A brand new concept to me that I have learnt very recently has been Mental Visualisation. Combined with muscle memory will improve your riding beyond all expectations.
Mental Visualisation isn't new; it has been used in other sports to improve performance and results. Olympic weight lifters use this technique a lot to great success.
So how do you put it into practice for riding a motor bike? The first thing you have to decide is what do you want to get from mental visualisation, is it to learn a new race track, change a bad habit or control an aggression issue. It has many uses and depends very much on what you want to get from it.
The first step to mental visualisation is finding somewhere quiet where you are not going to be disturbed. Tell family and friends around you what you are going to be doing and if needs be put a sign up, "Do Not Disturb" and set aside the time you need to complete your task or goal.
There are a number of ways to use mental visualisation, the first one is from a position of riding the bike, as if you are sat behind the screen on the bike and the other is to view yourself from above, very similar to being filmed by a helicopter.
It's important not to push the images or rush them. It can take some time to get right so don't give up after your first few attempts. It will come with practise and perseverance; it's a bit like trying to get your knee down or your first wheelie, try and try again.
Once you have settled down and turned all other distractions off, pick a route in your mind that you know very well. Start your ride from the very beginning, the best place to start is opening the garage door and taking the white and gray blanket off and wheeling her out into the sunshine. Check her over for any loose parts, drips and a final check of the chain and a squirt of WD 40 before starting her up. While the engine is warming up put your helmet and gloves on and a final check to make sure you have your licence, insurance, contact details and emergency money in a water proof pouch.
You need to get in the zone and it will feel very strange to start with, at first it might not work, as I said earlier. You may be trying to hard or you are allowing other thoughts to enter your mind. Try to concentrate in the same manner you would if you were out on the bike, there's very little difference.
If you are trying to learn a new track for an up and coming track day, do your home work and have a mental image of the track. The information you need is readily available on the net and you can get everything from the correct line and speed for a corner to what gear you need to be in. Armed with all this information it is possible to put a lap together in your mind and using mental visualisation you will develop the correct pathways to allow muscle memory to aid each lap.
One of the biggest failures of all riders is the ability to put yourself down. Negative words breed negativity. Don't get into the habit of saying "I wasn't fast enough" or "I couldn't get the corner right". It's a bit like weight lifting, if you tell yourself that you can't lift that weight, you're not going to because you have already sown the seed of doubt.
Eradicate the following words from your mind "didn't, can't, shouldn't, and impossible." They all breed negativity and don't help you reach your goal. Negative thinking is very non productive and will only hold you back.
It's out of the question to correct something you haven't done. You should always analyse your riding, what you did, not what you didn't do. Observe what you are doing when you do it, if it doesn't work then you can change it. Likewise if it does, making a mental note of it will allow you to do it again and again and improve on it.
Analysing your riding will allow you to break down each part of your ride. It's important to understand why and when things should be done from changing gear to changing direction and picking your breaking points or release points. If you're learning to use two finger breaking and throttle at the same time you must analyse each movement to identify where you are going wrong and indeed to remember what you are doing right. Combined with Mental Visualisation it is very possible to change the way you ride, improve your lap times and become a much safer rider on the road.
