Sports Hypnosis

Training for the Mind

Companion Manual

Two Day CPD Programme

 Andrew Farquharson
Hypnotherapy Now Training
www.training.hypnotherapy-now.co.uk
training@hypnotherapy-now.co.uk

Andrew Farquharson thanks Sheila Granger, DHP, GHR Reg, and all the various psychologists
and researchers who have directly or indirectly contributed to this manual.

Throughout this manual ‘athlete’ is used to refer to any person partaking in sport, regardless of
what type of sport, professional or amateur.

Copyright Warning

All materials used for the content of the training Entitled “Sports Hypnosis Training for the
Mind’’ are protected by the law of copyright.

No part or parts of the course notes may be reproduced by any mechanical, photographic or
electronic process, or in the form of any Phonographic recording.

Nor may it be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted or otherwise copied for public use,
Including training of any third party, without the written permission of Andrew Farquharson.

Andrew Farquharson will take legal action against any person or persons or organisations in
breach of This copyright statement, no matter how small. There will be no exceptions.
All rights reserved ©
This training manual psychology based. The techniques you will learn are widely recognised
to increase an athlete’s performance however they can equally be used in a clinical setting
with clients with anxiety and depression.

Sport is as much a battle of minds as it is of the body. Witness any elite level sport, and
you’ll uncover how pressure and a lack of mental preparation can have drastic effects on
sport.

Local clubs, amateur or semi-professional, may not have the spotlight shone on it quite as
strongly as elite athletes do, but if teams take their competitive sport seriously, then
athletes will also be subject to the mental strains that can make sport so tough.

In his forward to the book Sporting Body Sporting Mind by John Syer, Sam Adams, Head
track and field coach, University of California at Santa Barbara wrote: … In the world of sport
today we are constantly concerned and confronted with problems and improvements in the
technical areas. We strive to improve physiological performance, develop neuromuscular
co-ordination and understand the principles of physics involved in athletic movement; we
study strategy in team sports, utilise computers to determine tendencies and digitise ultra-
slow motion films to study movement. We have also delved into the other area of mind
body concert.

The psychology of sport is perhaps the real discipline that can make the difference between
participation. It is an area of development with which any athlete, in any sport, must be
vitally concerned.

It is said that sport is 90/95 or even 99% mental, played in the head. Why then 30 years
after Sam Adams wrote that forward the John Syer’s book do most individual athletes,
teams and trainers spend 99% of their time working on the physical aspects of conditioning
and skills training.

Mental training, however, for athletes is gradually becoming more recognised and
acceptable as attitudes towards sports psychology are changing, more and more sports
people are happy to talk about their mental coaching and indeed recognise the need to
develop mental skills that may give them that competitive edge.

There has been a long history of hypnosis and sport: often called different things being at
one with yourself whatever it’s called is the same thing.

The 1978/79 tour of Australia, England cricket captain Mike Brearley consulted a medical
hypnotherapist. In the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, the Russian team took no less than 11
hypnotists. You don’t need to look too far in any sport to find great champions using
hypnotic techniques to improve performance.

Here are a few of the well-known sportspeople have used hypnosis in the past, boxers Frank
Bruno, Steve Collins and Nigel Benn, athlete Iwan Thomas, Olympic diver Greg Louganis,
golfer Tiger Woods, boxer Mohammed Ali, golfer Jack Nicholas, skater Nancy Kerrigan,
tennis champion Billie Jean King, boxers Nigel Benn, Frank Bruno and Ingemar Johansson,
basketball champion Michael Jordan, tennis star Andre Agassi, footballer Andy Cole, golfers
Gaganjeet Bhullar and Ian Woosnam. Many sports teams have used hypnosis to aid their
cause.

Sports hypnosis can help anyone - from the young person new into sport to the elite
athlete.

Sports Hypnosis combines hypnosis with traditional sports psychology to assist with many
common sporting psychological problems. It is particularly effective for building confidence,
overcoming poor past performances, and visualising new or complicated techniques.

What can Sports hypnosis and psychological Interventions help with?

• Confidence Building
• Anxiety Management
• Arousal Control
• Dealing with Self-Talk
• Improving Motivation
• Maintaining Focus
• Competition Preparation
• Improving Mental Toughness
• Performance Enhancement
• Technique Rehearsal
Athletes use all kinds of scientific technology to improve their performance including
equipment, training advances, nutrition and even applied sport psychology which will
usually include focusing and visualisation techniques to improve that game or sport
productivity. Fundamental to our understanding of how Sports people perform, by the way
this is not solely for elite athletes, this is about ordinary people who just want to improve,
are the following:

Locus of Control
The word 'locus' is Latin for 'place', and the word ‘control’ refers to how much control, or
power, you believe you have over events in your life. Locus of control is a concept that was
first developed by clinical psychologist Julian Rotter in the 1960s.

“In brief, internal versus external control refers to the degree to which persons expect that a
reinforcement or an outcome of their behaviour is contingent on their own behaviour or
personal characteristics versus the degree to which persons expect that the reinforcement or
outcome is a function of chance, luck, or fate, is under the control of powerful others, or is
simply unpredictable”
(Rotter, 1990)

Locus of control is a psychological concept that refers to how strongly people believe they
have control over the situations and experiences that affect their lives. In sport, locus of
control typically refers to how athlete perceive the causes of their academic success or
failure in school.

An athlete with an “internal locus of control” generally believe that their success or failure is
a result of the effort and hard work they invest in their sport. Athlete with an “external
locus of control” generally believe that their successes or failures result from external
factors beyond their control, such as luck, fate, circumstance, injustice, bias. For example,
athlete with an internal locus of control might blame poor performance on their failure to
train properly and will put more effort in next time, whereas an athlete with an external
locus of control may blame the weather, the grass being too long or that other people are
better than them.

Whether an athlete has an internal or external locus of control has a powerful effect on
sporting motivation, persistence, and achievement in sport. In sport, “internals” are
considered more likely to work hard to learn, progress, and succeed, while “externals” are
more likely to believe that working hard, learning new skills, etc. is “pointless” because no
matter what they do. An athlete with an external locus of control may also believe that their
accomplishments are down to luck, etc. or their effort will not result in success.
Locus of control is not ‘real’, it does however have a real effect on people’s lives. It is just a
belief. A belief is just the way we think about things. We tend to believe two things about
our thoughts.

1. Our thoughts are true

2. Our thoughts are real

Neither is the case, they are just our thoughts. Thoughts can be changed!
Locus of Control

People who base their success on their own work and believe they control their life have an internal
locus of control. In contrast, people who attribute their success or failure to outside influences have an
external locus of control.

How would you describe locus of control to a client?

Research:
Long term Effects of a Control-Relevant Intervention With the Institutionalised Aged: Rodin, J, and Langer,E.J. (1977)

Locus of Control at age 10 years and healthy outcomes and behaviours at age 30 years: 1970 British Cohort Study: gale,C.R.,
Batty, G.D. & Deary, I.J. (2008)

Role of goal orientation, ability, need for achievement, and locus of control in the self-efficacy and goal--setting process.
Phillips, J. M., & Gully, S. M. (1997). Journal of Applied Psychology, 82(5), 792-802.

Suggested Activities:

Marbles
Self-esteem

Many athletes wrongly determine their self-worth by how successful they feel about their
sport. When an athlete performs well or feels successful, they can feel good about him or
herself. However, the opposite is also true: despair and low self-esteem results when this
person does not perform well or view him or herself as a failure.

Athletes are especially vulnerable to this problem of attaching self-esteem to one's

performances because you are judged by how well you perform. If you are perfectionist, it
does not help your self-esteem because you have such high expectations and are always so
critical and hard on yourself. Patrick Cohn, in his 2006 book Self-esteem in the athlete
quotes athlete at one of his seminars: "Even if I felt I had a flawless performance, if I did not
get a good reaction or the reaction I was looking for, I feel like a failure." This shows how
helpless and athlete can feel about their success or failure.

Self-esteem is think about ourselves. It is a judgement on yourself. Like locus of control, self-
esteem is not ‘real’, it does however have a real effect on people’s lives.
Self-esteem

Self esteem is defined by the degree worth and competence that we attribute to ourselves.

How would you describe self-esteem to a client?

Research:
Sources and Levels of Stress in Relation to Locus of Control and Self-esteem in University Students: Abouserie, R (1994)

Positive Emotions in Early Life and Longevity: Danner, D.D., Snowdon, D.A. And Frisen, W.V.

Suggested Activities:

Marbles

What other activities can you think of to help increase self-esteem?

Anxiety

Some anxiety in sport is essential but when anxiety becomes excessive it will become
detrimental not only to sporting performance but also in life in general.

The medical definition of anxiety describes it is a state consisting of psychological and

physical symptoms brought about by a sense of apprehension of a perceived threat. It also
goes on to state that anxiety can differ according to the situation and the individual. Applied
to the sporting arena this means that a golfer for example may experience more anxiety
playing in a national tournament compared to a club competition. At the same time a club
competition may draw the same nerves in another individual.

Psychologists generally differentiate between two types of anxiety. Trait anxiety relates to
an aspect of personality in which nervousness is a stable personality trait in an individual.
State anxiety on the other hand refers to temporary feelings of anxiety in a particular
situation.

Anxiety is basically the fear of judgement, the fear of failure. What will other people think.

Anxiety about being judged is linked to locus of control and self-esteem. When you believe
that you are ‘not good enough’ or if you don’t think much of yourself, then what others
think becomes overly important.

According to Kremer and Moran (2008) one reason why we tend to get anxious before
competition could be related the pressure of being observed. Spectators of any sport are
constantly evaluating the skills of the athletes they are watching and this can be extremely
daunting to those who are not trained to deal effectively with this pressure. Not wanting to
fail can heap more strain on a player when as they become more aware of being observed
and so the stress continues to grow.

Basically, anxiety is just the way we think. Thoughts can be changed!

 Anxiety

It is important to realise that YOU create any feelings of anxiety or worry about others judging you. Other
people don’t make you feel bad or anxious. It is all about your thinking and how you choose to respond.

How would you explain anxiety to a client?

Research:
Parental Psychopathology, Parenting styles, and the risk of social phobia in offspring…..: Lieb, Ret al. (2000)

Reaction Time to Threat Stimuli in Panic Disorder and Social Phobia: Cloitre, M.; Heimberg, R.; Holtz, C. and Liebowitz, M. (1992)

Suggested Activities:

Challenge any anxiety

Marbles

What other activities can you think of?

Coué’s Law

The Law of Reversed Effect states; “The greater the conscious effort, the less the
subconscious response” or understood another way “Whenever the will (conscious mind)
and imagination (subconscious) are in conflict, the imagination (subconscious) always wins.”

The principle of reversed effort primarily applies to making suggestions to produce

physiological effects. This ‘law’ refers to the fact that the harder you consciously endeavour
to do something, the more difficult it becomes to succeed.

Have you ever tried to not think about something?

For example, try now to not think about a pink elephant. What’s in your mind right now? If
you’re like most, it’s a big pink elephant, while you’re struggling with all you might to
imagine it away.

This is a simple, classic yet powerful demonstration of the law of reversed effort. When we
try not to focus on something, our minds can’t do it. This is because the subconscious is, in
some ways, not very smart. It does not process negative statements. When you think “I
won’t think about a pink elephant,” it only processes “I think about a pink elephant.”
Coué’s Law

The Law of Reversed Effect

How would you describe Coué’s to a client?

Research:
Self Mastery Through Conscious Autosuggestion: Emile Coué. 1920

Suggested Activities:
Visualisation

Guided imagery, visualization, mental rehearsal or other such techniques can maximise the
efficiency and effectiveness of the athlete. In a world where sports performance and
success is measured in seconds, most athletes will use every possible training technique at
hand. Visualisation is one way to gain perhaps that very slim margin.

Visualisation is the process of creating a mental image or intention of what you want to
happen or feel in reality.

An athlete can use this technique to 'intend' an outcome of a race or training session, or
simply to rest in a relaxed feeling of calm and well-being. By imagining a scene, complete
with images of a previous best performance or a future desired outcome, the athlete is
instructed to simply 'step into' that feeling. While imagining these scenarios, the athlete
should try to imagine the detail and the way it feels to perform in the desired way.

These scenarios can include any of the senses. They can be visual (images and pictures),
kinaesthetic (how the body feels), or auditory (the roar of the crowd). Using the
visualisation, an athlete can call up these images over and over, enhancing the skill through
repetition or rehearsal, similar to physical practice.

With mental rehearsal, minds and bodies become trained to actually perform the skill
imagined.

Research is finding that both physical and psychological reactions in certain situations can
be improved with visualisation.

Such repeated imagery can build both experience and confidence in an athlete's ability to
perform certain skills under pressure, or in a variety of possible situations. The most
effective visualisation techniques result in a very vivid sports experience in which the
athlete has complete control over a successful performance and a belief in this new 'self.'
Visualisation

Visualisation is the formation of mental visual images

How would you describe visualisation to a client?

Research:
The Effects of Visualization & Guided Imagery in Sports Performance: Tracy C. Ekeocha, B.S, Texas State University, 2015

The Influence of Mental Imagery Techniques on Sport Performance among Taekwondo Athletes: Vincent Parnabas,
Julinamary Parnabas, Antoinette Mary Parnabas, Malaysia 2015

Suggested Activities:
Confidence

The world of sport recognises the importance that confidence has upon success.

Muhammad Ali said “To be a great champion you must believe you are the best. If you’re
not, pretend you are.”

Self-confidence and attitude are vital if you want to succeed in sport, as in all works of life.

Vealey, sports psychologist, describes confidence as "the belief or degree of certainty

individuals possess about their ability to be successful in sport”.

Many athletes, believe it or not, are not particularly confident in themselves, sports
hypnosis can help athletes create confidence for a specific situation as opposed to general
self-confidence.

At some point, athletes will suffer a loss of confidence, perhaps due to some poor
performances, or they might have had an injury that has taken them out of the game for a
while.

Various circumstances, external to the athlete’s sport can influence their image of
themselves.

Confidence is a skill, much like technical skills, that can be learned.

Just like with any type of skill, confidence can be developed through focus, effort, and
repetition.

Tools and techniques for increasing confidence

As Hypnotherapists, we need to make sure that the athlete has the skill set that enables a
consistent self-image regardless of wins or losses.

Increasing Confidence with Psychological Interventions

Self-image is something that your client has created on their last few performances. Prior to
hypnosis find out about the athlete’s self-talk and images that they will replay over and over
in their mind. Are their specific words, negative statements that they are reinforcing to
themselves? Is there a particular scene from the competition/match that is the part that
they are highlighting?

Confidence can be increased by use of the following psychological Interventions:

• Creating positive self-affirmations

• Drawing on the positives
• Drawing on past successes
Creating positive self-affirmations

Self-affirmations are positive verbal statements that can be spoken aloud or internally. They
are designed to place your clients mind and body into highly resourceful states.

Help your client to write down ten different self-affirmations, all designed to work in
different contexts.

If in your discussion with the athlete they came up with a number of negative self-
statements, take each of these statements in turn, and ask them to turn this statement into
a positive? It is important that the affirmation is in the words that they would choose.

For example; “I am going to have the best game of my life’’ is a self-affirmation that your
client could use just before a big performance.

Once the athlete has written down their affirmations, get them to practice using them in the
desired situations, remembering that the self-affirmation can be expressed internally or
externally. Both can be equally effective.

The affirmations must be stated in the present tense, for example “I am performing at my
best and it feels fantastic.” This way the message is more effective as it directly relates to a
current emotional state.

It may be useful for children to put their affirmations on a wall at home, perhaps in their
bedroom, or somewhere they can see them all the time.
Drawing on past successes (Revivification)

Ask the athlete to close their eyes and focus on their breathing for a moment. Next asking
them to imagine a time when they performed at their best - thinking of one of their greatest
past performances.

Continuing imagining this with their eyes closed recreating all the sights, sounds and
feelings of that greatest past performance. Then leave them for five minutes or longer
indulging in this performance, asking them to nod their head when they have no doubt that
they can recreate that past performance again in the present moment. They have to enter
their experience, not just view it.

Drawing on the positives

To keep confidence high regardless of a sports session ‘win or loss’, encourage discussion of
all the positive things that happened during the game/competition. What were the parts of
the performance that are to be celebrated? What went really well?

At the end of each sports session, write down 3 things that you did well.

When working with a team - ask the coach if he/she is happy to do this.

Hypnotic Techniques for increasing confidence

Mental rehearsal, visualisation, is a powerful tool that most top athletes have used at some
point in their careers. Mental rehearsal can be used to recreate past successes. This gets the
athlete into a positive internal state, and reminds them that they have the resources they
need to succeed. Installing these images, sounds and feelings with hypnosis makes them
much more powerful!

Installing a success or winning image with the athlete and anchoring this ensures that they
always have a technique at their disposal should they need a boost of confidence.
Script for installing a success/winning image

Apply appropriate induction/deepener.

Take yourself back in your mind to that game/competition/poor performance that you told
me about, and when you can recall it, just nod your head so that I know you have got it.
Good. Now just play it through in your mind.

Now go back to the beginning of it and play it through again, but this time I would like you
to do something slightly different. This time I would like you to play it through again not how
it was, but how you would have liked it to have been. Play it though how you would have
liked it to have been. Then do this again two or three times. When you’ve done this three
times, played it through that same performance how you would have liked it to have been -
just nod your head so I know. Good.

Now I’d like you to recall a time when you have performed at your absolute best, your most
outstanding performance, a part of a game/match/session that was just brilliant, and when
you can recall such a time just nod your head so that I know. Good.

Now, you can just focus on that scene now, the enjoyment, all the feelings, make the image
bigger in your mind, make it brighter, bolder.

Take a snapshot photo of that scene. Then give that snapshot photo a name. Now I would
like you to squeeze your thumb and finger together and all the feelings will get bigger and
bigger, much more intense, more and more powerful. You can now release your finger and
the feelings go back to normal, squeeze the fingers again now whilst saying the name of that
snapshot photograph and the feelings become more and more powerful. You can now
release your finger and the feelings go back to normal, squeeze the fingers again now
whilst saying the name of that snapshot photograph and the feelings become more and
more powerful.

At any time in the future when you need to access feelings of confidence you can simply
squeeze those fingers together, and say the name of that photograph and all the feelings,
confidence and energy will be there for you.

Awaken then practice recall in alert state.

Self-Talk

Self-talk is an umbrella term for the way individuals think and talk to themselves about a
situation. Self-talk can be positive, for example ‘’’Great shot!’’ or negative, such as ‘’you
idiot!’’

The Australian Sports Commission carried out research that demonstrates the detrimental
impact negative self-talk has on performance and having a positive attitude when it comes
to athletic endeavours improves performance.

Young people, in particular, can benefit from learning more about positive self-talk.

Improvements in their inner dialogue can improve both their attitude and performance and
can have a positive influence on their interactions outside the sporting sphere.

Many young athletes have an inner dialogue that is dominated with doubt and negativity.

“I’ll never be able to do it!”,

“I am no good at it,”
“there is no point trying.”

This type of negative self-talk can prevent a young athlete from performing well and create
a negative cycle of poor self-esteem and poor performance. If a child feels they can’t be
successful at a task, they often accept, and even expect failure. Negativity can turn a
child’s insecurities into a self-fulfilling prophecy.

This is of course is applicable to any athlete, anyone, no matter their age.

Negative self-talk leads to tension, increased anxiety, frustration, anger and lower self-
confidence. Positive self-talk can enhance motivation, confidence, focus and subsequently
overall performance.

An increased understanding and awareness of locus of control, how self-esteem and anxiety
are formed will lead to a positive default position of thinking and belief.

Tools and techniques for dealing with negative self-talk

Psychological Interventions for negative self-talk.

We should in every instance when working with athletes highlight to them how any
negative thoughts can impact on performance, and help them find a way, that works for
them to deal with these. Initially the first step has to be around having that conscious
awareness that we are experiencing a negative thought. Then having a technique to process
it.
Interrupting and replacing

Most tools and techniques for negative self-talk involve “interrupting” the negative thought
and “replacing” it with a positive one.

One athlete favoured the ‘rubber band’ technique. He wore a rubber band around his wrist.
When he noticed the intrusion of a negative thought, he’d snap the rubber band on his wrist
and repeat an inspiring quote that really motivated him.

Rubber Band Technique

Put a rubber band around your wrist. Whenever you want to stop an
unwanted thought, say "Stop" to yourself and snap the rubber band at
the same time. After a while, you will be able to just snap the rubber
band to stop an unwanted thought.

Another athlete, a boxer, would do a couple of star jumps and consciously take a deep
breath to shift from an unwanted thought pattern.

For any of these to be successful, you must advise the athlete that they must be practiced
and rehearsed repeatedly.

Hypnosis Script for Countering Negative Self-Talk

Apply appropriate induction/deepener

I would like you to take yourself in your mind to a time and place where you felt really
relaxed. Perhaps a time just being on holiday, or just somewhere really peaceful. Take
yourself in your mind to a time or place where you felt really relaxed. Almost as though you
are there again right now. All you can see, all you can hear.

Then for a moment I would just like you to focus on your breathing. I want you to notice
every inward breath and every outward breath and imagining that each breath is coming
from a point that’s just behind your belly button, that every breath is coming from that
point, just behind your belly button.

I would like you to take a moment to think about all those thoughts
that hold you back. All the ‘what if’s?’, the self- doubts, and just
wonder for a moment how your performance may be without any of those intrusive kind of
thoughts.

I would like you to find a way, your way, to dump all those thoughts.

After all, they are just thoughts. All those unhelpful thoughts. You could maybe imagine
dumping them in a rubbish bin. Burying them in the garden. Find a way, your way of
dumping all those unhelpful thoughts.
Or you may be simply saying to yourself ‘okay, I am having a thought that…..., but it is just a
thought, it doesn’t mean it’s real’ I am in control of my thoughts, my actions, my life. Next I
would like you to create an image in your mind of you. Your winning image, your success
image, and image of you performing at your absolute best. It feels good. It feels so good,
and you can make that image bigger, you can make it colourful, you can make it loud.

Anytime you find yourself with any of those unwanted thoughts you will immediately
become consciously aware that you are thinking negatively and immediately imagine
dumping those thoughts and replacing them with your winning image, your success image,
and the more you practice this the better you become at it, the better you become at it, the
more confident you feel, the more confident you feel the better you perform, just nod your
head if you understand. Good.

Awaken

Remind your client after the session:

“The best athletes say that they always visualise succeeding in their sport they are about to
undertake in before it happens. This allows for their brain to comprehend and understand
what it is needed to do and achieve is actually a mental rehearsal of an event that you
create in your mind. This allows you to practice as many times as you want, at any time in
any place. At little as five minutes a day can have a huge impact. Simply spend five minutes
away visualising yourself being successful in your sport.”
The use of Power Triggers

Imagine the scenario two competitors are nearing the end of a race and are head to head.
They are getting tired. One of them needs an extra burst to get past their competitor and
win the race….

Increasing Arousal

You can increase arousal at a time that it is needed most by creating a power trigger. A
surge of energy when your client needs it the most. Specific sports people may benefit most
from this technique. For example: Swimmers, Runners.

Hypnosis Script to install a power trigger

Apply appropriate induction/deepener

If you were to imagine you were a creature of great power and strength, I wonder what
creature you would be?

(Swimmers might imagine themselves as a dolphin. Runners may imagine themselves as a

cheetah. It is important that they create the image for themselves.)

I’d like you to imagine that you are now taking on all the extra strength and energy of that
creature, your whole body taking on all that extra power, your muscles, your legs, your arms,
your whole body becoming that creature of great power, great strength, and when you can
feel all that extra energy, all that extra strength simply squeeze your thumb and finger
together. Good. At any time in the future you need to access that extra strength, that extra
energy, that extra power all you need to do is squeeze that thumb and finger together.

Awaken.

Pre-Competition Routines

Routines enable athletes to be completely physically, technically, tactically, and mentally

ready. They are most often used before competitions to make sure that athletes are
prepared to perform their best.

The primary benefit or purpose of a mental preparation plan is to get the athlete in a mental
state that seems to relate to successful performance.

Creating pre-competition routines

A pre-competition routine is a clear plan, a “to do list” for them to follow before a
competition to get them in the right frame of mind. In particular, if they report feeling
lethargic or anxious before a match, help them create a pre-competition routine.
The athlete might already do things that work for them so you can build on this.
Twenty minutes before - Get them to find a quiet corner, to use self-hypnosis, and visualise
their performance being exactly how they want it to be, perhaps including techniques the
coach has taught them.

Five minutes before the game, they do an abbreviated version of this, sitting in the changing
room, pick a spot on the wall to focus on, deep breath, go into calm place, visualise their
winning image.

Focus

If two athletes have equal skill and ability, it is almost certain that the one who can best
focus on the task at hand will be the one who prevails.

The ability to concentrate on the task in hand in sport is essential to success in many sports.

A lack of focus can be caused by internal things such as thoughts, emotions, and physical
responses, and external things such as weather, sights and sounds.

Focus in sport involves focusing only on cues that help the athlete to perform at their best.

Athletes who are skilled at concentrating have the ability to focus intensely on some things
while blocking other things out.

The first step is to get the athlete to recognise how and why they tend to lose focus.

Recognise when and why focus is lost

This is the most important step in dealing with distractions. Ask the athlete about their past
performances, how and when did they get distracted? Were they external or internal
distractions? When the other team scored? After making a mistake?

Help the athlete to make a list of their most common distractions.

Create a Strategy to Help to Refocus

Once you have identified the triggers that cause the athlete to lose focus, you can help the
athlete, through their own words, to forget those distractions and get back on task.

A statement or mantra can be used to help regain focus, such as "that's not important, let’s
play" or "let it go, focus on the next session/game/etc.".

To make this refocusing stick, install the strategy in hypnosis, and make it part of the mental
rehearsal in their pre-competition routine.
Script for Installing Self-Hypnosis

Apply appropriate induction and deepener

At any time in the future you can put yourself into this very relaxed
place simply by closing your eyes and counting from one to ten,
matching each number with your breathing, and with each outward
breath saying to yourself the word relax.

So, at any time in the future you can put yourself into this very relaxed
place simply by closing your eyes and counting from one to ten,
matching each number with your breathing and with each outward
breath saying to yourself the word relax.

And in this very relaxed place you will find it incredibly easy to
practice anything you choose with great precision. You will be able to
practice your chosen routines and competitions over and over in your
mind in great detail, perfecting every detail calmly and with great
clarity, and the more you practice this the better you become at it and
the more relaxed you feel.
Sheila Granger:

1. Tickton Football Club

This was one of those scenarios that was totally unplanned. Isn’t it strange though that
when you just do something to help somebody else out, that the universe has a habit of
paying you back…ten fold!

I was working in my clinic late one evening with a lady whose husband was the coach of a
local teenage football team, she was telling me that this team really wanted to move up the
league, however they were due to play a team of “big lads” who had completed wiped the
floor with them the previous season. The score had been 11 - 1.

She went on to tell me that they were going into the game with the attitude that the same
thing was going to happen again.

I offered to do a couple of sessions with them, to give them some techniques to be able to
really feel much more positive, and play at their best when it mattered most.

Session 1 - Meeting the team

I went along to meet the team on one of their regular training nights,
and watched them train before introducing myself to them afterwards.
(I noted the number of times when they weren’t really focused on the
game, or were distracted by other things).

It appeared that their only issue was lack of focus and belief in themselves.

Of course these boys had never met me before, and they were your typical teenager, in fact
if I had said something was black, they would probably have said it was white! I had to find a
way to engage them in a way that they found amusing and interesting!

I started off by collecting some positive affirmations and doing a little team building
exercise.

I asked each in turn to tell me something positive that the person sitting next to them brings
to the team.

They came up with things like:

“He gives great goals”

“He gives great tackles”
“His defending is brill”

I made a note of these, to use ahead of the “big game” I then asked them “Do you want to
know how to hypnotise somebody?” to which the reply was “Yeah! I want to hypnotise him!”
I said “ Okay. I want you all to sit on the floor and stare at the football in the middle of the
floor and in your head you are going to give instruction to the person sitting next to you,
who you are going to imagine hypnotising” “ Imagine telling him to close his eyes but
imagine he can still see the football”
“ Imagine telling him to listen to any sounds in the room”
“ Now imagine telling him to keep his eyes closed but create an
image in his mind of a time he has played football at his absolute best
- lets call it his success image, it could be a time recently or from ages ago, it really doesn’t
matter. Make it really bright, really loud and feel how it feels when you play like that, how
you feel playing at your absolute best. Anytime in the future when you go out to play, you
can play to your success image, you can be that person, and if things don’t go as planned,
that’s okay, life happens, but you’ll immediately shrug off any self doubt, negativity and
return to playing to that success image. All nod your head if you understand. Good.

Now you can open your eyes”

They all seemed to enjoy this little exercise, and it seemed to get them on side. I also checked
in with the coach, that he was happy with what we were doing and that he would reinforce
this during any practice sessions.

Session 2

During session 2 we talked about focus/distraction. ( I’d noted on the first session when i’d
watched them train how often they were not focused on the game).

I asked them what kinds of thoughts were running through their head when perhaps the ball
was up at the other end of the pitch perhaps “I wonder what i’m having for tea?” or “What’s
he looking at over there?” I explained to them that every time this happens during a match,
every time they lose focus, they potentially give their opponents a competitive advantage.

(Some sport psychologists believe that selective attention is the most important cognitive
characteristic of successful athletic performance a split second loss of concentration during a
critical play can spell the difference between winning and losing).

After talking about it for a while, they decided that when the ball wasn’t with them they
were simply going to recite the word “focus” in their mind to fight off any needless
distractions.

We also introduced a pre-match routine into this session, in the changing rooms, prior to
playing they spent a couple of minutes using self -hypnosis visualising how they wanted the
game to go – playing to their success image - dumping any negativity. Then, immediately
before playing the whole team chanted their positive affirmations that were collected in the
first session.
The Results

Match day came, and my little football team went off to play the team of “big lads” who had
previously beaten them 11-1.

This time with a determined attitude to play at their best they still lost, but this time the
score was 3-2! A huge difference, and they came away feeling really proud of themselves.

2. The Competitive Horse Rider

I was contacted by a young lady of 23 years old who was a competitive horse rider. Her
speciality was show jumping, but some months before she had taken a very bad fall, and
broken a few bones in the process. Whilst she would still hack out on her horse, she did
not want to continue riding just to hack out - that wasn’t where her interest or passion was,
and she would rather not ride at all, if she wasn’t riding competitively. She wanted to get
back to jumping but fear was stopping her.

Session 1

In hypnosis we replayed the day of the accident - not how it actually was, but how she would
have liked it to have gone. We then installed self-hypnosis and created a winning image - an
image of her going over jumps superbly.
Out of hypnosis, we set a three week plan for her riding. For the first two weeks even if she
really wanted to jump she wasn’t to do so until the third week. ( we always want what we
can’t have)

a. Week 1, mental training before every ride. (No trotting poles or jumping).
b. Week 2, mental training before every ride, use trotting poles, no jumping.
c. Week 3, mental training before every ride, jumps.

She was also going to practice some mental training before every ride.

Before every single ride she was going to do some self hypnosis. “Each and every time before
you ride, sit somewhere quiet for a moment, use self hypnosis to become relaxed, then see
yourself in your minds eye riding/jumping etc. looking calm and relaxed, everything going
how you want it to”.

Hypnosis Script Used

Horse jumping

I wonder if you can take yourself soon to a time, place in your mind
where you felt most relaxed, perhaps a holiday maybe, somewhere
skiing perhaps. Just take yourself in your mind to a time, a place
where there was really nothing much to think about, be concerned
about. Just take yourself in your mind there for a moment, almost as
though you're there again right now, all you could see, all that you
could hear, how it felt being there when you could just go with the
flow.

While you're there you can begin to ponder, perhaps, how good it
would be to be able to jump in a positive way, to just be able to get
over all the jumps.

Just get that sense, that belief within you, how you would perhaps
feel after you've done it, just going with the flow. Just for a moment,
I'd like you to replay in your mind, perhaps times when you've had
bad experiences jumping, the times when perhaps you weren't able
to do it. This time, as you think about those times, I'd like you to think
about them in a slightly different way. This time, I'd like you to go
through those times again in your mind, not how they were but how
you'd of wanted them to have been. Replay those times again and
this time, see everything going just how you want it to but you there
just making it happen, going with the flow in a really positive way,
almost imagining that any tension just disappears.

As you create that feeling, I'd like you to create a really clear image in
your mind of how you want things to be, a success image of you
jumping and making it happen, what that looks like, almost like taking
a snapshot photograph of yourself. Then getting that really clear
image in your mind of what you want to achieve you going over all the jumps.
Maybe it's the body language of that you there that looks so calm, relaxed. Perhaps
it's the expression on your face but think about a really clear image in
your mind. Any time you find yourself with any of those self-doubts,
you immediately become aware that you're thinking negatively. Find a
way to dump those thoughts, bury them in the garden, throw them out
a car window. It really doesn't matter how you do this, but
immediately replacing those doubts with that image of you, that
success image, you making it happen.

While you're feeling so relaxed, I'd like you to take a moment to begin
to see yourself in your mind's eye, as you arrive at the arena and
looking so calm, so relaxed, getting your horse ready. As you go out
to your jumps, you instantly relax a hundred times deeper than you
are now, knowing that the horse can make it happen, you can make it
happen. All you need to do is just go with the flow so that everything
can work out just how you want it to.

Just take a moment to get a sense or feeling of going and doing that
right now and to see how much better things can be when you do just
go with the flow, getting a sense of going over those jumps, letting the
horse just do what it knows how to do, so that you can just enjoy it
and allow things to be and be positive with just going with the flow.
The more you practice this ... As human beings, whatever we do and
whatever we practice, we become really good at. The more you
practice this and the more you're in a very relaxed place, you find that
it's just how things will be.

You can find yourself going with the flow and making it happen feeling
calm, relaxed, feeling good.

I'm going to wake you up now. I’m going to count from five to one.
When I get to one you'll be able to open your eyes. You'll be wide
awake, fully alert. You'll feel really good inside. Five, just slowly,
slowly waking, four, waking a little bit more. Three, feeling some
energy. Two, feeling really good inside. One, you can open your eyes.

Session 2

I caught up with this lady after two weeks, and the change in her was
remarkable, she was raring to go to do some jumping and felt like she
was being held back from this now.

We finished off by finding away for dealing with any self doubts that
may creep in when she was actually riding, any negative self talk
about hers or her horses ability to get over a jump, and for her it was
simply enough to realise that it was “just a thought” and she didn’t
have to think it, she had the control back. She’d got her winning
streak back.

3. A Tennis Players Anger

The Paradoxical intervention

Reverse psychology, sometimes you have to act it out in order to get rid of it, instead of
getting angry they do something silly.

I’m sure some of you remember the angry outbursts of John McEnroe at Wimbledon. “You
cannot be serious!”

Had McEnroe used tantrums as a way of motivating himself?

He says that they had become a defence mechanism. If you're out there and things are going
badly, are you going to cry or break down?

Eleven years old and angry

I had a lady bring her eleven year old son to see me, he was a brilliant tennis player and due
to play in the nationals, but what was letting him down time and again was his anger. When
I met him he was lovely and engaged with me very easily. When I asked him why he got so
angry, there was nothing involved or complicated, it was all very straightforward.
When he thought his opponent was cheating, or not playing fairly, he got really cross. (fair
enough, I thought) I asked him, “If you could do anything at all to them, what would you
do”? He replied “ I’d smash their face in with my tennis racquet”
“Okay, I said, what if you did do that, just in your head. Next time this happens, when you
get that thought that your opponent might be cheating I want you to go to the back of the
court and in your own mind hit him as hard as you want with your racquet, then immediately
dump that image and replace it with your very own winning image. Go back on the court
and resume play. Do you think you can do that”?

He went away, agreed to do that at the match he had coming up at the weekend.
I asked him if he would send me a text after the match letting me know how he’d got on.
On the Saturday afternoon, I received a text from him, it said “It was okay”. Then about an
hour later I received another text message that said “Mum said I had to tell you that I won”
It goes to show that some very simple techniques can make all the difference.

4. Shooting Skills

Improve Shooting Skills

I wonder, if you can think of a time in your life when you felt most
relaxed, a time when you felt at ease, maybe a country you visited
sometime. Just take yourself and your mind to a time, a place where
you felt most relaxed, almost as though you're there again. Back at
that time. All you could see, all you could hear, how it felt. A time you
can remember, any time you choose. While you there how good it'd
be if you could shoot just how you wanted to, if everything could just
be done correctly just like a sewing machine. How you would feel
achieving that again.

While you're feeling so relaxed I'd like you imagine the time just
before you go on the stands and notice that you there looking totally
relaxed, determined. Before you go on that stand you can even take
a moment to take yourself in your mind to a time, a place where you
feel totally relaxed, undisturbed. You can notice yourself finding a way
to almost tune out any distractions. Focused, completely determined.
You can notice yourself maintaining that focus. If at any time you find
yourself with any of those distractions or perhaps that you there
looking around you'll be looking for problems that don't exist, become
consciously aware you're losing focus, you immediately refocus on
the job in hand.

Notice yourself, on that stand standing correctly. You can check that
you're standing correctly. As you do so you can imagine that you
there mounting that gun free of any distractions, totally focused.
Notice yourself being totally relaxed, mounting that gun. You fix your
eyes just beyond that trap, your eyes are fixed beyond the trap. You
take up any necessary slack. That you there is totally relaxed, totally
focused, your eyes fixed, you can call a nice, relaxed
‘pull’. You maintain that position as you see that clay away 10 yards
you find your eyes, your gun move in unison, fast, smooth.
I'm going to go quiet for a moment George while you can take the
time, so you can practice in your mind all the necessary moves.
That you there relaxing before you go on the stand determined and
focused, standing correctly, mounting that gun, focused, mounting
that gun, relaxed, your eyes fixed.

The more you rehearse this, the more you practice it in this very
relaxed place the sooner it will be you can find yourself relaxing more
and more, maybe doing that pre-competition routine. Relaxing before
you go on stand. Practicing focus. Knowing that you can be your very
best. As human beings whatever we practice become really good at.
The more you practice with this recording the more improvement you'll see.

I'm going to wake you up now. I'm going to count from 5 to 1. When I get to 1 you'll be able
to open your eyes. You'll be wide awake, fully alert and you'll feel really good inside. Five,
just slowly, slowly waking, Four, three, feeling some energy now starting to work its way
through your body. Two, feeling really good inside. One, you can open your eyes.
Sports Hypnosis Research

Some of this research can be found below.

Using hypnosis, technique refinement and self-modelling to enhance self-efficacy: A case

study in cricket. Barker, J. B., & Jones, M. V. (2006). The Sport Psychologist, 20, 94-110.
Abstract

Collegiate athletes’ perceptions and attitudes towards hypnosis. Barker, J. B., Jones, M. V.,
Greenlees, I. (2005). Journal of Sports Sciences, 23, 1238-1239. Abstract

Using hypnosis and technique refinement to enhance self-efficacy in a cricket leg spin
bowler. Barker, J. B., & Jones, M. V. (2005). Journal of Sport Sciences, 23, 176-177. Abstract

Using hypnosis to increase self-efficacy: A case study in elite judo. Barker, J.B., & Jones, M.
V. (2005). Sport & Exercise Psychology Review, 1, 36-42.

The effects of hypnosis on flow and in the performance enhancement of basketball skills.
Vasquez, B. (2005). Thesis (Ph. D.) Washington State University, December 2005. Includes
bibliographical references (p. 120-138). Abstract

The hypnotic belay in alpine mountaineering: the use of self-hypnosis for the resolution of
sports injuries and for performance enhancement. Morton PA. The American Journal of
Clinical Hypnosis. 2003 Jul;46(1):45-51. Abstract

The use of Hypnosis in developing self-confidence and enhancing performance in leg spin
bowling. Barker, J. B., & Jones, M. V. Paper presented at the English Cricket Board (ECB)

Medicine and Science in Cricket Conference, Loughborough, UK (September, 2003).

Hypnosis, the brain, and sports: Salient Findings. Nash MR. University of Tennessee,
Knoxville, USA. The International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis. 2002
Jul;50(3):282-5. Abstract

Pates, J., Maynard, I., & Westbury, T. (2001) An investigation into the effects of hypnosis on
basketball performance. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology 13(1), 84-102.

Enhancing imagery through hypnosis: a performance aid for athletes. Liggett DR.
Wilmington College, Ohio., USA. The American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis. 2000
Oct;43(2):149-57. Abstract

Effects of hypnosis on flow states and golf performance. Pates J, Maynard I. Centre for Sport
and Exercise Science, Sheffield Hallam University, South Yorkshire. Perceptual and Motor
Skills. 2000 Dec;91(3 Pt 2):1057-75. Abstract

Pates. J, & Westbury, T. (2000). The effects of hypnosis on free-throw performance. Journal
of Sport Sciences, 18, 56
Pates, J., Maynard, I., & Westbury, T. (2000). The effects of hypnosis on three point shooting
performance in basketball players. Proceedings of the Association for the Advancement of
Applied Sport Psychology Annual Conference, Nashville, Tennessee. October 2000

Pates, J., & Westbury, T. (1999). The effects of hypnosis on jump shooting performance.
Presented at European College of Sport Sciences Conference, Rome, July 1999.

Grove, J. R., & Lewis, M. A. (1996). Hypnotic susceptibility and the attainment of flowlike
states during exercise. Journal of Sports and Exercise Physiology, 18(4), 380-391.

Robazza, C., & Bortoli, L. (1995). A case study of improved performance in archery using
hypnosis. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 81, 1364-1366.

Oakley, D. A., Norell, S. K., & Cripps, B. D. (1995). Exercise, mood and hypnotic susceptibility
in a sports context. Contemporary Hypnosis, 12(2), 125-130.

Stanton, H. E. (1994). Sports imagery and hypnosis: A potent mix. Australian Journal of
Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 22(2), 119-124

Collins, D., Doherty, M., & Talbot, S. (1993). Performance enhancement in motocross: A case
study of the sport science team in action. Sports Psychologist, 7(3), 290-297.

Enhancing the visualization of gymnasts. Liggett DR, Hamada S. Stanford University. The
American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis. 1993 Jan;35(3):190-7. Abstract

McMaster, N. (1993). Behaviour modification with hypnotic visualisation, the mental side of
golf: A case history. Australian Journal of Clinical Hypnotherapy and Hypnosis, 14(1),-17-22.

Taylor, J., Horevitz, R., & Balague, G. (1993). The use of hypnosis in applied sport
psychology. Sport Psychologist, 7(1), 58-78. Abstract

Hypnosis, Ericksonian hypnotherapy, and Aikido. Windle R, Samko M. Department of

Counseling and Educational Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene 97403. The American

Journal of Clinical Hypnosis. 1992 Apr;34(4):261-70. Abstract

Masters, K. S. (1992). Hypnotic susceptibility, cognitive dissociation, and runner’s high in a
sample of marathon runners. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 34(3), 193-201. Abstract

Schreiber, E. H. (1991). Using hypnosis to improve performance of college basketball

players. Perceptual & Motor Skill, 72(2), 536-538.

Braybrooke, Z. (1988). Sports motivation in a case of a sixty year old woman. Australian
Journal of Clinical Hypnotherapy & Hypnosis, 9(1), 25-28.

Wojcikiewicz, A., & Orlick, T. (1987). The effects of post-hypnotic suggestion and relaxation
with suggestion on competitive fencing anxiety and performance. International Journal of
Sports Psychology, 18(4), 303-313.
Changes in the self concept and athletic performance of weight lifters through a cognitive-
hypnotic approach: an empirical study. Howard WL, Reardon JP. The American Journal of
Clinical Hypnosis. 1986 Apr;28(4):248-57.

Krenz, E. W. (1984). Improving competitive performance with hypnotic suggestions and

modified autogenic: Case reports. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 27(1), 58-63.

Scott, J. A. (1984). Hypnotherapy training for basketball: An experimental approach. Medical

Hypnoanalysis, 5(3), 109-116.

Auto-hypnosis in long distance runners. Callen KE. The American Journal of Clinical
Hypnosis. 1983 Jul;26(1):30-6.

Pearson, P. (1983). Practical applications of hypnosis in sporting performance. Australian

Journal of Clinical Hypnotherapy & Hypnosis, 4(1), 13-19.

The relationship between posthypnotic suggestion and endurance in physically trained

subjects. Jackson JA, Gass GC, Camp EM. The International Journal of Clinical and
Experimental Hypnosis. 1979 Jul;27(3):278-93.

Garver, R. B. (1977). The enhancement of human performance with hypnosis through

neuromotor facilitation and control of arousal level. The American Journal of Clinical
Hypnosis, 19(3), 177-181.

The hypnotic treatment of stage fright in champion athletes. Naruse G. The International
Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis. 1965 Apr;13(2):63-70. Abstract

A Personal Study Of Some Uses Of Hypnosis In Sport And Sports Injuries. Ryde D. The
Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness. 1964 Dec;128:241-6.