{"id":559,"date":"2026-09-22T12:06:45","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T10:06:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sportpsychologycenter.com\/?p=559"},"modified":"2026-09-22T12:06:48","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T10:06:48","slug":"visualizzazione","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sportpsychologycenter.com\/en\/2026\/09\/22\/visualizzazione\/","title":{"rendered":"Visualization and mental activation: what we can learn from Weghorst and Mart\u00edn"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two viral gestures that became a target of jokes are actually a good starting point for talking about two real sport-psychology tools: imagery and pre-competition neurocognitive activation.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Visualizzazione
Visualization and Mental Activation. Learn to use these techniques to make the most of cognitive potential.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Edited by Fabio Zarra<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two episodes, worlds apart in sport and continent, ended up in the same social-media pot in the past week. Wout Weghorst, Twente striker, is filmed moving his fingers scissor-style and clapping his hands before the second half of an Eredivisie match: the internet mocks him, then he scores. Jorge Mart\u00edn, MotoGP world champion, is instead shown in some pre-race videos seemingly mentally rehearsing the track: some try to explain it, others misread it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neither Weghorst nor Mart\u00edn has publicly explained these gestures. We therefore don't know whether they are actually practising the techniques described in this article, in what form, or with what degree of awareness. But the two episodes are an excellent opportunity to explain what these tools are, how they work, and why so many elite athletes \u2014 these ones genuinely documented \u2014 actually use them: mental visualization (imagery)<\/strong> and pre-competition activation and regulation techniques<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IN BRIEF<\/strong> The two episodes are a starting point, not proof<\/strong>: neither athlete has, at the time of writing, given a detailed explanation of his gestures. Imagery works<\/strong>: a meta-analysis of dozens of studies finds a medium effect (d = 0.43) on performance, motivational and emotional outcomes (Simonsmeier et al., 2021). Pre-performance routines help under pressure<\/strong>: moderate-to-large effects under experimental conditions (Rupprecht, Tran & Gr\u00f6pel, 2024). Even targeted activation of one side of the body shows promising results<\/strong>, although this remains a still-young line of research (Beckmann, Gr\u00f6pel & Ehrlenspiel, 2013). These are trainable skills<\/strong>, not innate gifts: they're learned through practice, like a technical fundamental.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Two episodes, one working hypothesis<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In Enschede, Weghorst is the first to come back out of the dressing room and, before his teammates return to the pitch, moves his fingers from two to three and claps his hands several times. The clip, filmed by ESPN Netherlands, goes viral: sarcasm dominates the comments. Then Weghorst equalises in the 79th minute and Twente complete the comeback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a different setting, some videos show Jorge Mart\u00edn, before a race, with his eyes closed and small hand movements: an official 2024 MotoGP piece described them with the term \u201cvisualising\u201d. Here too, there's no interview in which the rider goes into detail about what he's doing or why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We take these two episodes as a narrative starting point<\/strong>, not as clinical cases to be certified: we are not attributing to Weghorst or Mart\u00edn a precise technique, protocol or outcome. We use them to explain what research says about what they might<\/em> be: mental training through imagination and regulation of psychophysiological activation before performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imagery: training the mind to make the move before the body does<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Imagery<\/strong> (or mental visualization) is the ability to mentally recreate an experience \u2014 a technical action, a race, a bodily sensation \u2014 without the real stimulus being present. It isn't generic imagination: in sports practice it's a structured exercise, involving multiple sensory channels (visual, kinesthetic, auditory) and trained with the same seriousness as a physical fundamental.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It's neither new nor a fad. Michael Jordan, before every free throw, always repeated the same physical and mental sequence; Tiger Woods, before a shot, positions himself behind the ball and visualizes the trajectory he wants to give it, even before approaching it (Rupprecht, Tran & Gr\u00f6pel, 2024). These are well-known examples, not isolated anecdotes: visualization is one of the psychological skills most taught in elite athletes' mental preparation programmes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What the data say<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A meta-analysis that reviewed the available studies on imagery in sport reports a medium effect, d = 0.43, on motor performance and on motivational and emotional outcomes (Simonsmeier et al., 2021). An interesting finding for coaches: imagery combined with physical practice proves more effective than physical practice alone. In other words, visualizing doesn't replace training on the field, it enhances it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How it's trained (it isn't memorized, it's practised)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n