Peak Performance Under Pressure

MUSI20203

Lecture 8
Week 8 Semester 2, 2023

Imagery & Mental Practice

Attention

Dr Margaret Osborne
A/Prof Don Immel
 The Role of Imagery in Performance

Halfpenny Place Kick https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPlzQ8_eiYE

 Left & Right hemispheres

Left Brain Right Brain

Words, numbers thinking/perceiving Images, sounds, sensations

Words programs mind using Pictures, sounds, feelings

The constant chatter, believes Reality AND

literal vivid imagination
 Body & Brain like a guided missile

Psycho-Cybernetics (Maxwell Maltz, Prentice-Hall, 1960).

Our body / brain is a brilliant
self-contained system for achieving goals.
Use it. (Butler-Bowdon,2003, p. 198-203)

Founder of cybernetics was

American mathematician Norbert Wiener,
who refined guided missile technology in WWII.
In his view, both computers and human brains:

1. take in (low-energy) input from the world.

2. create new connections to be used in
interactions with the external world.
3. use feedback from the external world/
environment to enhance subsequent communications with it.
 Regulation (cybernetics) theory

A major influence on self-regulation

(Wiener, 1948)

Standard(s) - for our behaviour

Sensor* - what our behaviour is
Comparator - between the standard & sensor
Activator - when a discrepancy is detected, we change
 Regulation (cybernetics) theory

FEEDBACK via sensors may adjust the STANDARD for comparison.

 Psycho-Cybernetics

Goal Directed Input

Our brain engages in a continuous loop of

Feedback Action

= “guided missile” hits it’s target via constant feedback and

communication with itself.

**the loop gains automaticity when the target or goal is

very clearly defined.**
 SELF- IMAGE IS KEY

Acquired through beliefs

about ourselves
which grow out of
past experiences of
success and failure,
and how others see us.
 SELF- IMAGE IS KEY

BUT WAIT!
Success and failure?
“both are unworthy of the
privilege of determining our
basic psychological template.”
(Maltz, in Butler-Bowdon, 2003, p. 201)

Images are value-neutral

the brain doesn’t care
whether the image is
empowering, or destructive.

*A positive self-image that increases your chance of achieving

successful performance under pressure is not accidental:
it must be thought about, and manufactured.*
 Reticular Activating System (RAS)

When we practice something in our mind

repeatedly, we make it easier for the body
to carry out that action.

The RAS is the filter that guides our

1. attentional focus to stimuli (external,
internal)
2. central nervous system.

The RAS finds it between difficult to

distinguish
Reality

&

what we create in our mind.

 Reticular Activating System (RAS)

We can create in our mind what we want

to occur in future performances
to greatly increase the likelihood of success.
(Brandon & Ivens, 2009)

Highly condensed, SNS & PNS coincide,

so one impacts on the other
*hence, power of breathing to lower HR &
stress response.

We can override the CRF/cortisol

response which searches for evidence
for fear, and instead
“Imagine the audience like us, they
want to be there.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCnfAzAIhVw
(Anna McCrossin-Owen, Public Speaking Coach, 22/7/15)
Mental Imagery
 Imagery & Visualisation

Due to mirror neurons, when we imagine being anxious in response to

some future event, producing similar physiological and physical activation
in the body as if the event were actually occuring (Williams et al., 2017; Wulf & Prinz,
2001).

In performance?
Covert auditory, motor and/or visual imagery facilitates expressive
performance excellence, and quality of ensemble cohesion (Keller, 2012)
 Mental training

Mental rehearsal increases blood flow in motor regions of the cerebral cortex
(Roland et al., 1980).
• Activates motor neurons in muscles required to execute the actual movements
(Gabrielsson, 1999).

Left 5th digit abduction force increases of in-vivo versus imaginal exposure
(Yue & Cole, 1992)

- Physical contraction group increased X%

- Mental training group average abduction force increased X%
 The mind-body connection

The landmark basketball study

Judd Blaslotto (1996, UChicago) recruited athletes,
divided them into 3 groups, and tested how many free-throws they could make.

After this initial assessment…

• The first group practiced free throws for an hour each day.
• The second group visualized themselves making free throws.
• The third group did nothing.

After 30 days, their free-throw proficiency was tested:

• The first group, after 30 hours of physical practice, improved by 24%.

• The second group—who never touched a basketball but instead imagined themselves
shooting perfect free throws—showed a nearly identical improvement of 23%.
• The third group who did nothing did not improve, which was expected.

Since this landmark study, further research demonstrated that the best results can be achieved
by combining physical practice with mental imagery.
 The next level…DYNAMIC imagery

Steve Nash shooting free throws @ ES Arena (2010)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=34&v=Pf0lAO21AZk
 The next level…DYNAMIC imagery

Does Motor Imagery (MI) + Movement Sequence

= better high jump performance?

 The next level…DYNAMIC imagery

• N=12 active jumpers, 50% female, 16-25yo, National event experience 5-14yrs.

• Imagine and actually jump over bar at 90% personal best.

• 4 warm up jumps, then 10 actual jumps, then 10 mental imagery trials.

• Mental imagery trials were comprised of…

The next level…DYNAMIC imagery

5x 5x
 The next level…DYNAMIC imagery

> MI ease & accuracy

 The next level…DYNAMIC imagery

Hit or miss?

Dynamic = 45%

Motionless = 35%
And now to…HYBRID Mental Practice

https://www.physio-pedia.com/Action_Observation_Therapy
 And now to…HYBRID Mental Practice

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/23/sports/olympics/olympians-use-imagery-as-mental-training.html
And now to…HYBRID Mental Practice
 And now to…HYBRID Mental Practice

Experimental Groups
(10/grp; 50% female)
AO Action Observation
MI* Motor Imagery
S-AOMI* Simultaneous Imagery & Observation
A-AOMI* Alternative Imagery & Observation (PETTLEP)
Control Video interview with professional dart player

Dependent Variable = 30 dart throws in 6 blocks of 5.

Intervention = 3 x / week for 6 weeks.

Imagery first person perspective, *stimulus & response training
And now to…HYBRID Mental Practice
Power of Imagery
 Public Speaking – Clear, Perfect Version

Visualise performance from beginning to end

1. See yourself waiting to be introduced
2. Imagine the face of your host, your audience, how many seats
empty or full
3. Rehearse the way you walk, how tall you stand, the relaxed
smile on your face
4. Then rehearse what you’re going to say.

#Confident body language

=> open & engaging

#positive audience reaction

=> continue until you mentally walk off the stage
 Does an auditory “model” optimise learning?

Do you listen to a recording or not?

 Does an auditory “model” optimise learning?

13 notes, 12 minutes

32 nonpianist musicians.
13 note melody with left (nondominant) hand.

Evening training sessions, morning test sessions.

Practiced 12 x 30-s blocks separated by 30-s rest intervals.
Play “as quickly, accurately, and evenly as possible”.

Half the group listened to a recording 10x, which they were asked to
match as closely as possible in speed, accuracy, and evenness.
 Does an auditory “model” optimise learning?

The results?

Approx. 12 hours later, after a night of sleep, they returned to the lab.

Both groups improved with practice – all played more accurately after 12
mins of practice than their first try.

Both groups performed even more accurately after the night’s sleep
– yes, their motor learning continued to improve overnight (during sleep)
despite no further practice

(*performance enhancement tip*)

Does an auditory “model” optimise learning?
 Does an auditory “model” optimise learning?

The results:

Different levels of learning

• the group that listened to the recording improved their average score of
52.18 to 99.96 (a 92% improvement)
• the group that didn’t listen to the recording improved their average score
of 48.71 to 84.16 (only 73% gain)

Different levels of performance

• listening group continued to improve overnight with an average final
accuracy score of 108.75 (a further 9% improvement)
• the non-listening group improved only by 4%, to final score of 87.24.

Your thoughts?
Don's practical visualisation hint
If you are still learning HOW to efficiently navigate a skill or difficult
musical passage, consider using mental practice in a different way.
To self-diagnose issues:

o Close your eyes, and take a few slow and deep breaths
o Visualise the phrase or skill several times, slowly (at least half speed), and
on each repetition, focus entirley on ONE of the physical actions required to
successfully navigate the phrase/skill. Examples:

Ø Trumpeter playing a difficult phrase. Visualise playing the phrase, and

notice what your air is doing. Then, notice what your tongue is
doing. Then, notice what your hands are doing. Then, notice what your
neck is doing. Etc.

Ø For best results, try remaining motionless*

 IMAGERY STRESS REDUCTION &
PERFORMANCE SCRIPT

Visualisation practice
 Describe Your Ideal Performance

Create your own script for improved imagery (Moore, 2011)

• Set the scene

• Warm up

• Moments before and Starting

• Middle of Performance

• Finishing the performance

• Coping Imagery
 Creating your Virtual Reality Performance

Describe your ideal performance.

This is a vivid description of how it feels to perform your

best:

• Incorporating what you see, hear, smell and feel

(emotionally and physically); and,

• Covering different points of your performance (warm up,

starting, mid-performance, finishing)
 Set the Scene

Describe the venue, time of day, any special sights,

sounds or smells.

It’s a cold winter’s day but the sun is shining. I’m wearing my
favourite down filled coat and gloves to keep warm. I enter the hall,
the sun is streaming through the windows and my high heels echo
on the wooden floor boards.

The grand piano is centre stage, lid up. It’s a Steinway with a
beautiful rich sound.

There a rows of empty seats waiting to be filled by a welcoming and

appreciative audience.
 Warm Up
Describe what you are thinking and feeling as you warm up

My hands are slowly warming up as I slowly play some scales. The

piano feels so smooth to play, easily filling the big hall space. My
hands, arms and body feel free and loose and I can sense myself
breathing and releasing tension. I center and check the beginnings
of each of my pieces, playing in a deliberately slow and relaxed
manner. I then leave the piano, and find a quiet space to complete
my power pose and deep breathing.
 Performance Entrance and Start
Describe how you feel as you make your entrance. What
are you thinking and saying to yourself?

I walk out feeling and looking composed and confident. The

audience is clapping and welcoming. I am smiling and focusing on
taking deep breaths and releasing tension. I feel psyched and ready
to play. I adjust the piano stool and settle deep into the seat. I tune-
in, switching my mind and body into performance mode, clearly
imaging the first phrase of the Mozart Sonata. Feeling centered and
grounded I take a deep breath and confidently begin. The piano
feels so responsive to my touch and I am really enjoying the sound
and acoustics of this space. I’m able to fully focus on the music,
blocking out any audience noises or other distractions. It feels great
and I’m in control.
 Middle of Performance
Imagine the ideal performance where everything is going
perfectly.

Everything is feeling great. It feels effortless, focussed and relaxed. I

take a deep relaxing breath as I approach the challenging
arpeggios. I feel like I own the stage.
 Finishing the Performance
Describe how you feel as you finish confidently, totally
absorbed in the moment.

As the music builds to a dramatic finish I feel confident and in

control. It is so satisfying to feel strong and relaxed and able to
express the music the way I want. I nail the fast coda like never
before. The audience is clapping and smiling. I smile and take a
bow feeling proud of my performance. I walk off feeling confident
and happy.
 Coping Imagery: Plan for the Unexpected
How prepared are you to deal with the unexpected?

• Remember to include some coping imagery in your ideal

performance
• Challenges will arise. Planning for these prior to them actually
occurring will help you cope with them effectively when you are
actually faced with them. See yourself coping effectively and
successfully with anything that might happen
• Knowing that you can handle anything that might happen in a
performance boosts your confidence and reduces anxiety
• Not knowing how to cope increases worry, and anxiety and your
performance usually suffers as a result
Creating Your Virtual Reality Performance
 Training Visualisation Skills

• Alternate between physical action and

mental rehearsal
– Mime on instrument
– Mime on a substitute
– Mime without instrument
– Mentally Rehearse

• Use expert performer as a model

Imagery for peak performance for 40min piece in orchestra – how to do?
e.g., pick key sections (when most exposed, challenging passages), replay in real-
time. When consolidated:

- Condense to start, middle and end

- Then build in other sections, real time, then condense start, middle and end.

- Then move through entire piece in real time but in sections, short 5 -10
minute sessions.
 Readings and References

Reading:

Vealey, R. S., & Forlenza, S. T. (2015). Understanding and using imagery in sport.
In J. M. Williams & V. Krane (Eds.), Applied sport psychology: Personal growth
to peak performance (7 ed., pp. 240-273). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
 Attention

Attention (Focus)

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 “Optimal performance requires that you use the
appropriate types of attention for the demands
of changing circumstances.”
(Greene, 2002)

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 Attention

Selective attention
Defined as….

“The ability to resist immediate urges or to not give in to

automatic impulses in specific situations also enables one to
attain preferable long-term goals instead of settling on short-term
achievements”

(Englert & Bertrams, 2012, Anxiety, Ego Depletion and Sports Performance. J Sport & Ex Psych, 34, p. 581).

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 Quadrants of Attention & Concentration

EXTERNAL

BE NE
BROAD NARROW

BI NI

INTERNAL

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 Quadrants of Attention & Concentration
BROAD/EXTERNAL
You are observing & listening to a wide
range of people, things & events
outside yourself.
(e.g., listening to what the entire
orchestra is producing, observing what
the audience is doing)
BROAD/INTERNAL
You are paying attention to a wide
range of sensations, feelings,
thoughts, images & sounds within
yourself.
(e.g., previewing the next piece in your
mind, thinking about events outside the
performance, or worrying about things
that could go wrong in the performance)
© MUSI20203
NARROW/EXTERNAL
You are channeling your attention on a
few events outside of yourself.
(e.g., listening to the sound your
instrument is producing at a specific
moment in time, or focusing all your
attention on the conductor’s batton)
NARROW/INTERNAL
You are focusing on specific
sensations, feelings, thoughts, images,
& sounds within yourself.
(e.g., rehearsing in your mind the
particular sound you want to produce or
focusing on specific tension in your body)
Connolly & Williamon, 2004. Mental Skills Training (p. 234).
 Quadrants of Attention & Concentration

EXTERNAL

BROAD NARROW

INTERNAL

Williams et al., 2010. Concentration and strategies for controlling it (p. 339)

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 Attention

Self-reflective Exercise

(Connolly & Williamon, 2004, p. 235)

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 Attention

3 Minute Focus Game

1. Pick Specific Activity – something you’ve done many times
• Playing through a solo piece you know well
• Shooting basketball free throws
• Giving a relaxed presentation
• Baking a cake

2. Mentally perform through the activity, paying attention only to things closely related to
your activity
• If playing music, notice your sound or phrasing, breathing, hand shifts, movement etc.
• Shooting baskets? Notice your set up, your movement, the basket, the ball, your breathing
etc
• Presentation – notice your voice, your choice of words, your flow, your breathing
• Baking – pay attention to every step of adding each ingredient, to each measurement, to
the oven etc.

3. Write down any thought that comes to your attention which doesn’t have to do with
your activity

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 Attention

ACTION TIP!!

Attentional drifts very often result when you are focusing on

factors that are unhelpful to your performance.

Concentrate on what you NEED to DO,

NOT what you

want to AVOID.

(Connolly & Williamon, 2004, p. 235)

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 Attention

Trying to fight anxiety makes it worse

Why might this be the case?

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 Remember the power of visualisation?

Whatever you imagine and fixate on in your mind,

you’re more likely to enact.

Up to 73.44% more likely, in fact.

If you focus and think of mistakes and errors and poor

performance, you’re setting yourself up for that very
outcome.

© MUSI20203
Cognitive-Behavioural Approach
 Can we work backwards, on behaviours, to change
emotions and thoughts?

Thoughts and feelings can be changed by changes in behaviour!

There is no need to explicitly disprove the thoughts

themselves (as in classic cognitive therapy), just
focus your attention on an alternative behaviour.

Remember: anxious behaviour typically avoidant.

© MUSI20203
 Refocus Attention

Refocusing attention on alternative, constructive

behaviours
(using behaviour therapy)
lead to changes in brain activation and function
(Schwartz et al., 1996; Schwartz & Begley, 2002; Schwartz & Gladding, 2011)

© MUSI20203 https://jeffreymschwartz.com/
Aspects of brain involved in fear network

(Schwartz & Begley, 2002)

 Change the channel

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 Post-treatment

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 How can we learn to do this, to disengage from our
thoughts?

(Remember => Anxious thoughts typically negative,

catastrophic, self-oriented, perfectionist.
• Very powerful in pulling us away from
constructive behaviours, from doing the things
that we value,
e.g., practice and optimal performance

By Mindfulness and Attention Re-focusing,

essentially, self-directed neuroplasticity…

© MUSI20203
 The Present Moment Technique

This exercise can help you focus on the here and now – the present
moment. It is a simple exercise that takes 30 seconds and can help
you refocus during a performance.

1. For 10 seconds, focus all of your attention externally, and notice the
visual or auditory detail of what you are looking at or listening to.

2. For 10 seconds, focus all of your attention on your breathing and total
body awareness.

3. For the last 10 seconds, imagine playing your next phrase/delivering

your next talk/making your next move perfectly.

4. Breathe deeply, then play it.

(Connolly & Williamon, 2004, Mental Skills Training, p. 237)

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© Copyright The University of Melbourne 2011