‘Talking Tactically’

with Lachlan Tighe..... 

(a weekly edition, commenced 12/9/2001, of thoughts, observations and commentaries on developments for bowls coaching and competition)

‘… improving imagery improves performance’

(edition 84  - 2004 of thoughts & observations on lawn bowls)

The expert advisors I use in our ‘Elbows’ squad often lament the absence of mental skill training as a regular and essential part of every (weekly) session.  Interesting last night I had one player direct the head and noted how he made decisions that are the norm in bowls . What I discussed with this player was the need to appraise how others perform as decision makers and to be mentally alert in making decisions, sifting information, recalling that knowledge as his example was typical of the problem in bowls, i.e. an absence of applied mental skill training and I explained my view on the situation we experienced, and, why I thought it was important to use your ‘cranium’ in keeping knowledge about how the training and competition are proceeding. 

Our squad is trying to learn and apply the mental skills in training and hope that a full day program next weekend will add to that mindset.  Over time we need to learn more about image control, sensory recall, movement imagery to improve our performance in training and then in competition.  If all this sounds garbage to you then you are obviously not reading the articles around in sport where other successful world class sports people see all these mental skills as imperative in them gaining that vital edge over other athletes.

If you don’t understand the content and the articles, well that’s different and I say join us in the queue (to learn).

Some situations that I am experimenting with as training settings include these

·        Familiarity, so the more familiar in training the bowler is with set heads the more accurate presumably beneficial the decision to choose / resort to

·        The average to good bowler concentrates less on the focal point of the session so make the player train with a (measurable) purpose

·        Mental rehearsal is practiced to apply to the technical skill

·        Imagery has to be positive and reinforced and repeated for it to be called on efficiently in an event

·        Wording is important and needs training – wording, interpretation and content of what is said, imagined and applied need all be defined and in concert – am surprised by what is told and then ‘heard’ by the team members and we can train to avoid, minimize and remove these barriers- and we can train to imagine what is required as the technical weight skill for the shot by frequent drills

·        The combination that works is where as coach I set a training session with activity and imagery and words all used to mean the same thing to all involved

·        And my last attempt to train as we compete (note I did not say play – kids play games) is to get the squad members to practice imagery at training using any / all senses that can be effective to the overall execution of the skill in performance

Lachlan Tighe