 cathal
Author & Speaker Cathal O Briain is a native of Dublin, Ireland, and currently resides at his home and practice in County Kildare. He is a certified Hypnotherapist, Psychotherapist, and Hypno-Analyst.
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With hypnosis, performance preparation can be done in the home as well as on the field. But there’s more to sports psychology than just using guided imagery and relaxation techniques. The overall pyschological well-being of the athlete must also be considered. Family, social life, work and relationships all can work with or against an athlete. So all aspects of living must be addressed in therapy if you wish to gain insight into what is required to reach your true potential.
Many athletes dedicate a lot of time to improving their physical condition without paying enough attention to their mental needs. They often spend hours on end putting their body through rigorous training, without setting aside fifteen minutes a day to strengthen and focus their mind. This is why some find it harder to move into the zone than others. Mental conditioning is what moves you into the zone. But this alteration in perception can only occur when mental interference and distraction have been made practically non-existant. Even if the athlete is surrounded by people and distraction, self-hypnosis can be used to minimize noise, while at the same time increasing focus. The one who uses trance regularly to experience the feeling of being in the zone, can trigger the same response when required, by means of post-hypnotic suggestion, cues, breathing etc.
Trying Too Hard, often Produces Less
Being too effortful is one of the main reasons some athletes can’t improve their game. Many wonder why they can’t go the extra distance and this is often on account of pushing themselves too hard. In an effort to be the best, force can sometimes replace finesse, resulting in an over exertion of energy, when all that maybe required is a smooth delivery. The tennis player may learn that by loosening their grip a little, power in the wrist can increase while it rests. This way energy can be unleashed at the precise moment it’s needed and not a second sooner. This conserving and utilizing of energy is what helps the athlete push harder and go for longer. Getting into the zone via breath, suggestion, and imagination, reduces effort while increasing stamina. Slowing down the speed at which the external environment is being perceived in your mind comes about through concentration and controlled breathing. Breathing slowly while fixing your eyes upon objects in the external environment is what helps move you into the zone. By concentrating your attention for moments of engrossed inner focus, you minimizing distraction in the mind by narrowing mental and sensory attention to one thing only, the point which you are focusing on. Concentrating intently also helps to prevent your senses from becoming too bombarded by distraction. A suitable place to focus on would be where you wish to go, or where you would your like your javelin or snooker ball to end up. The process needed in order to bring about the end result should be visualized in the imagination during this period of intense concentration. When the subconscious is shown repeated images of how the desired result looks and feels, it can then go about making the body carry out all the necessary actions to make these images real.
Self-Confidence, the Vital Necessity
Self-confidence is vital for making sport successful. If you do not believe that you have the ability, then you won’t be able to use that ability, no matter how technically skilled you are. Many athletes have the physical strength and capability to go far in their sport, but lack the self-belief that’s essential for success. Self-belief often beats technical skill, but when the two are combined, the ultimate athlete is created. The problem with confidence, is that when it gets knocked, it is sometimes hard to recover. This is because confidence takes a good while to build up, but can be taken away in seconds. Self-hypnosis is a great confidence builder and can be used daily to instill images of confidence, intensity, motivation and relaxation. To be the best of the best, you must first imagine that you already are and that success has already been achieved. Confidence is what helps you view your opponent as a challenge to be pursued. When you are confident, you do not view competition as difficult. This is because you have many ways to keep your confidence strong, even when faced with tough opposition or physical injury. Emotional control is what helps successful athletes see with clarity.
Intensity, Using it Wisely
In many sports, how the athlete controls their mental and physical levels of intensity is crucial in learning how to optimize performance. Positive intensity results in confidence, motivation, brain and muscular stimulation, strength and endurance. Negative intensity can result from a lack in confidence and motivation, poor brain and muscular stimulation, fatigue, difficulty breathing etc. Intensity ranges from being very calm and relaxed while engaged in sport, to breaking the pain barrier through extreme mental, physical, and environmental conditions. By noticing the times you are short of breath, or when you experience tightness in your muscles, you can identify what is causing over-intensity and make the necessary changes to stop it. Over-intensity has a negative effect upon health and sport, but by learning to control intensity, stamina is accelerated, helping the athlete to break through mental and physical barriers.
The Emotional Athlete
The emotional well-being of the athlete is of paramount importance. Not enough emphasis is placed on the role that emotions play in sport; but in order for you to be on top of your game, you must be in charge of your emotions. In the same way you switch off from your critical conscious mind in hypnosis, so too can you by-pass the distraction of thought and emotion by using hypnosis to get into the zone. Learning to put your emotions aside takes time to master. But a good way to start is by first taking charge of your emotional needs. The more you are in control of your emotions, the less you have to distract yourself from them while performing. The process of removing psychological and emotional barriers involves identifying them, understanding their meaning, and then making the necessary changes to minimize their impact on your sport. Emotions when used productively can improve your game. An example of this would be an athlete winning a competition shortly after hearing his wife has just giving birth. Such a life changing experience would inspire and motivate a person to win, in the same way a death in the family could have the same or opposite effect.
Goal Setting to Enhance Your Game
Setting goals to be achieved in lifestyle, diet, training, competition etc. can be implanted each day in hypnosis. If you are using a coach or sports consultant, they too must understand how the goal-setting process works and how best to apply goals that suit your individual needs. Setting goals not only involves achieving outcomes within your sport. It also includes setting and achieving goals within your personal life. It could be difficult for an athlete to win gold in the olympics if their marraige was in a crisis. This is because life and sport do not work in isolation. It is why goal setting should be always be geared towards achieving harmony both on and off the field.
To Learn More Visit http://www.hypnosis.ie
"Powerful Mind Through Self-Hypnosis" - A Practical Guide to Complete Self-Mastery - By Author Cathal O Briain MICHP -Available on the 28th May, 2010
