Meditation

Marie Dalloway has worked with top-level athletes and coaches (including those
connected with the Olympic Training Centers in Lake Placid, New York, and in
Colorado Springs, Colorado), teaching them the power of visualization. In her book,
Visualization: The Master Skill in Mental Training, she writes:

‘Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1989), 131-134. 2From a clipping in my files.

¢ Peak performers visualize more and better than do others. They may have learned spontaneously to visualize events in vivid detail. Others can learn to visualize the way peak performers do. The athlete who hones the basic skills for visualization and consistently applies them is assured of enhanced performance.

e An excellent example ts Jack Nicklaus, who has used this skill throughout his career in
golf. Before he hits a golf ball, whether in practice or in competition, Nicklaus mentally
rehearses the shot in detail. He pictures the address of the ball, the swing, the trajectory
of the flight of the ball, the landing, the roll of the ball, and the final lay of the ball.
Interestingly, he then backs up the action and sees it occur in reverse, like a slow rewind
of a video tape.

eIn the early 1950’s, ex-Celtic center Bill Russell discovered the benefits of mentally
previewing defensive moves on the court. At eighteen, Russell traveled by bus throughout
the Northeast with basketball players from California, On these long rides from one small
town to another, Russell visualized his defensive responses to the offensive plays of centers
he would be opposing. The mental practice paid off. On the court Russell was exceptionally
effective at blocking shots. He responded with defensive plays exactly as he had pictured
in his mind. “It seemed natural, almost as if I were stepping into a film and following
the signs. I was so elated I thought I’d float right out of the gym.”