Cognitive training and Directed Imagination training are widely utilized with Olympic athletes and a wide variety of professional athletes.
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No matter where you are on developing your sport, the development of an individually designed training program will greatly enhance not only your results, but your enjoyment.
- A training plan may be formulated by determining which of ten overall strategies are needed with the individual athlete or with a team:
- Enhance sensory awareness and muscle control
- Increase concentration, control internal dialogue, and decrease awareness of unimportant stimuli
- Enhance motivation and enthusiasm
- Increase energy, feelings of invigoration, and endurance
- Enhance performance skill
- Increase self-esteem, confidence, and self-efficacy
- Control perception of time and focus on the present experience (time contraction and expansion)
- Resolution of unconscious blocks or conflicts
- Management of discomfort
Under these ten strategies we may identify the specific Directed Imagination techniques that will allow us to accomplish the goals, such as age regression (e.g., to outstanding performances), imagining an ideal model, mental rehearsal, use of end-result imagery, age progression, direct suggestions, progressive relaxation, symbolic imagery techniques, ideomotor signaling for unconscious exploration, amnesia (e.g., for past defeats), ego-strengthening methods, positive internal dialogue, alert trance, suggestions for time distortion or (temporary) time reorientation, the protective shield technique, analgesia, and suggestion for increasing energy and invigoration.