The athlete relaxes, visualizes a scene down to the minutest detail, and permits the stress reaction to build. While still in the scene, the athlete relaxes through the deep breath or centered breathing. Self-regulation means recognizing the level of body activation needed for peak performance. The athlete should use the logs to identify the optimal arousal level. One way is to measure the heart rate .
Visualization is probably the best known technique.
In addition to enhancing physical performance, visualization can be used to practice all the other psychological skills. In learning to concentrate, an athlete needs anchors. For exanple, a discus thrower who gets distracted might focus his attention by first thoroughly feeling the texture of the discus with his fingertips. Once these psychological skills are learned and strengthened, Suinn says, they need to be incorporated into the overall program of preparing for competition.