances muscle memory, improves focus and helps us build confidence. A study published in Psychology of Sport and Exercise found that athletes who incorporated mental rehearsal into their training had a higher rate of skill retention and were better able to perform under pressure compared to those who did not.
Artists often spend hours, if not days, studying their subjects, internalizing every detail before making a single stroke. This meticulous attention to detail and the ability to hold the image in their mind is what allows them to create lifelike representations. This same level of focus and internal visualization can be applied in sports.
But it doesn’t need to take hours. It can take seconds!
Like everything else, it takes practice, but, if you think about it, we have been practicing our whole lives. We see ourselves making the game-winning shot or singing in front of thousands.
Clearly, everything we “see” won’t come true. But if we can’t see it, how can we ever do it?
Mental rehearsal can be as simple as closing our eyes and seeing, feeling, smelling, sensing and hearing all the aspects of a specific skill or something as complex as an entire competition scenario. Including the sights, sounds, and emotions involved is key, much like a dress rehearsal where we go step by step through our routine.
Don’t have time for all that all the time? Going through the full dress rehearsal before competition will give you a leg up on pulling up the image you need to see just before the swing, kick, start, etc.
Go there before you get there. See what you want to happen and how you want it to play out.
Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees says that mental rehearsal is like being there before you get there and getting the answers to the test before the test.
We are running through what might happen so when it does happen, our brain and body already know what to do. To put what Dr. Guillot found in softball coach’s terms, we are sending blueprints to the parts of our bodies that need to move when we do what we see with our mind’s eye. They are stimulated as we rehearse, and those pathways keep getting deeper and deeper as we “see” and “do”.
As psychologist, Dr. Donald Hebb said more than 75 years ago, “Neurons that fire together, wire together”.
It doesn’t take much to use this tool, but like any tool we use to make us better, we must give it our attention, intention and repetition.
Just as an artist envisions the finished portrait, athletes can imagine themselves executing plays with precision.
Here are a few things to remember as we utilize this amazing tool.
It is most effective when we involve all the senses. We should see the action, feel the movement, hear the sounds, and even engage with the emotions we expect to experience. LIVE IT before it’s live!
Consistent practice helps us strengthen our skills which makes it easier to call upon our images and feelings during high-pressure situations.
Just as an artist’s success depends on their ability to see beyond the surface and visualize the essence of their subject, our success can be greatly enhanced through the power of our mind’s eye…and our body’s blueprints!
By using our mind’s eye as effectively as an artist, we can unlock new levels of performance, transforming not just our game but their entire approach to what might happen next…on the field, in the boardroom or any important situation in life!
As we’ve learned from art and science, what we see in our minds is often just as important as what we see with our eyes.
Manage the moments!
Julie
P.S. Let's do a 3-week mental rehearsal program with your team to get them up and running like a world-famous athlete or artist. Reach out for pricing!!
P.P.S. People often ask if I do workshops at schools, clubs or organizations! The answer is YES! Our workshops, for athletes, coaches, parents, business leaders and anyone who performs, can have a massive impact on those you lead!
Send me a text at 234-206-0946 or an email at juliej@ssbperformance.com and schedule a call to see how we can enhance your program’s mental approach!
Julie Jones
Mental Performance Coach
SSB Performance
juliej@ssbperformance.com • 234-206-0946
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