{"id":21580,"date":"2019-12-02T18:49:08","date_gmt":"2019-12-02T18:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/?p=21580"},"modified":"2019-12-17T15:11:04","modified_gmt":"2019-12-17T15:11:04","slug":"dansmagic-5-visualization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/dansmagic-5-visualization\/","title":{"rendered":"Dan\u2019sMagic 5: Visualization"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The fifth chapter in Dan BC\u2019s 4-way manual… <\/strong>Dan realizes his 8-way visualization skills SUCK\u2026<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Dan BC Realizes his Visualization Skills SUCK – Image by Patrik Minar<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Visualization<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Visualization is the ability to create clear, detailed and accurate images in your mind of something that you want to reproduce as physical reality. In essence, quality visualization is much like a very well-trained imagination.
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The images created by people who have practiced this skill are complete, precise and specific. We see the image and feel the movement and even the emotion so vividly that it almost seems as if we are actually doing it. 
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A great deal of experience and research has proven (references) that people with highly advanced visualization skills can create through visualization the same experience in their mind as that of the actual physical activity. Our minds don\u2019t recognize much difference between full sensory visualization and actual physical training. Time spent practicing our skills through visualization can be equally as beneficial as the real thing.
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Training your visualization skills is very similar to training your physical skills. 
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  • Find a quiet place where you can be without distractions. Relax, calm your mind and slow down before you begin. <\/li>
  • Have a clear picture that you want to start with. For instance, if you are an ice skater it would benefit you to have an actual photo of yourself at the moment when you are paused in preparation of attempting a particular move. Having this picture will help you to recreate the same image in your mind. It will then be easier to visualize a frame by frame execution of this move because you have a vivid image to start from.<\/li>
  • It is also very useful to previously have watched moving images of yourself, or other people performing the move you want to visualize. Watching a DVD of yourself or others executing the same skills will put a blue print in your mind of the pictures that you want to paint.<\/li>
  • Take the time you need to produce the correct picture in your mind. Start with something simple. The more complex the image, the more time it will take. This can be frustrating, be patient. If the picture in your head gets scrambled stop, erase it, calm down and start again. Don\u2019t try to force it. <\/li>
  • As you begin to visualize a particular action try it first in slow motion. As with training physical skills, your initial visualization training will require you to think through each part of a particular move as you create the image of that move in your mind. <\/li>
  • Once you are able to really see<\/em> the correct technical move in your mind repeat the process again and again. <\/li>
  • With repetitions and practice your mind, like your body, will start to learn the particular skill on its own. It will develop its own mental muscle memory. Soon you will be able to think less because your mind is familiar with the picture and creates it effortlessly.<\/li>
  • After training the ability to visualize particular images you will be able to create these images in your mind with minimal preparation. You won\u2019t need to find a quiet place or take time to slow down and relax. You will be able to flip the switch and clearly visualize what you have practiced in any place and at any time you choose to.<\/li>
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    Julia Swallow visualizing, photo by Studio One<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    Turning new skills and habits into instinct can only be done through repetition. There are no short cuts. Quality visualization allows you the opportunity to dramatically increase the amount of repetitions you can do. It gives you the chance to practice the perfect move a hundred times in only a few minutes. If your visualization skills are well trained, this practice you do in your head can be just as valuable as actual training time. 
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    To get the most benefit do the visualization training along side the physical training. Work on visualizing the same skills in the evening that you are practicing during the day. As your visualization skills improve so will your actual performance. As your performance skills improve so goes your visualization. By working your visualization skills in parallel with your physical training you will reach your performance goals in a far lesser time.
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    Learning to visualize requires the same commitment as learning physical skills. The benefits are every bit as valuable. Some would even argue that at times the skill of creating vivid, full sensory, positive images in your mind can be just as powerful as training the physical skills themselves. I personally had two experiences which proved this to me…
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    World Champions Hayabusa visualizing the jump<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    POSITIVE VISUALIZATION CAN GUIDE YOU TOWARDS REACHING YOUR FULL POTENTIAL 
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    I had been competing in 4-Way Formation Skydiving for 12 years and my visualization skills were excellent. I could close my eyes and see myself and the rest of the team in perfect detail. I could see my moves done correctly as well as the technically perfect choreography of the entire team. I could see the jump from above (the judging video angle), from my own eyes and even from any teammates point of view. I was able to run it in slow motion, or fast speed with the same precision. I didn\u2019t need to slow down and relax. I could immediately create the images at any moment even while involved in other activities. I didn\u2019t even need to close my eyes. I could see the correct pictures as if they were superimposed over what I was actually looking at. All of my senses were active. I could feel the jump in my muscles and my mind would anticipate one move ahead. I was aware of my breathing and the mental calmness the sport requires. My visualization even had the confident, competitive attitude I wanted to exhibit on the skydive. For all practical purposes, I was doing the jumps. It felt the same in nearly every way. 
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    The funny thing was that I took all of this completely for granted. I had no idea how good my visualization skills actually were or how crucial they were to my performance. I had practiced them frequently and thoroughly but mostly by accident. It was fun and seemed like the right thing to do. I hadn\u2019t had a specific visualization training plan as such.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    My team Arizona Airspeed won the National and World Championships in the 4-Way Formation Skydiving event two years in a row. In addition to continuing with 4-Way we decided to also enter the 8-Way event.
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    Arizona Airspeed 4-way original line-up, photo by Mike McGowan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    In 8-Way the rules are the same and it requires mostly the same individual flying skills. The real difference is the actual pictures that we see. 8-Way formations are twice as big as 4-Way formations. To see an entire 8-Way formation we must look much further and greatly expand our awareness. During the transitions from one formation to another there is twice as much going on and people are moving twice as far. All in all, when you add it all up, 8-way was exponentially busier and noisier than 4-way. All of this activity made it very difficult to create the same clear images in my head that I had in 4-Way. But since I took for granted how good my visualization skills were in 4-way, I also discounted how weak they were in 8-Way.
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    As a 4-way competitor I was fast, precise and confident in my abilities. I deserved to be, we had just won two consecutive National and World Championships. I was sure this would carry over to 8-way. I was wrong.
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    When we started training 8-Way I basically stunk. I was making mistakes that could only come from a novice competitor. My flying was soft and my anticipation dull. During the video reviews of the jumps I was embarrassed. What had happened to me? I\u2019m a World Champion. Had I lost it? Should I have quit while I was ahead? I punished myself with as much self doubt as I could come up with. 
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    The next day we were in the airplane on the way up for an 8-Way jump. I was visualizing the jump as I always do on the ride to altitude when it hit me. I wasn\u2019t seeing anything. There weren\u2019t even 8 people on the screen in my mind. There was just me, fumbling through a mass of bodies. I couldn\u2019t even see what the formation looked like. I suddenly realized that I had no visualization skills for 8-Way. 
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    If I couldn\u2019t see, or even imagine, what a good jump was going to look like, the odds weren\u2019t very good that it was actually going to happen. And if it did, it would be due to nothing but pure luck. I certainly couldn\u2019t make much of a contribution to a good effort if I didn\u2019t know what one looked like.
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    If I couldn\u2019t see, or even imagine, what a good jump was going to look like, the odds weren\u2019t very good that it was actually going to happen” <\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n


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