Use Vivid Cues
Vivid cues can also help create clear images, and some coaches keep a notebook listing cues that help athletes experience what it looks and feels like to perform a skill. For example, a dancer or gymnast might imagine her back against a cold steel wall to create the image of a straight body during a routine. Creative golf professionals help players image their arms as a pendulum to create the feel of swinging from the shoulder during putting; they might also envision skipping a rock to create the feel of a golf swing or dragging a mop across the ground to develop the sensation of one's hands leading the club head through the hitting area (Rotella 1997). Coaches can also use short words to focus attention on key elements of performance during imagery, such as "quick bat" in baseball or softball or "plant and square up" in basketball. Vivid cues help trigger a vivid image of the desired form or technique.