“If you want something, all the universe will be plotted and helps you achieve it,” reads the line from the famous book “Alchemist” by Paul Coel. The legendary India of Sachin Tendulkar also says: “Dreams come true if you are chasing them hard.” But does it have a substance in real life? Can our imagination be true, especially in the field of sport?
The human brain is a hidden gem and their superpower still ignores us. However, as soon as you can find a covered reservoir of your magic, it will become a powerful tool that will help you overcome your biggest challenges. While sports remain a field where physical fitness and skill make the most differences, it is a mental aspect that separates the highest artists from others.
Virat Kohli, Novak Djokovic, Conor McGregor, Cristiano Ronaldo, Michael Phelps and many others have managed this one power that allowed them to be among the largest in their field. It is the power of “visualization” or “guided images”. It means to imagine how you perform at your peak against the most difficult opposition and imitate it in the field.
According to the renowned sports psychiatrist, Dr. Chinmaye Patkara has driven images a huge impact on top sports performance if it is performed correctly under the guidance of an expert.
How does visualization work in sport?
“When we talk about visualization, the scientific term would be something called guided images or mental images. The goal is to practice it regularly before you renew sport or participate in the match. Start, bring to a relaxed state and sit in a quiet place, without distraction, and starts to imagine your ideal performance in your ideal performance.
Over the years, top athletes have used guided images to prepare for the main tournaments and often go to the top, so the world noticed its size. Star India Batter Virt Kohli He used this technique to come out of one of the lowest phases in his life, after a disastrous tour of England in 2014.
During an interview with Graham Bensinger Kohli, he revealed that he later imagined in preparing for an Australian tour that he dominated his best pitch, the wild Mitchell Johnson. Result? In the end, he recorded an incredible 692 series in the series, his highest sum in the test rubber.
“If something seems difficult to do and if you do not show yourself to go there and achieve the opposite, you will never be able to do it. You can’t just land on the spot and say, see what happens. This way your chances of success will become very, very low,” Kohli said in an interview.
I play a match in my mind before I go to court: djokovic
In 2019, after winning a historic 4 -hour 55 -minute Wimbledon final against Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic revealed that he introduced himself as the winner before entering the ground. The final 2019 is the longest in the history of the tournament, where Djokovic saved two points of the championship, which was crowned as a champion in front of a guerrilla crowd that shouted “Roger! Roger!” Although he had all against him, it was a strong determination of Djokovic, who helped him register one of his greatest victory of his career.
“I play a match in my mind before I go to the court. I always try to introduce myself as a winner. I think there’s too much.
Dr. Chinmay Patkar explains that in the visualization of an athlete he has to imagine the smallest details such as grass color, shape of equipment, and how they feel in hand, ensure that he perceives the brain as a real event.
“Visualization requires you to imagine every detail – such as the grass feels under your feet. For example, if you are in a cricket field, imagine how the pitch feels, how gloves fits your hand and how you feel the fit.
The human brain cannot distinguish between the real event and the visualized scenario. So once the athlete imagines every detail of his upcoming match, the body automatically takes over and the reflexes are just following.
“You imagine the same scenario – your top performance – and ask yourself what it is like to experience it in your mind. Is it great? What do you think others would say about you after witnessing your best performance?
However, it is essential to practice it for several months instead of randomly introducing it before an important match.
“If you add something new to your routine just before the game, it may bounce – you could be nervous and juggled from a dozen different thoughts. Therefore, it is better to start about a month in advance. In this way, at the time you reach the date of the match or tournament, you are already in the right zone.”
13 -second knockout Conor McGregor
In 2015, during the UFC 194, Conor McGregor left the world that amazed after eliminating the ten -year -old unbeaten champion Jos Alda in just 13 seconds to claim the title of demonstration. It remains the fastest goal in the UFC title because McGregor landed on the left side of the clean counter to etch his name in historical books.
McGregor’s warm -up clips just before the fight revealed that he imagined the same scenario in his head and practiced the exact left wound several times before the match. It is amazing that the events in the ring proved to be visualized when McGregor was visualized, and eventually destroyed Aldo without breaking sweat.
Therefore, practicing images or visualization of controlled images helped McGregor to get in front of his opponent before the start of the match and gave him a competitive advantage over his opponent.
Dr. Chinmay Patkar explains that visualization also allows athletes to shorten their reaction time, which is often shown as a difference between victory and loss.
“In sports, much depends a lot on explosive movements, plyometric, instincts and training. Many actions occur as a reflex – whether it responds to the ball that throws or accepts you, as well as your synchronization, as well as your synchronization.
Michael Phelps: Preparing for every scenario
The most successful athlete in the history of the Olympic Games, Michael Phelps, also openly admitted that it was his mental game that separated him from others. The American swimmer began to visualize directly from his teenagers and imagined all kinds of scenarios – both ideal and worst.
This made him prepare for the worst in advance, because all his races were swimming thousands of times in his head a month ago before he really competed.
“The competitive advantage it gives you is to shape mental makeup for high-pressure moments, be it tournament, match or any big event. That’s what we needed.
Visualization is a scientifically proven and well -explored therapeutic model that continues to lead top athletes around the world. The motto behind the technique is to bring athletes to a relaxed state of mind before their nerve matches and help them create mental pictures of how they would ideally want to play.
Once a person begins to manage this art, he can give them a competitive advantage over the strongest opponents and prepare them in advance for challenges that can get during the match. While the right training and nutrition continue to be the sacred principles of the sports world, the power of visualization is obliged to leave many stunned results.
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Published on:
August 10, 2025
