How to unlock confident and competitive play after taking time-off

Visualization is a tool used by many athletes who practice mental training. Training the subconscious mind through visualization isn’t always easy and it takes dedication and consistent work. There is power in practicing visualization, and the best part about it is that anyone can do it. It takes a little practice, but once you know how to apply the tool, the possibilities of reaching your goals can be a lot closer than you might expect.

While the world has been away from sports for some time now due to the global health pandemic of Covid-19, most volleyball athletes have been forced to pause their training. And for most volleyball athletes, these 2-3 months off of playing competitively has been the most time they have ever taken off from competitive play – whether in games or practice.

It’s easy to look negatively at this situation we’ve all been in and think that all of the work we put in over the past year (and perhaps beyond) will be lost. All of those new skills learned, and the pace of the game, won’t be easy to pick back up.

Though similar to riding a bike, it should be easy to pick up the simple skills of volleyball again, right? Most of those are muscle memory if you have been playing for long enough. However, maybe it isn’t going to be as easy to pick back up other things that are fast-paced and new to our skill set. It will be tough to play in long competitive rallies that require a lot of stamina. It’s going to require more focus to serve receive a ball directly to target, to consistently set tempo at every position, to make adjustments in the air as an attacker, and to make quick decisions at the net and behind the block as defenders. Naturally, without the practice and repetition of those skills over the past couple of months, things are going to be difficult. And in turn will bring frustration - both individually and at the team level.

With the inevitable being that volleyball player’s skills won’t be as razor sharp, there are things these athletes can start to implement into their routine now, off the court, that will help with the transition into competitive play.

If you’re a volleyball player reading this think back to some of the best games you’ve ever played in. What skills did you excel in during these games? What did you look like while serving, passing, attacking, or running an effective offense? How did you feel during these games? What did your body language, celebrations and actions after a mistake look like during these games? Where or what was your focus on when you played at your best?

 How did you feel during these games?

Now, start to string these moments together. You know those cool hype videos that your family, friends, or staff at your school put together for you? Imagine all of those clips being only you – making the amazing plays that you know you can do and have done before. Feels pretty great, right? Do you feel confident and unstoppable? That’s what your highlight reel should look and feel like.

And guess what mental training tool you just used to create this highlight reel? That’s right – you just used visualization. One of the most widely known and used tools of mental training that has been proven by many studies to *impact the brain’s motor control, perception, planning, and memory. Numerous professional athletes, including Tiger Woods, have been using visualization techniques to enhance their motivation, increase confidence, improve motor performance and reduce their anxiety in their sport. The benefits of visualization are endless once you create a habit of practicing it.

 The more you practice and visualize your highlight reel off the court, the more it will come to life on the court for you.

So, now that you know what goes into your highlight reel (yes, all of those amazing plays you’ve made throughout your career), string 5-10 of those plays together to create your very own highlight reel to practice visualizing. The more you practice and visualize your highlight reel off the court, the more it will come to life on the court for you. Practice before a workout, first thing in the morning, or before getting ready for bed. Not only will the skills you perform in that highlight reel come back to life, but also the feelings – confidence, focus, positivity – will guide your actions on the court as you start to train again.

*Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/flourish/200912/seeing-is-believing-the-power-visualization