The Academy Lesson: Pre-visualising Success

Visualisation techniques are increasingly being used at football clubs and academies, the process viewed as a valuable supplement to physical training.

A vital component in sports psychology it can increase cognitive stimulation and boost muscle coordination. It has even been found to return a player fitter and stronger from injury.

What is particularly fascinating when delving into this mental practice is how it differs when executed by established stars and youngsters making their way into the sport.

For the former, the chief motivation in using visualisation is to promote calmness and clarity of thought when playing in a high-intensity, highly pressurised match.

This environment is replicated in the mind, with passages of play imagined. This in turn triggers neural pathways similar to real-time action.

Simply put, when a player subsequently encounters situations on the pitch, it is not for the first time. The right pass has already been conceived, a problem solved.

When it comes to academy players however, a different approach is undertaken. What benefits them is not visualising the next game, but the next few years. To manifest success and gain a significant foothold in the extremely competitive world of football.

Big Picture Thinking: Conceptualizing the Future

From a young age Birmingham City knew they had a very special talent in Jude Bellingham and to the club’s credit every step was taken to ensure that talent was maximised.

A mock press conference, held at Birmingham’s training complex in Kings Norton when Bellingham was 15 perfectly epitomises the topic at hand, revealing just how highly the player was regarded, and how well equipped he was at a tender age to deal with it all.

Firstly, the very fact that the club felt the need to arrange the event says a great deal, the Midlands outfit pertinently aware that the spotlight awaited him. “We didn’t want to leave any stone unturned,” is how one of his former coaches Mike Dodd remembers it.

Then we come to the teenager’s responses, each one as articulate and thought through as the last. He was ready for greatness, he admitted. He wanted to test himself against the very best.

This unique exercise organised by the club encouraged visualization of what lay ahead. The endless questions. The constant demands. The scrutiny.

Multifaceted Gains: Benefits of Visualisation

In that particular instance the process amounted to a practice run, to better prepare for the real thing to come, but many other gains can be sourced from the discipline. It can aid quicker skill acquisition, enhance performance, and reduce anxiety. Is it any wonder therefore that academies are increasingly turning to multisensory tricks to help their brightest young stars take the next step forward.

John Walker is a Performance Analyst who works with some of the finest prodigies in Scottish football and he considers visualisation a useful resource in ‘building blocks for elite level footballers’.

“Visualization can give a player that extra one cent, even if some believe it to be a bit wacky and ‘out there’. If you look at the NFL stars, and legends such as Michael Jordan they all talk about its importance. If you look at Conor McGregor and him saying he’s going to knock an opponent out early. That’s visualisation. That’s manifestation.

All of these little details can be the difference between reaching the very top, like Jude Bellingham going to Dortmund, then Real Madrid.”