At the professional level, athletes search for every conceivable way to create a margin of performance improvement. Cutting edge equipment, advanced training strategies, and even computer and video technology are being used to help athletes improve. So much attention gets spent on the physical side of performance, but what about the mental aspect of sport? More and more athletes are turning to hypnosis to raise their game to the next level.
Kevin came to me in the spring of last year and asked if I could help him improve as a baseball player. He was playing on a highly competitive AAU team and had aspirations of eventually getting a college scholarship to play baseball at a Division I school. He had all the physical tools. At 15 he looked more like an 18 year-old.
In addition to his AAU play, Kevin also played varsity baseball for his high school, the only freshman to do so, and he was playing short-stop to boot, one of the most athletic positions on the field. But Kevin had begun to commit errors on a more frequent basis. Before the trouble started he would commit one error every two or three games. Now he was committing one or two errors in each game. His difficulties in the field were creating so much stress for him that he was also struggling at the plate. His batting average had dipped considerably since the errors in the field increased.
"Kevin" isn't actually one person, but three different boys who have come to me for athletic enhancement by hypnosis. Their stories were all remarkably similar. In each case, after just one session of hypnosis, they saw dramatic improvement in their performance. Two of the three boys hit their first homeruns ever within two games of visiting me, and all three boys reduced their fielding errors dramatically. How does hypnosis help this happen?
In my opinion it's all about efficiency. Successful athletes are, of course, tremendously physically gifted, but the most successful athletes are those that allow their minds to operate efficiently and get the most out of their bodies. Mental tension and anxiety have a corresponding physical tension, and that tension inhibits the body's ability to move gracefully. It's a subtle difference that most spectators wouldn't notice, but the athlete can feel that something isn't right.
Hypnosis helps athletes learn how to quiet the mind and make it a clear, focused space so that they can be fully present in the moment of performance. When this state occurs, it is what has commonly become known as "being in the zone." The processing efficiency of the brain is so improved that time slows down for the athlete. They describe everything as moving slower, being more clear, more easy to read and react to. There are no negative thoughts, no doubt, no thought at all, really. Everything just happens.
For athletes who compete in individual sports, like running, swimming, etc., there is usually the additional component of mental toughness during a period of endurance. The athlete must remain focused and be able to not get distracted by the physical discomfort of the sports activity. The most recent example of this is cyclist Levi Leipheimer, who was struggling to get to the next level of professional cycling until he started using a hypnosis program. Since using the program Leipheimer has won the Tour of California twice, came in third in the 2007 Tour de France, and won a bronze medal in the time trial event at the Beijing Olympics.
Professional athletes aren't the only ones who can benefit from hypnosis. As I mentioned earlier, I've helped several teenage baseball players improve their performance. In a time when young people can be tempted to turn to performance enhancing drugs as a quick fix, it would be great to see more coaches at the high school level use simple hypnotic techniques to help their young athletes improve focus and attention. The use of such techniques could make a lasting impression on such young people, helping them understand that they are their own best resource for success.
Comments