Sports Hypnosis : Get Into The Zone

Golf – Swimming – Basketball – Football – Hockey – Baseball – Martial Arts - Etc…

One phrase I hear a lot from parents of sophomore, junior, senior high school athletes is “my athlete just burnt out” Why? They love the sport. They love competition. What happened?

Competitive sports have now become more of a “job” than “fun”. There are more pressure and stress associated that the sport is no longer “fun”. Kids feel the pressure from parents – from coaches – and from within. No child wants to disappoint his/her authority figure. This can create a lot of pressure because the child feels the need to “live up” to the expectations, to the reasons of “why” they stand out from other kids.

Where ON TOP of the sport performance pressure in school – maintaining their grades and academic performance to “stay on the team” or “meet the school recruitment policy”

Then the problem occurs – the inability of the athlete to deal with the pressure and stress in their life. “Getting Into The Zone” is the mental perception of the game. When competing – apart from ability and skills – there is the mental aspect that needs to be addressed.

The use of sports hypnosis to enhance sports performance has been implemented over the past decades. Athletes of all ages recognize that apart from physical training, mental training is needed for their “quest to success” or “quest for excellence”.

Empowerment & Benefits

Sports hypnosis benefits athletes in a number of ways:

Maximize the benefits of relaxation – for muscles to get stronger, they MUST rest. If the muscle is overworked, it simply gets weaker. Fight or flight?
Controlling the feeling of anxiousness – before the start of each game, the apprehension, the adrenaline rush, and then they burn out when the adrenaline fades away halfway through the game
Dealing with pain management – pain is not just physical pain that the athlete feels when hurt during a game. There is also the mental pain – guilt, shame, helplessness, self-punishment, anger, embarrassment.
Enhance imagery – to better “see” themselves in top form in their game, knowing their element, boosting their confidence
Improve concentration – not falling prey to their inner critical voice or discouraging comments they hear during the game
Erasing a performance block – getting over a mistake that they made that deeply cost them or their team, viewing the mental block with a different positive perspective in order to let go and move forward
Injury rehabilitation – as an adjunct to a medical healing condition, combining mental support helps to accelerate the healing process and bounce back sooner.
Ego strengthening – assisting the athlete to convert the inner critical voice to their best Number One fan and supporter

Method Applied

Integral Hypnotherapy Methodology will be used where the athlete is an active participant within each session. Working together – suggestions will be drawn up and mental imagery derived to create or re-create the experiences, feelings, beliefs that our athletes unconsciously stored in their minds. These would be the “mental movies” that they will watch while in hypnosis, for it is only through feelings and imagery that is the language one's subconscious recognizes and understand. Through structured imagery, athletes of all sports have more control over their imagination. The more mental control they have of their thoughts and emotions - the better their performance. The better they can “let go” of disturbing thoughts and beliefs – the better their performance.

How Does It Work

Imagine yourself performing any sports skills. This causes electromyographical activity in the musculature resembling that which would occur during the physical execution of the skill. This means that your body would know “how” to perform. This is where body-mind come into play. The mind knows “how” the body must follow. Daily practice of the sport enables the body to familiarize itself with the “how” that the mind sees. Both physical coach and mental coach must work together to achieve the best outcome for the athlete.

Why Sports Hypnosis

Sports hypnosis is the mental coach. Though deep relaxation (hypnosis) you are able to overcome any mental blocks – mistakes, criticism, self-limitation, inner critique – and build positive expectations to help you develop habits of performance, excellence, skills at a deep subconscious level.

Session Information

Initial consultation to answer any questions or concerns you might have (15 min – free)
Session: each session averages between 45-90 minutes
Minor athletes: Parent/Legal Guardian are encouraged to stay during sessions should your athlete agree, else parents are asked to wait in the reception room.