Seeing the Shot. Visualization

These blogs were updated June 2017 and again in 2024. The six blogs on instinctive and previsualization have been expended on in late 2014.  If you are still here; reading 12 year old blogs, your interest in the subject is as an athletic in the final stages of prefection of your ability. . In writing this blog I always hope the reader see their possibilities and undeerstand the idea of being in the "Zone". The coach of Tiger (in 2012 video) calls it "the athletic in the Peak performance Zone" and you are now begins a   movement of training to a different level of personal development. If these ideas seem strange it may because you have ot yet experience this level of your sport, but the knowledge of "Being in the Zone" is a reflection of the future.

.  All the sports have a level of perfection which involves "Being in the Zone" and this means more than concentration. Tiger's coach calls it "Creativity" but it is "knowing you can do it". and eventually being so relax that your body simple does it. (Sometime refer to as "Muscle Memory".

 Tiger Wood  on Youtube.com " Sport Psychology - Want to visualize like Tiger", the base of this blog, we hear Tiger coach saying."the athletic is in the here and now, uncluttered mind,  & relaxed " which is where these  blogs will lead you if you  are patience and take time and follow them.  Also with the task of previsualization you are so mentally attached and relaxed that as Tiger says.. "I have black out moments", " I remember  starting but I know I was there,,,  but I don t remember actually performing the golf shot"  How can this be??  Hopefully, later we will see that like a great novel writer (master) sitting at a desk, working hard on his masterpiece, he is writing an idea. His creativity is to start over as he throws the written idea away; does another and another and another until only the final finished works are available. Tiger's mind is so busy creating scenario of shot types, force, angle etc that the final memory ( the finished and learn and kept finish shot) is created after many scenario. ( a search of his choice and decision until totally satified).  It is attempted and finally made after it has been totally completed in his mind following much practice and indecision xxx.

    This blog... and the outline of the remaining six Blogs. are
    Visualize 1 -  Using Visualization to get it together physically   "the Mental Tools of the Zone"
    Visualize 2 - Confidence and   relax, Blackout or total relaxation. ..how it works and how you do it.
    Visualize 3 - Mistakes the mind  make in  such a strong visualization and  how it affect you and  your performance
    Sub conscious -Does your mind have control.  How to remove youe conscious control of actions
    Creativity -   Your  body knowing it has performed well as you return to reality from subconscious
    All in One.  - How to move from reality (conscious) to Visualization (unconscious) performance.
 

Imagine this Lawn bowls situation.. it happen, and the photo is the bowls as setup in a mid end of the Lief Selby game against Scotland in the World Bowls 2012 Singles semi-finals.  The bowler on the mat  have three possible views of play 1 - Play Percentage 2 - Best HAND shot and 3- Absolute Genius shot.
 In 500 champion bowlers, we find about 450 are doing a percentage shot. Yes they require a skill but might misss so play the percentage.
The great Lawn Bowlers know they have the skill  and like Lief,  knows  he will do what he is thinking.
But at the end of these blogs, you will decide if you want to work toward  being a great champion of one of the three types (above). When in a  similar situation, will you play it as Percentage or  decide and than make the "Best shot"  As for the  Absolute Genius, like  Tiger Wood; if he does 90 golf strokes per game and then over a 3 day tournment, he does 5 games with the this continual success but also he is not only is he doing his best but sometime even attempting the impossible shot; he is becoming a  Genus in his sport.

Certainly to obtain this level of performance he has  developed an extremely long absence mind times. When we are  in the Zone (mind control zone) most people experience only  a fraction second of absence of mind. while after a lot of development can reach a periond of several seconds absences.

When I started Archery, it was only the fraction of a second of releasing the arrow. In time, after several years it became about the time of the arrow flight (a second) but I was absence of mind from release until the arrow struck the target.
When talking about these three types of  shots (listed above), I  must refer to continue time afte time.  Like a Basketball Player..somewhere on the court..thinks the shot, then up and shoot and succeeds. He was probably aware he wanted to do the shot but absence of mind from the start of the jump to the release of the ball toward the basket.  No calculate of distance , arm force or method of shot.

Maybe . Lief in the video might have played percentage and because of continual success came out looking like a  Genius.  Or maybe he took the Lower Percentage of success and did what was the Best, and always knew he could do that near miss shot and still be successful. He may have previously tried and made the shot and now sees it in his mind as possible. How many players do not only thinking about hitting the jack but more precisely hitting it at a slight angle  to give it the wanted movement.  Moving into the Best class if they are doing it time and time again.

Percentage is based on how many bowls width you can miss or make the shot and still come out looking good. Here we have 4 bowls percentage of success.  In this example 1 rolls the shot bowl out if not caught up on the back bowl. the outside of possibility.  2  is still a  takeout but  Obviously Best results come with 3 and 4. Here a draw or bit over on your wight, on a draw to jack, will roll the jack toward his own bowl.. Also in using Percentage decisions, it  also means the best percentage.. Example it is better to go two Bowl percentage on this forehand, where if you are over weight or line with bowl  shot (2 and 3); it still give the takeout of the blue or roll the jack. rather than the 4th or 1st  bowl percentage a bit dangerous.

Now Best shot is hard to agree on as "the best".. but if you can refuse the four precentage choice Ù(above) and know you are good enough with the back hand (lief is right handed)and make it happen, GREAT. Pass the shot (blue) bowl with confidence and draw to the jack. You are becoming a member of a small group of  "the best",  Luck is with you if heavy and rolls the jack toward your bowls. If your weight is a bit too heavy  you got two shots. Analyis of it has all been view, studied and a creative result expected..
    Bowl percentage is only 2 bowls and the "1 bowl shot" would be what is being tired.  Imagine your mind racing, will I  be heavy and should I do this as a takeout shot.. Control of emotions. Score is only 11-15 .

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I seem to have  a visual memory of this shot and the bowl played was heavy and continued straight ahead after it kicked the jack between the bowls to the position in the next photo.  We all agree the Leif is amoung the best or else he would not be trying this shot.  Maybe it was really an overrweight shot intended to remove the shot bowl (blue) and luck of the draw was a miss and still a near catch  on the side of the jack.

These three examples are examples to show visualization of your shot and how fine a shot you take with confidence. when you are overconfident you sometimes even surprise your self.(the subconscious has done the shot). A personal example of this.   I once told a friend, with whom  I was practicing shots on the green; that I would draw up.. tap his bowl back and fall onto the jack.Overconfidence and little show off.
    . I was in my first year of Lawn bowls. and did the shot.  Scott who had bowled for many years, was amazed  but I had  already been Visualizing shots in Archery for years. Having out-of-body development concentration, and during the last 4 years before starting bowls; I had been working at visualization  Zone in Petanque...However,  the point .. it was just was a moment of doing what I though to do.  At this point I doubt if I had rolled more than 50 bowls. But I got caught and 5 years later  Bowls it still is.

This shot is from a Genius point of view, if the mind has so much control that a small percentage of success is not important. The individual when on the mat and so in the ZONE will try a draw, or a jack roll from the forehand.   Like Tiger Wood's  creative idea in golf, you know this can be done...  The percentage (bowl Percentage )for draw to shot  is less than one bowl error (half bowl on either side of the jack) and weight perfect. As for intending to do a roll of the jack  which  now becomes a difference in weights (of a foot or 18 inches) and you are doing an either/or shot. Think of the wind and how hard such a shot would have been at WB2012 and noone would believes in his shot. (except a Genius in Bowls which we don t have these days)



This is an attempt to use an example and show your mind's ability and your visualization of that successful shot.  You may see the shot visually but can your abilities to do the shot show the mind' eye that it is possible. Wind, the thought arrives and mind's eye say "no way". It will never happen if the concentration and mind over matter is not there. Not total in the Zone. As you practice shots, the mind's eye learn what you can do and then how to tells the body to do it.  But we all must play the percentage of success.  Be confidence of your shot and play a high percentage of success or be  in the Zone, visualize the shot, and be good. Become the Best dont bother to try the " Gennuis"  for one shot.   Know your limits.  Good luck.