Running head: HOLISTIC IMAGERY TRAINING

Holistic Imagery Training:

Creating Tools to Support Positive Visualization
Kellen Beckwith
Ohio University
COED 6140 - Psychology of Coaching

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Abstract:
The aim of the observations and interview are to explore diving coach, Russell Bertrams,
methods of imagery training with his NCAA Division III divers. The interview explores the
understanding of Coach Bertrams use of a holistic approach of imagery with visual aids and
coupling with the use of auditory tools to tap into the psychological side of his athletes.
Following the interview Coach Bertram was observed during practice to take notes on his
approach of using best ever tapes with the athletes choice music to help them recall and
preform

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Holistic Imagery Training:

Creating Tools to Support Positive Visualization
Introduction:
There are many different ways to get an athlete to perform at a high level. A coach can
motivate, give technique feedback, or us many other methods of how to help prepare their
athletes for competition. This project looks at the methods of Denison University Head Diving
Coach, Russell Bertram, and how he sets his athletes up for success using multi-faceted form of
visualization. The use of vivid and in-depth imagery in an athletes routine can assist them in a
higher level of performance (Williams, 2010). Coach Bertram paints an ideal picture of his
divers preforming the dive themselves, in the championship pool, and in color. He paints the
perfect picture. He further aids the training with the use of music that each diver chooses for their
list. It will look at how Coach Bertrams methods line up with the science and research in
psychology.
Permission to interview / observe:
Coach Russell Bertram approved of being interviewed and observed during his practice.
Identify coach / sport psychology professional to be interview / observed:
I will be interviewing and observing the Head Diving Coach at Denison University,
Russell Bertram. Coach Bertram a former US Diving National Champion, with more than 20years as a diving coach, judge, and administrator, he currently coaches at Division III Denison
University. Currently he is coaching divers to NCAA National Championship Meets, NCAA
National Champions, NCAA National Records, and named the 2014 NCAA Mens Diving Coach
of The Year. Prior to his work at Denison, Coach Bertram worked at the University of Arizona in
Aquatics, was the Head Coach of the Mission Viejo Diving Club, the Florida State University
Head Diving Coach, NCAA Division I National Championship Judge, and Administrator for the
USA Olympic Diving Team for the 2004 Athens games.

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Identify details of interview/ observation:

I will interview Russ on Tuesday November 11th, 2014 at 9:30am with the pre-observation
questions in Granville, OH in his office. To follow up with the interview with my observation, I
will observe Coach Bertram during practice on Friday, November 12th, 2014 at 4:30pm as they
prepare for competition the following day.
Interview Questions to be posed prior to interview:
a) Name, position, years of experience of person interviewed
Russ Bertram, Denison University Head Mens and Womens Diving Coach, 25 years of
coaching experience ranging from age group athletes to Olympic level athletes.
b) Date, time, length and location of interview
The interview took place on November 11th, 2014 at 9:00 am in the swim coachs offices at
Denison University in Granville, OH. The interview lasted approximately 33 minutes.
c) Describe your background / training / experience in using mental skills.
I was exposed to it initially as an athlete from my coach as graduate assistant while working
at Ohio State. Our head coach would utilize sport psychologist from the university who focused
on imagery and relaxation and had them work with the team. My experience continued and
broadened while I was training full time for the Olympic Games in 1990s. We were taught to use
video with relaxation and guided imagery to improve visualization skills from a consultant group
called Advanced Behavioral Modeling with people who had their PhDs in psychology from
clinical work and dance. Once I retired as an athlete and started to coach full time I started to us
University resources, similarly to his experience to support my athletes in the mental training. I
wanted to know more and researched on my own, read sport psychology books that are out there,
found similar and relevant types for techniques from self-help and sales books. I tried to

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accumulate as much knowledge through many different avenues as possible, I always wanted to
know more and find different methods to go about finding a solution.
d) How prominently are mental factors involved in your work with physical activity participants?
The old adage holds true of diving being 90% mental and 10% physical. It has to be taken
under constant consideration, specifically with diving due to the nature of diving being a fear
based sport. The sport constantly engages the fight and flight human instinct. If you acknowledge
the mental stress that is inherent in diving and learn ways to manage it your ability to improve
physically has the tendency to occur at a high rate
e) What psychological objectives do you have for those with whom you work (e.g., increased
self-esteem, reduced anxiety etc.)?
The main objectives for my athletes are to help them manage self-talk, emotion, and fear
through the simplest and most effect exercises. The goal being creating a routine that gives them
a sense of comfort, familiarity, confidence in the face of anxiety and fear of physical injury. I
want to help them harness the ability to know they can do it and repeat their desired performance
of a dive. After I have them watch their performance repeatedly in a controlled and calm
environment, I work in hopes to help them reproduce the calm state in an actual live competition.
f) How do you address issues related to motivation with those with whom you work? How do
you create an environment where motivation can thrive? Explain.
The motivation of my athletes comes from them seeing and feeling like I believe in them and
where they can take their talents. I try to see them at their pinnacle and help them to believe that
they are capable of reaching that level. I deal with motivation on an individual basis. It helps to
build them up and have them try to get out of their own way to see a clear vision of the final
goal. Sometimes it does take a little of rattling the athletes state of mind to spark them and find
out what is holding them back. I use a lot of positive feedback, even out of the most challenging
or difficult situation, I see the good and help relay that to them. I also support their vision and

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they really foster a lot on their own through competitiveness amongst themselves at the same
time. They want to see each other nail each dive and get the highest possible scores possible.
g) What are the major psychological problems you encounter in working with physical activity
participants? How do you address these issues?
The major factors are the inherent reality of physical injury and felling out of control while
flying through the air. The athletes also have the tendency to check out from the moment they
begin a dive until it is over, similar to a trance like state. In training this can be tough to make
fine motor skill corrections, tone, speed, and I have them work on changing their approach from
the start can help take them out of the mindless process and into a different feel or tone then
doing what the body is safe doing, the uncorrected.
h) How do you use mental skills to regulate your own coaching behavior? Please explain or
provide an example.
When it comes to working on my own behavior, I try to be conscious of how I feel that day
prior to the start of each practice. I do a self-examination to see if I am tired, stressed, thinking of
other things and then being conscious of how to best utilize or control before. To help set myself
up for a great work out I tend to use deep breathing and count back to 10 to help relax and focus
prior to working with team. Some days I have a lot of energy and really try to the channel that
towards the athletes.

Observation questions:
a) Describe the atmosphere that the coach creates in his / her practice session (e.g., is it aversive /
positive; do athletes work toward rewards or work to avoid punishment? etc.). What tactics does
the coach use to create an atmosphere where motivation can thrive? Compared to the coach that
you observed, describe what might you do similarly or differently in your own coaching practice
to create the atmosphere that you desire in your practice?

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In my observations Coach Bertram set up a positive, competitive, and educational

practice environment. He allowed the divers to play their own music choice, dance around, and
have fun. It seemed to be a relaxed setting, but you could see the focus of each diver once they
got onto the board. During practice he spend the practice standing alongside the diving well
giving back in depth feedback on each divers dive. Normally this involves praise, joking around,
and sometimes more direct when he wanted them to get more serious. I like his use of keeping
things light and letting the athletes choose the music, makes them feel more relaxed in their own
environment. I like his use of such detailed technique for each person on each dive; it gives each
person a very personable attention during practice. However it would be impractical if I were to
do that for each of my swimmers, on average I work with 30 during practice he is working with.
b) How does the coach integrate mental skills into his / her practices? Describe the mental skills
that you observed the coach trying to integrate. What mental skills were not addressed that could
have been utilized? Compared to the coach that you observed, describe what might you do
similarly or differently in your own coaching practice to achieve the psychological objectives
that you have as a coach?
Coach Bertram uses mental and physical routine prior to each dive. He talked to them once
they got on the board and walked them through their thoughts as they started their hurdle. He has
them approach each practice dive like it was the real thing. Additionally, Coach Bertram used
imagery, watching their best ever tapes, to then help them visualize themselves doing the time
and not trying to make it up. At times I noticed Coach Bertram say something along the lines of,
just do it when it came to a difficult dive. There is a large fear aspect of diving, lots of flips and
twists, so I could see addressing that fear and helping them when it comes to the challenging
dives. We have not used best ever tapes to help the fully see their swimming, but something we
are looking into doing. To have our swimmers see themselves swim the race ever before they do

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it would be great. There is not the same amount of fear when it comes to swimming, but at the
same time there is fear of the other competitors and getting up and competing in the race.
c) How does the coach use mental skills to regulate his / her own behavior? Compared to the coach
that you observed, describe what might you do similarly or differently in your coaching practice
to use mental skills to regulate your own coaching behavior?
Prior to practice, Coach Bertram took time to relax and ease his mind before walking out on
deck. He took 5 or so minutes of relaxation to prepare himself to work with the athletes and then
right before he walked out on deck, he took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. However, during
work out, I did notice him display some anxiety as he worked with the athletes. Personally, I
think it is a great idea to take a few moments prior to the start of practice. Too many times I feel
rushed and flustered when I walk out on the pool deck and it sometimes carries over to my
interactions with the athletes. In moving forward, I want to start to prepare myself for practice in
leaving office work and other outside emotion out of practice. Take a few minutes, relax, control
my breathing, and mentally focus in on the practice ahead.
d) Based upon some of the research that has been done regarding coaches use of PST skills
(Thelwell, Weston, Greenlees, & Hutchings, 2008), discuss what PST skills you have used that
have worked well, what did not work as well, and what you would do differently next time to
use, acquire and improve your own mental skill use as a coach / teacher.
When it comes to PST skills that I have personally used, I have seen success in relaxation
exercises with breathing, relaxation scripts, imagery, self-talk, and goal setting. I have been able
to work with athletes on how to relax prior to competition with talking themselves through a
small script and controlling their breathing. I also have seen some success with working with
athletes to help see themselves doing the race strategy and technique. I use video from film
sessions and races to give them feedback and show them how they can execute when race time
approaches. When it comes to self- talk, we are sure to encourage our athletes to think positively

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and not allow negative thoughts in their mind. We encourage them to talk with each other and the
coaches if need be. With goal setting we have taken the teams goals and have the focus on the
process of a larger goal and have seen them dial in more each day. However, it does not always
go as planned. I still am working with some athletes who doubt their talent with pour self-talk.
Additionally, it has taken some time to get to a more task oriented goal setting after having pour
success with the team focusing on big goals, like winning a national title. When it comes to next
time, I plan to focus on the small detailed aspects of each individual and my own growth. This
class has taught me a lot and I am eager to continue to find out more and try new techniques that
I stumble upon in research and in passing with other coaches.
Summary:
Interview Summary:
Coach Bertram has a very rich knowledge base and has been luck to learn from some of the best
coaches of his time in his sport. Not only did he have great resources while he was a graduate
assistant, but while competing at the national level he had amazing tools readily available. Coach
Bertram proceeded to see the strength and necessity of the psychological side of diving and
always wanted to know more. He truly is a lifelong learner in being able to take his training
methods for his athletes to the highest possible level using many different facets of life. So much
of his coaching philosophy and style relates to taping into an athletes mind and natural course of
action and finds a way to use it as strength. He takes human tendencies that normally are flaws in
the sport and taps them into being used to make his divers successful. Daniel (2013) quotes his
former assistant coach, Beasey Hendrix, saying wise coaches learn about the unknown and use
it to their benefit. Coach Bertram makes them uncomfortable to then be comfortable later on
with their dives then being second nature. He helps them to use their mind, to help relax, and
have the divers visualize the dive. He uses the sense of sound to help recall the visualization of

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the dive during competition, allowing the diver to see themselves preforming the perfect dive
before they step up on the board.
Observation Summary:
During my time watching Coach Bertram, I was able to see not only how he helped to prepare
his divers for competition with video and music, but was also able to see how he prepared
himself to coach and set up an environment for practice. I think his use of video is really backed
by the science of the body and allows the divers to practice their full competition ever before it
happens in person, so when the time comes they are able to execute at a high level. Williams
(2010) addresses the use of functional equivalence explanation, Using ones imagination to
simulate a movement recruits the same parts and sequences in the brain as the actual physical
execution of the movement (p.276). He has them training themselves away from the pool
mentally, but it is triggering the athletes mind in the same way as they would be if they were
doing the dive. It is allowing them to mentally train the best dive they can perform and in turn
training their brain physically. One of the observations I also noticed was his emotion and
passion for diving. I was able to see such a great knowledge and love for the sport he coaches,
however I saw frustration at times when the divers were not training to his expectation. Not
everyone can be on all the time, but it seemed like there could have been other choices of
feedback. While he still gave some positive enforcement, the leaning into an athlete could take
the practice in a good or bad direction depending on the individual. I think some instantaneous
tools of focus and relaxation for Coach Bertram could be helpful to him in his coaching and to
help him work with the athletes even if life outside is challenging.
Conclusion/ Reflection
I think this was an amazing experience, not only to see another coach in action, but to
understand why we are coaching the way we coach and how we can adapt in the future. I have

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learned that as a swim coach I need to start to use more visualization with our team, especially
when it comes to videos of the athletes preforming technique and races. It was helpful to see how
Coach Bertram set up his practice and gave feedback. Before this experience, I would run walk
out onto the pool deck after doing a million things in the office and often flustered. After this
experience I have realized I need to take some time prior to practice and focus myself to be able
to give the team the best practice possible. When it comes to having the athletes listen to music
before competing, I hope my athletes who want to will take advantage of it. Ferrer et al. (2014)
discovered that the used of music in a college setting helped reduce the stress level of the
students. If music can reduce the level of stress and we want our athletes to be relaxed prior to
competition, I want them to listen to music if they desire. When it comes to preparations for
competition, I plan on learning from Coach Bertrams approach to working routine into practice
so that it easily carries over to competition. Hendrix (2004) discusses the advantages of creating
a routine with simple steps, which allows an athlete to focus in and relax, use it over and over
again, and allow it to become a place of comfort to channel in during competition. Coach
Bertram creates these video and auditory routines to help the divers be focused and dialed in
during competition. I hope to do the same with my swimmers. I want them to be able to step up
to the blocks before their race, seem themselves racing the race, calm, and ready to execute.

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References
Daniel, D. W. (2013). Developing wrestling champions: The total program approach.
Bloomington, IN: Author House
The book looks at all avenues of being the best possible wrestler from physical technique to
mental aspect and beyond. A whole chapter is spent on the importance of the minds
preparation for athletes and how important it can be in reaching the an athletes highest
potential. The mental side of athletes include simulations in training, controlling stress,
relaxation, positive self-talk, and how to focus.
Ferrer, E., Lew, P., Jung, S. M., Janeke, E., Garcia, M., Peng, C., . . . Tam, C.F. (2014). Playing
music to relieve stress in a college classroom environment. College Student Journal, 48(3),
481-494.
The study takes a look at the effects of music being played in a college classroom setting and
the continued affects it has on the students stress during the entirety of there college
experience. The research was able to find that the use of music in the classroom significantly
reduced stress levels of student. It proved that music, whether chosen by the instructor or
students, did decrease the stress of the students, proving that music can help them relax.
Hendrix, B. (2004). Rituals for preparation. TTNL Sports Network.
Retrieved from: http://ttnl.org/printersafe.aspx?mc=169
The article takes a look into the use of rituals for wrestlers in specific, but can be applied to
all athletes. The author discusses the steps to create a ritual and why it is helpful to have

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when it comes time for competition. It gets to the point of how an athlete can be ready and
relaxed come the time to compete with the use of rituals.
Williams, J. (2010). Applied sport psychology: personal growth to peak performance. New York:
McGraw-Hill
The text is a complete psychological analysis of the world of sports. It includes the
discussion of relaxation and the use of imagery in the realm of sports. They discuss the use of
training tools to help aid an athlete and why particular training tools and methods work.
Specifically, with visualization and how it is able to enhance an athletes performance with
proper training.