Mostly Hurling:The former England rugby captain Martin Johnston was the subject of a recent television documentary. I was encouraged to hear him talk of going to the stadium before a big game to do his mental rehearsal. He spoke a few times about rehearsing games in his mind. It reminded my of how often lately we have heard Padraig Harrington talk of his sports psychologist, a man in whom Padraig seems to have complete faith, writes John Allen.

In Denis Walsh's fine piece on Dónal Óg Cusack in the Sunday Timesrecently, Cusack talks of doing his mental rehearsal before big games.

Walk into any big bookshop and see the number of books on the subject of mind preparation for sport.

Yet in hurling and football we haven't yet embraced sports psychology. There's reluctance in some quarters to even discuss the topic. It's seen as a weakness of some sort to have to resort to such abstractions.

We just don't seen to believe we can train our minds. There's a huge lack of understanding of the subject.

We seem to forget the times when we carefully rehearsed the story we would tell our parents when as 16-year-olds we arrived home at five in the morning, or the story we had ready for teachers when we didn't have homework done, or what we were going to say to sell ourselves in the job interview.

And were we not the stars of the show in the games in the back garden, imagining ourselves scoring the winning goal in Croke Park? We usually rehearsed these to perfection, yet we fail to rehearse for the big sporting occasions we prepare so thoroughly for in every other way.

Surely it makes sense to believe that if we can go some way toward controlling our thinking then we can go some way toward having a better life and achieving our goals.

But there are, of course, some "believers" in our sport and there are teams who use sports psychologists.

Where the mind goes everything else follows. Did not every great invention start as an idea in somebody's mind?

There definitely is a lack of understanding on the topic. There is also a problem specific to the amateurs who play our games - there is not enough time to find out more about, or to practise, mental rehearsal, imagery or visualisation.

"Imagery" is a way of programming your mind and body to consistently perform close to your optimum.

For best results imagery should be practised every day. You should see yourself achieving your goals and successfully executing the skills you are trying to hone.

This technique takes time to perfect. You have to be persistent. But in the long run it will lead to greater concentration and an overall improvement in performance.

Visualising yourself performing well in a game will help to programme you for success, since your subconscious mind does not differentiate between what you see with your mind's eye and what you see with your physical eye. Imagery is a way of creating a new reality.

Terry Orlich has written an excellent book on the subject, In Pursuit Of Excellence.

The preface has a quote from the American writer Gail Sheehy: "If we don't change we don't grow. If we don't grow we are not really living. Growth demands a temporary surrender of security. It may mean giving up familiar but limiting patterns, safe but unrewarding work and values no longer believed in."

Many players now set yearly goals, in the pursuit of which they plan their season. Of course to achieve those long-term goals they have to also set short-term ones. These goals are what make up our week-to-week training plan. Maybe it's now time to add in imagery as well.

Wayne Dyer's book You'll See It When You Believe It encourages us to imagine ourselves achieving. He says we get essentially what we believe in. So if we believe in hard luck and are always satisfied with being runners-up and persist in using the language of losers then that thinking will be borne out in our lives.

But if we believe and see ourselves achieving great things then there is a far greater chance we will succeed.

So, Damien Reale, it's time for you to add this technique to your training over the next fortnight. Remember, you can practise this anywhere. Do it every day. You just need to relax, close your eyes and take yourself into your imagination.

The referee has just blown the final whistle. Suddenly you are surrounded by a forest of jubilant, green-clad supporters. You are being slapped and clapped and pushed into the maelstrom. See yourself making your way through the heaving crowd to the Hogan Stand. Maoir and gardaí usher you to the place of honour. Picture your team-mates hugging and hollering. Hear the sound of the madness out on the field. See yourself shaking Nickey Brennan's hand as you get ready to lay hands on the Liam MacCarthy Cup. See yourself wiping the sweat from your forehead. Look at the miles of smiles that stretch out before you. Listen to Nickey, then lift Liam to the sky and listen to the sounds from the sea of green as it echoes around Croke Park. Then deliver the happiest, most ringing acceptance speech that has ever echoed around the hallowed stadium.

If Limerick play with the same intensity again, Damien, ye might not need any extra help, but it's worth a go anyway.