Sports Hypnosis

Sports performance enhancement is real easy with what we like to call sports hypnosis. Without any doubt, it is the mind that holds the determining factors over just about all of our performances and behavior, and so it is in mastering the mind, that an athlete has the greatest chance of performing at their personal best. Sports hypnosis has been used to enhance sports performance for many decades, and a great deal of positive research developments have been printed since J.H. Schultz's book "Das Autogene Training" (1932). Today, sports hypnosis training is widely used amongst Olympic athletes, and just about every top professional player in every field of sports performance.

Primarily, there are two areas of which sports hypnosis is used in the area of sports performance enhancement:
The first, is in the control of arousal level. No matter what the motivation, one's arousal level always affects sports performance, and measures must be taken for athletes to attain, and maintain an optimum level of mind, free of distractions and fears to perform with excellence. It is a well known fact that by eliminating the psychological factors which inhibit an athlete, one's physical performance improves.

Secondly, the facilitation of one's neuromotor pathways is most important. A common theme behind the facilitation of neuromotor pathways is that of mental rehearsals using visual imagery techniques. Here again, science has shown us that the simple thought of any type of movement actually sends minute, but measurable electrical signals to the parts of the body which would be used to perform the movement, so in essence, mental practice is very similar to that of the actual physical practice. The primary advantage of using sports hypnosis is that one can get the same kind of physical imprinting from a movement done mentally, as he or she can, by actually going through the physical movements, but in a much faster time span and without the dangers associated with the physical movements.

Personally I have been using sports hypnosis for my own sports performance enhancement for many years with great success. I have used it myself for incredible gains with body building, on areas which seemed difficult to develop, as well as for growth and overall body symmetry. The greatest extent of my personal training with sports hypnosis has been in the realm of martial arts training, and in particular with that of Muay Thai Boxing (see King of the Ring). I often use sports hypnosis with fighters during fight preparations for everything from alleviating nervousness, through increasing aggression, and stamina, and the development of one's least dominant side which is very important to most sports professionals. You can have a look at many of my different hypnosis programs on my sports hypnosis products page. Can you imagine if a fighter lost the use of his only good arm or leg, the end result would be tragic, and what use would a professional baseball player be if he went up to bat, only able to swing against a right handed pitcher.

Another area of great importance as mentioned above is that of increasing one's stamina. The first time I attempted the use of sports hypnosis with a runner, the gains were incredible. The very first session I had with my first runner, helped the man shave a minute and a half off his best time on a five kilometer run. Personally I thought this was incredible, and far exceeded my own expectations.

Due to the individuality of every athlete and uniqueness of their sport, it is strongly suggested that hypnotic training's be designed to meet the individual's needs. Some of the overall strategies which are often incorporated include:

a) The enhancement of sensory awareness and muscle control,

b) Increasing concentration, controlling internal dialogue, and decreasing the awareness of distracting external stimuli,

c) Controlling anxiety, anger and other emotions,

d) The enhancement of motivation, and enthusiasm,

e) Increasing energy, endurance, and power,

f) The enhancement of performance skills,

g) Increasing self-esteem, and confidence,

h) Controlling one's perception of time, and focusing on the present experience commonly known as time distortion,

i) The resolution of conflicts and unconscious blocks, such as the fear of success,

j) Managing discomforts,

k) Increasing self-confidence, and pride,

l) Overcome training plateaus,

m) Creating, and maintaining a very positive state of mind,

n) Develop enthusiasm for a "least favorite" body part, and

o) Safe yet rapid recuperation, to name a few.

The above list is only a small portion of what can be done to enhance one's abilities with the use of sports hypnosis techniques, so for those interested in achieving their optimum sports performance, please do inquire about what can be done for you, and I will promptly get to work designing your own personal hypnotic training program to help bring out the real champion in you. And for athletes that might be looking for some weight maintenance or weight loss tips have a look at our Weight Loss and Maintenance page, there are lots of great tips to help keep that body of your in top shape, and to help get it there if you still happen to be working on it.

Some of the many great athletes which have incorporated sports hypnosis as a regular part of their training regime include that of Nigel Benn (WBC champion fighter 1995), Steve Collins (WBO super middleweight champion 1995. His T-shirt read "Powerful thoughts make powerful people". Another well known figure that used hypnosis to achieve his stardom is that of Sylvester Stallone, who used it in the development of his debut "Rocky" ("While shooting on location in Philadelphia, I was scared to death", Stallone wrote in his Rocky scrapbook, "every day I would lie down and listen to the subconscious motivation tape made for me in Los Angeles"), and then again to continuously further his career.

Another famous advocate of sports hypnosis training is that of Jack Nicklaus, who states that his success is entirely owed to practicing concentration and visualization. Nicklaus states that his golf game is only ten percent involved with the actual swing. Hitting specific shots, say Nicklaus, is fifty percent mental pictures and forty percent set-up. His hypnotic technique - First, he tunes out the world, gets into a state of concentration; then, he does a mental movie of the entire shot in his head, sharp, and in focus, with plenty of zooms in and out. "I never hit a shot even in practice without this color movie," he says.

So sports hypnosis can play a major role in helping the sports-person prepare themselves mentally, and that preparation will typically include a whole package of approaches, naturally tailored to the sports-persons requirements along with the level of fitness desired, and will nearly always include methods designed to:
Overcome self-doubt, mental rehearsal, positive visualization, encourage rapid healing from any injury, increase confidence, increase motivation, perspective changes, develop single mindedness, increased concentration and focus, eliminate negativity, promote positive expectation, reduce performance anxiety, increase self belief, etc, all with sports hypnosis! so do have a look in our Sports Hypnosis products page, and if what you are looking for isn't yet listed, please do enquire, I have much more readily available, or we can create something special just for you.

Contact me at raqtraining@yahoo.com or visit www.raqtraining.net/articles for more information