Mental Preparation
The best performers get their minds ready as well as their bodies. Learn how a warm-up and mental rehearsal help you focus, calm your nerves and perform at your best.
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In the zone 🧠
A gymnast stands still, eyes closed, before a routine. She is not resting: she is getting her MIND ready. Top performers prepare mentally as well as physically. This module is about two things, the WARM UP and MENTAL REHEARSAL.
Words to know 🔑
Four ideas run through mental preparation:
What is it? 🎯
What is mental rehearsal?
- Picturing yourself performing successfully in your mind
- Stretching your muscles before exercise
- Resting completely and thinking of nothing
- Eating the right food before a match
Body and mind ⚖️
A good warm-up prepares both. Mental rehearsal then sharpens the mind further.
What does it do? 🔗
- Focusing on the task
- Calming the nerves
- Building confidence
- Refining a skill
- Blocks out distractions before you perform
- Controls anxiety so you feel ready
- Makes you believe you can succeed
- Practises the movement without moving
How to rehearse 🎬
To rehearse mentally, find a quiet moment and close your eyes. Picture the skill step by step, as if watching a film of yourself. See it go well and feel the movement. Many performers do this as part of their warm-up, just before they compete.
Why rehearse? ✅
Which THREE are benefits of mental rehearsal?
- It improves focus and concentration
- It helps calm the nerves
- It builds confidence
- It makes you physically tired
- It removes the need to train at all
Picture it 🔀
- A diver on the board
- A footballer before a penalty
- A gymnast before a routine
- A sprinter in the blocks
- Pictures the whole dive before jumping
- Imagines the ball hitting the back of the net
- Runs through each move in the mind
- Imagines exploding out to a fast start
Get ready 🪜
An interactive activity.
Complete the idea 🧩
Mental _____ means picturing yourself performing well before you do it. A performer often does it during the _____ up, just before they compete. It uses _____, creating a clear picture of the skill in the mind. It helps you _____ on the task and calms your _____.
True or not? 🖍️
An interactive activity.
When? 🔎
When would a performer use mental rehearsal?
- Just before a performance, as part of their routine
- Only while asleep the night before
- Never, because it does not help
- Only after the event has finished
Ready to perform 🧭
An interactive activity.
Get set ✍️
An interactive activity.