Sports Hypnosis in Practice E-Book

Joseph Tramontana

• Herausgeber: Crown House Publishing
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 338

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011

Beschreibung

This book offers new strategies and scripts for hypnotherapists, sports counsellors and sports psychologists working with athletes to help them achieve their peak performance. A major focus of the book is that the therapist does not necessarily need to be familiar with the sport or activity to serve as a "mental coach" to the athlete. The athlete is instructed that the goal is not to improve the mechanics of their performance (that is left up to their coaches) but, rather, to help them to relax, concentrate and focus so that they fulfill their maximum potential. They learn not to let the mental side of their game trip up the physical side, but rather to enhance it.

Leseprobe

Praise for Sports Hypnosis in Practice

As an experienced hypnotherapist and trainer, I never stop enjoying and gaining from well written, structured books on hypnosis; and I have read many! I like nothing more than to peruse people’s views, ideas, and practice to expand and enhance my own. This book was one of those pleasurable reads taking me through the author’s views, strategies, techniques, and case studies on hypnosis in sports performance.

It is clear from the skilful writing that experience and personal successes are the foundations to each chapter, thus it is a fascinating read not just for all those interested in finely tuning their existing hypnotic interventions, but for anyone involved in sports performance or simply interested in this field.

This book’s strength is not just the knowledge it delivers, but its comprehensive structure and readability. It is a first rate example of multilevel communication conveyed through the written word.

It is packed full of motivational ideas including metaphors and stories, scripts, strategies, and suggestions all entwined around real sports performers, which will undoubtedly leave you energized about the efficiency and effectiveness of sports hypnosis.

Well done Joseph!

Tom Barber, DHp MA, Director, Contemporary College of Therapeutic Studies UK, co-author of Thinking Therapeutically: Hypnotic Skills and Strategies Explored

An excellent read for sports psychologists, sports therapists and lovers of sport. Techniques that work are all backed up by a wealth of experience.

Aaron Surtees, Director, City Hypnosis

In this very practical book on hypnosis and sports, Joseph Tramontana adds to his string of effective publications. His tone is approachable and friendly. Clearly, he has a wide background in hypnosis, which he makes accessible for the novice as well as the experienced clinician.

Joe’s approach is straightforward: you don’t need to be an accomplished athlete in order to be a good mental coach. The stories of his clinical work and extensive contacts with sports luminaries make it easy for the reader to get involved. In addition to many scripts, he gives suggestions on how to talk to coaches and athletes in order to market a viable sport hypnosis practice.

David M. Wark, PhD, ABPH, Emeritus Professor of Psychology, University of Minnesota

The increasing popularity of mental training in sport, and in particular sports hypnosis, has created a need for a comprehensive practical guide for hypnotherapists and sports psychologists interested in developing their hypnosis skills in performance-related fields. In Sports Hypnosis in Practice, Joseph Tramontana has produced such a guide, filled with case studies, interviews, and scripts from his many years of experience as a clinical sports psychologist. The book details the methods he has used in a variety of sports, including the actual hypnosis scripts used in sessions, as well as providing considerable reference to the research and reading on which these methods are based.

Based on accepted sports psychology principles, Sports Hypnosis in Practice goes beyond just introducing hypnosis to sports psychology, but also examines the role of mental training as a whole, including insightful interviews with coaches and former players. In addition to chapters covering specific sports such as golf, tennis, athletics, and show jumping, Dr Tramontana has included useful guidance for dealing with other issues such as injury recovery and substance abuse. For the experienced hypnotherapist wanting to expand into sport, or the sports psychologist wanting to learn about adding hypnosis to their skillset, this book is an invaluable addition to their library.

Gary Baker, The Centre for Sports Hypnosis

Anyone serious about hypnotic sport psychology will insist on having this book in their library. The chapters on working with the injured athlete returning to their sport and with the addicted athlete are both unique and most valuable. Taking the information in this book and individualizing and tailoring it to the sportsperson actually sitting in front of you will garner great results!

John H. Edgette, PsyD, Director of the Milton H. Erickson Institute of Philadelphia, and co-author of Winning the Mind Game

Hypnotherapists who enjoy working with athletes or who want to add sports psychology to their practice will cheer for Joseph Tramontana’s Sports Hypnosis in Practice. Unlike other fine books that address hypnosis for a specific sport (like Tom Saunders’ Golf) or a generic approach to hypnosis for all sports (like Edgette and Rowan’s Winning the Mind Game), this book devotes chapters to 15 individual and team sports – from gymnastics to rugby.

The book opens with an overview of the literature on sports hypnosis and the emergence of sports psychology. The first chapter gives information on general considerations for the practitioner, such as introducing sports hypnosis to the client, tests of hypnotizability, hypnotic inductions, deepening, guided imagery, self-hypnosis, regression, reframing, and cognitive behavioral therapy. The subsequent chapters, on hypnotic approaches to specific sports, show practitioners that each sport has its own vocabulary and performance standards. The author writes from his own experience as a runner and as a hypnotherapist who has worked with many athletes; amateurs and professionals.

Like Tramontana’s Hypnotically Enhanced Treatment for Addictions, this book is highly readable with excellent case examples (many of which can be used as metaphors), hypnotic scripts, treatment strategies, and verbatim interviews with coaches and athletes about the psychology behind specific sports. A chapter on helping athletes recover from injury includes pain management, imagery for healing, and a hypnotic question–answer process for pinpointing the origin of psychosomatic illness. The final chapter on addictions and eating disorders in sports is as timely as today’s sports headlines. This book hits a home run!

Judith E. Pearson, PhD, Professional Counselor, Clinical Hypnotherapist, Master NLP Practitioner/Trainer, and author of The Weight, Hypnotherapy and You Weight Reduction Program: An NLP and Hypnotherapy Practitioner’s Manual

Dr Tramontana has written a excellent book on the practice of sports hypnosis. This is a book that I can now highly recommend to my future students. He has cited the top people in the field of sports hypnosis and I am sure that all of them will be making this book required reading for anyone interested in using hypnosis with athletes.

Mitch Smith, LCSW-C, DAHB

Where were you Dr Tramontana when I needed you about 15 years ago? The telephone rang and, on answering, I heard a very cultured female voice telling me that she needed my help to improve her golf!

I needed patients but had to admit to her, in all honesty, that I hardly knew one end of a golf club from the other. If she was happy with that then I was prepared to do all that I could.

She came and for a couple of sessions we used the first half of the session for her to explain the mechanics of her need – the smooth swing and so on, and the second half introducing all of this hypnotically.

She was happy. I wasn’t. As we progressed I broached the idea that her problem was more her own self-belief and confidence than any physical malfunction. Greater belief in her own abilities and a more relaxed outlook on her game would lead to its own steady improvement.

To begin with I think she was rather offended by me inferring that she was uptight, lacking in confidence, angry with herself, but was prepared to go along with me and let me drop the “golf coaching” and concentrate on what I knew best as a hypnotherapist.

The results were terrific. She went from strength to strength and in a short time started to feature regularly on the “roll of honour” at her club.

Other club members asked her what she was doing to bring about this improvement. Was she having private lessons? She did admit to visiting “her man in Tewkesbury.” It was assumed I was a golf pro who had taken up coaching. They asked for my details as they wished to see the same improvement in their own games. My phone never rang though. As soon as they realized I was a hypnotherapist and not a golfer they rapidly lost interest and added: “We don’t need that sort of man thank you!”

Times have changed – fortunately – and it is now commonplace to hear of sports psychologists and so on, working with our leading sportsmen and women. Joseph Tramontana’s Sports Hypnosis in Practice is a groundbreaking book explaining how hypnosis can best be used to the benefit of those who are in sport and are seeking to achieve their peak performance.

In my own experience the client had in her mind that I could, through hypnosis, teach her how to play golf better. As Joseph Tramontana says in his book, this is not the task of the therapist but is the job of the coach. It is for them to develop and extend the mechanical side to boost physical performance.

The hypnotherapist, sports counselor or sports psychologist is there to work on all mental aspects of sport. Importantly, and a great relief to a sports illiterate such as myself, the therapist does not need to be familiar with the sport or the physical activity to be able to be effective and efficient in the role of “mental coach” to the sports people who come to him/her.

This fact is, indeed, one of the main focuses of the book. The author refers to his own experience and says: “I have had successful outcomes in working with athletes across many sports that I have never played.”

The book is an excellent mix of strategies and scripts. We are given detailed outlines and in-depth explanations of how to work with a client, and the scripts are extensive and excellent. We are taught how to help the subject relax, concentrate, and become more focused so that they are more able to achieve maximum potential.

We see that the hypnosis road can lead the sportsperson to achieve a better balance in life. For so many the effort to succeed becomes a struggle between achieving physical prowess and improving skill and achievement, often at the risk of allowing mental fragility to threaten to wreck the path of progress. Many of the prima donnas we see on our football pitches would see their game improve if only they had more skill in managing their mental body. Hypnosis is an excellent medium for changing behavior, for improving focus, concentration, calm, anger management, and much more. Fear and lack of confidence or self-belief can also be enhanced. The coach can deal with the physical.

Put the two together and we stand the chance of producing the balanced sportsperson who is able to produce the goods in all areas.

The book is of great interest in that it gives a wide variety of case studies where the author has worked successfully with sportsperson during his career. Very insightful and fascinating. In particular I liked the fact that many of the sportsmen and women would talk to him, perhaps years down the line, and be able to recount in great detail their hypnotic experiences and techniques. The value was seen clearly and was very well received and, as a result, became part of the everyday tool bag of success for countless athletes. They acknowledge, without reservation, the enormous benefit it has brought them.

The author leaves no stone unturned. We hear constantly of sports injury and also, sadly, of drug abuse in sport. Both of these are given time and space within the book and we are offered insight and help into how best to assist an athlete returning from injury or addiction. Inspirational and very illuminating.

There is also a section on affirmations which I just loved:

“Life is 10 percent what happens to you, and 90 percent how you respond to it!”

“Put your heart, mind, intellect and soul even to your smallest acts. This is the secret of success.”

“I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.”

When being given this book to review I thought, “Oh dear, sport!” I need not have worried.

This book is an excellent reference book and handbook for any therapist to dip into to find the tools, techniques, and strategies for success when dealing with clients who seek help in relation to their sporting life.

It is a book I am delighted to recommend and I feel that it has the potential of becoming a bestseller in this age where sport is so pressurised yet, a far cry from my early experience, where its participants are far more open minded and aware that so much of their success stems from their thoughts not just from their raw physical talent.

David Slater, BA, DHyp, MHA(RegHyp), MASC, DCS, MGSCT, Clinical Hypnotherapist and Counselor

Sports Hypnosis in Practice

Scripts, Strategies, and Case Examples

Joseph Tramontana, PhD

www.crownhouse.co.uk

www.crownhousepublishing.com

This book is dedicated to my sister, Pamela, who is no longer with us, and my other three sisters, Emily, Susan, and Terri, all very special in their individual ways. All four sisters could run faster than any of the boys in the neighborhood, except for me, of course. Also, to my wife, Lynn; my children Jim and Jody; and step-children, Tori and Tre’; as well as my grandchildren, who are such a joy.

Acknowledgments

I wish to thank Brian Kinchen, former National Football League tight end and long snapper, whose story is told in a condensed form in Chapter 6 and coaches Tony Minnis (Louisiana State University (LSU) women’s tennis coach), Yvette Girouard (LSU women’s softball coach), and Leaf Boswell (coach of LSU’s equestrian club team) for their openness and willingness to talk about the mental side of their sports. In addition, many thanks to the former athlete-clients who agreed to be interviewed for this book – golfers Greg Conley and Lizette Lee (Pietro) and volleyball player Paige Huber-Pitts – all with whom I so enjoyed working. There are many other athletes with whom I have worked who are not mentioned by name in the case examples for a variety of reasons; however, as well as teaching them about the mental side of sports, I feel I have learned from all of them.

Contents

Title Page

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1 Overview of Hypnotic Approaches with Athletes

Chapter 2 Golfers

Chapter 3 Track and Field Athletes: Sprinters, Distance Runners, and High Jumpers

Chapter 4 Gymnastics and Cheerleaders

Chapter 5 Equestrians: Show Jumping

Chapter 6 The US Big Three: Football, Baseball, and Basketball

Chapter 7 Softball (Fast Pitch)

Chapter 8 Tennis

Chapter 9 Volleyball, Soccer, Olympic Shooting, Cycling, and Rugby

Chapter 10 Recovering from Injury and Returning to Training and Competition

Chapter 11 Substance Abuse and Other Addictive Behaviors

Conclusion

Appendix: Affirmations

Recommended Books and Movies

References

Index

Copyright

Introduction

I like to postulate that some types of hypnosis or self-hypnosis must have been used back in the days of the Roman gladiators, or perhaps even earlier. How else could someone enter an arena with a lion and contemplate his impending demise without at least being able to disassociate to some extent? I also muse as to how in those days this activity was seen as “sport” in the eyes of the emperors and the viewing public, but a life-or-death experience by the gladiators themselves.

The psychology of sport is becoming an increasingly popular field of study and practice for psychologists. Two recent books are James Loehr’s The new toughness training for sports (1995) which has a foreword by Chris Evert and Dan Jansen (Loehr has worked with many other famous athletes) and Jack Lesyk’s Developing sport psychology within your clinical practice (1998) which includes a brief discussion on relaxation training (pp. 65–66), which he refers to as “a sort of light hypnosis.” William Morgan has a chapter on hypnosis in sport and exercise psychology in Van Raalte and Brewer’s Exploring sport and exercise psychology (2002).

I had the opportunity to chat with Dr Loehr following his Keynote Address at the Association of Applied Sports Psychology (AASP) Annual Conference in Providence (Loehr, 2010). As CEO and Chairman of the Human Performance Institute in Orlando, Florida, he works to enhance performance with corporations and military special forces, as well as athletes, but the techniques he employs are similar across all groups. He said he had moved away from using hypnosis as a technique with athletes because he did not want them to feel that he was the one in control of their improvement. He agreed, however, that my focus on training the athlete in self-hypnosis helped to negate that concern.

At the 2010 AASP conference there was not one presentation on hypnosis in sports in four days of lectures, symposia, and workshops, although I did hear a speaker make a perfunctory mention of hypnosis for relaxation. However, I found it interesting that this group – a cross-section of psychologists, sports counselors, exercise physiologists, educators, and so on – talked about many of the same techniques I use albeit without the use of formal hypnotic induction or self-hypnotic training. For example, they discussed relaxation, concentration, mindfulness, focus, centering, visualization, and a great deal about imagery. Many of the presentations dealt with mental skills training (they referred to it as MST), which to some extent incorporates these same techniques as well as others such as goal-setting.

At one of the social events, I met a sports counselor from New York. When I told him about this forthcoming book, he exclaimed: “You have scripts? I need them!” When I suggested he could wait a few months and buy the book, he responded: “I can’t wait that long. I need them now!” This encounter served to reinforce my thesis that sports hypnosis is indeed a specialized form of sports psychology.

A number of university psychology departments now have specific training in Sports Psychology, and the American Psychological Association (APA) has a membership division (Division 47, Sports and Exercise Psychology). There is also the Association of Applied Sports Psychology, with over 1,500 members, and the National Institute of Sports Professionals (NISP), as well as other organizations for sports counselors. The Journal of Applied Sport Psychology caters to research in this area and Routledge/Psychology Press has a catalog of titles in the field, as does Human Kinetics, the latter describing itself as “the information leader in physical activity.”

In a recent review by Schwartz in the APA’s Monitor on Psychology (2008), she reports how psychologists are increasingly being called upon to help Olympians improve their concentration, focus their skills, and cope with the intense pressure of competition at such a high level. She reports the responses of 11 psychologists who are involved in this field. Margaret Ottley, for example, who works with the US Track and Field Team, reinforces those skills athletes already use, including breathing techniques, positive self-talk, and sensory awareness. Colleen Hacker says that with the US Field Hockey Team, she relies on performance-enhancement techniques such as imagery, focusing, distraction control, and pre-performance routines. She attempts to aid them in being their best more often and to play their best when it counts most. Other respondents in different events gave similar descriptions.

In an article from a recent American Society of Clinical Hypnosis (ASCH) newsletter titled “Report from the president’s desk” (Fall 2008), Wark wrote about the First World Congress on Excellence in Sports and Life held in Beijing, China in August, 2008. He noted that the conference brought together mental trainers from sports, business coaching, education, and health, all of whom were interested in the application of hypnosis as an aspect of mental training. All of this is noted to point out the increasing popularity in the field.

Experts from various theoretical backgrounds talk about the significance of our beliefs and the mental models or mindsets that shape our behavior (see Bandler & Grinder, 1979; Dyer, 2004; Ellis & Harper, 1975; Meichenbaum, 1977). It is generally accepted that we act and perform in accordance with the beliefs our minds tell us are true. Many of the affirmations presented on pages 153 to 160 suggest that if you think something is not possible or out of reach, you’re probably not going to invest much energy toward attaining that goal. To unlearn old self-doubts, we must substitute new, more productive thinking. The management by objectives approach employed in industry suggests the following three steps:

Identify the specific goals or results you desire to achieve.Then create and develop actions (objectives) that will accomplish those results.Determine the methods (steps) necessary to achieve these objectives.

So if you want to achieve your goals, you must create a mindset consistent with beliefs that support the truth you want in your future (hypnotherapists refer to this as “future projection” or “age progression”).

As will be shown in this book, it is important for the hypnosis practitioner to be familiar with the basic tenets of sports psychology so that he or she can adapt these strategies to hypnotic presentation. I have been using hypnosis and hypnotherapy since 1978 for a wide variety of applications including smoking cessation, weight loss therapy, and other addictions such as alcoholism and problem drinking, drug abuse/addictions, and pathological gambling (Tramontana, 2008a, 2009a). I have also used hypnosis for pain control during surgical procedures (Tramontana, 2008b), as well as many other areas in which I have not published, including lowering subjective pain with chronic pain patients, decreasing anxiety, obsessive-compulsive behaviors, fear of public speaking, trichotillomania, bedwetting, improving study habits and exam taking.

While there are some studies that specifically address sports hypnosis in the literature, there is not much on the efficacy of the hypnotic approach. Books that explicitly address sports hypnosis include Golf: Lower your score with mental training by Tom Saunders (2005), which refers primarily to mental training but has sections on hypnosis and self-hypnosis training, John Edgette and Tim Rowan’s Winning the mind game (2003), and Donald Liggett’s Sport hypnosis (2000).

Furthermore, while a wide range of generic scripts have been published, there is a dearth of scripts for working with athletes in their specific sports. The generic ones include a script in Allen (2004, pp. 325–327) that focuses on sports performance in general, while Havens and Walters (1989) provide scripts for maximizing performance (pp. 141, 161). In Hammond’s (1990) book of scripts, which functions as a cookbook for beginning hypnotherapists, there is a brief focus on arousal level and sports performance (pp. 466–467). Pratt and Korn (1996, p. 337) respond to questions regarding the efficacy of hypnosis in enhancing sports performance by providing some basic information on how it might apply. They include an example of how Ken Norton used self-hypnosis to prepare for the bout in which he beat Mohammad Ali. They note that he was already a very good boxer, so this technique did not suddenly transform him into a winner; rather, it helped him perform at his best.

Some authors suggest that therapists should only work with athletes in sports in which they have personal experience of playing. As will be seen in my approach, I disagree with this theory. While I have had experience of playing football, running track (sprints) and distance running, including five years coaching marathon runners, as well as having played basketball, baseball, and soccer as an adolescent, my belief is that the therapist need not have played the sport to be effective in what I refer to as hypnotic coaching. I have had successful outcomes in working with athletes across many sports that I have never played.

One of my early experiences in the application of hypnosis, shortly after attending a sports hypnosis workshop (Pulos and Smith, 1998), was with a female high school high jumper. I instructed the girl’s mother to ask her coach to write down for me some of the key phrases she attempted to instill in her high jumpers and I reinforced these hypnotically, with rapid and dramatic success. This case is presented in Chapter 3. This general approach can be seen in many of the chapters in terms of how I determined a course of hypnotic suggestion when dealing with sports in which I had no personal experience.

There are many more books on sports psychology, and I see sports hypnosis as a sub-specialty of sports psychology. Especially prevalent are publications on golf such as Timothy Gallwey’s The inner game of golf (1981), Tom Saunders’ Golf: Lower your score through mental training (2005), and three books by Robert Rotella: Golf is not a game of perfect (1995), Golf is a game of confidence (1996), and The golfer’s mind (2004), to name but a few. Gallwey had previously published The inner game of tennis (1974) and Inner skiing (1977), and in 1997 revised both. He demonstrates how the mental aspects of a sport generalize across many sports. He notes that ever since he missed a heartbreakingly easy volley on match point in the National Junior Tennis Championships at the age of 15, he has been fascinated with the problem of how humans interfere with their own ability to achieve and learn.

I have found these books and studies invaluable as a starting point to understanding the specific needs that plug into enhanced performance in a variety of sports. In my practice, I give clients some of the same suggestions that are offered conversationally by sports psychologists – albeit I deliver them when the client is in a hypnotic state.

In general, most sports psychologists focus on cognitive behavioral approaches to teach athletes effective thinking – the use of positive thoughts during competition. Much of the literature on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) originated with Ellis and Harper (1975) and Meichenbaum (1977). In essence, modifying either cognition (thinking) or behavior should modify the other. The primary focus, however, has been on changing the behaviors by altering thinking/cognition. I believe that hypnosis is an excellent example of how behavior can be changed first, through hypnotic intervention, and the resultant shift in thinking follows. An example is a client who describes a fear of public speaking. A strict cognitive approach would be to attempt to alter the individual’s behaviors by changing his or her thinking about public speaking. My experience, however, is that by using hypnotic techniques to help clients feel relaxed and calm while giving a talk, their subsequent thinking about their effectiveness as a public speaker becomes much more positive and the fear or anxiety dissipates.

Williams and Leffingwell (2002, pp. 75–76) write about how athletic performance is affected by what athletes think about themselves, their situation, and performance – and how this then impacts on their feelings and behavior. Pulos (1990) describes how high performance individuals know the power of self-talk. They have a system for programming themselves with positive messages which feed their cycle of self-esteem and self-confidence. He notes that positive self-talk emphasizes what can be done, not what might go wrong. He adds that negative self-chatter drains energy and creates toxic effects within individuals, while positive self-talk can create a psychic fountain which nourishes all aspects of one’s being. He describes self-talk as nothing more than “everyday waking hypnosis.”

While some sporting competition happens so fast that there isn’t much time to think during the event (e.g., a 100 meter sprint), others allow space for a great deal of self-talk, especially endurance sports. Even those sports that are fast-paced, however, allow for frequent negative self-talk, as will be seen in Chapter 3 on running and Chapter 8 on tennis.

I like to use stories and anecdotes about great athletes with clients to demonstrate the importance of the mental aspect of their games. In an article titled “Mental edge,” Hodenfield (2009) refers to the fact that winning takes more than muscles, strategy, and execution, stating: “The ability to win often comes down to sheer, ice-cold nerve.” He refers to a number of world-class athletes at the top of their games such as tennis star Serena Williams, golf’s Tiger Woods, skateboarding idol Tony Hawk, skier Lindsey Vonn, NASCAR driver Brian Vickers, and past football great John Elway. He quotes Serena Williams as saying: “You have to have the desire to achieve, to do better and do more and continually do, do, do. It’s an insatiable desire to not only win, but not to lose.” On Tiger Woods, he notes: “Very little in Tiger Woods’ physical motions resemble those of his childhood hero, Jack Nicklaus. The one tool they share is their most lethal weapon: An unshakeable, unwavering ability to concentrate.” He adds that John Elway’s business adviser stated: “That ability to think quickly and process is what he used in his playing days when he read defenses quickly. That’s probably why he was the greatest ever at the two-minute drill.”

Billie Jean King is one of the greatest players in tennis history. In addition to being a famous female champion, she is widely known for her cross-gender match with Bobby Riggs which many say opened the door for equal treatment of women in sports. Her book, Pressure is a privilege (2008) describes seeing pressure as a positive or “opportunistic emotion” which produces energy and makes it easier to focus and concentrate on what is happening now.

There are several reasons why I consider sports hypnosis to be an attractive sub-specialty of hypnosis or psychotherapy practice. First, I find it to be a fun and exciting sub-area of my general psychological practice. Typically athletes are not coming to see me because of psychological disturbance; rather they are seeking self-improvement in their sport. Second, the progress, gains, and successes are often quick, dramatic, and measurable. Third, since there isn’t a diagnosable mental condition, and treatment is not reimbursable by insurance companies, it is strictly on a private-pay basis. Finally, athletes are highly motivated to improve and are used to repetition in practicing their sport, so they are usually equally accepting of the need to practice self-hypnosis.

Occasionally, a client who has had a fall or other injury will present with a fear or anxiety about competing, and this can be handled well through hypnotherapy. For example, the athlete may be desensitized in much the same manner as a phobic patient would be. With one professional golfer with whom I worked, there was a psychological reason why he kept barely failing to “make the cut” (this case is discussed in Chapter 2). Because golf is so popular internationally and across many ability levels, I have had more requests for hypnosis from golfers than for any other sport. There appear to be many more participants, both amateur and professional, seeking any methods available to improve their golf scores. Consequently, Chapter 2 is the longest.

In the following chapters, strategies, scripts, and case examples will be presented in a number of sports for athletes with whom I have personally worked who desired to improve their performance. The sports covered include track and field (runners and jumpers); gymnasts and cheerleaders; equestrian competition; baseball, basketball, and football (the US “big three”); softball; tennis; volleyball; soccer; and Olympic shooting.

One interesting phenomenon described in Chapter 5 in working with equestrian show jumpers is the principle of everything “slowing down.” This “slow motion” phenomenon is similar to what I believe happens in other sports, although it is often just written off as “experience.” For example, the better professional football quarterbacks often talk about the game “slowing down” as they become more experienced. For example, Drew Brees, quarterback of the New Orleans Saints, is famous for his high completion percentage in which he will go through a number of “reads” before finding the open receiver.

Although some sports are not covered explicitly in this book, the reader can adapt the techniques presented here to work with any athlete. As will be shown in subsequent chapters, if the sport or event is one in which the therapist is not already proficient, of critical importance is communicating with the client’s coach, when possible, regarding the specific concepts that he or she is attempting to instill in the athlete.

Chapter 10 deals with recovering from injury and returning to competition, and Chapter 11 with substance abuse and other addictive behaviors among athletes. I recently published in the area of hypnosis with addictions (Tramontana, 2009a), so it fits in well for me to use these techniques with athletes. For any sports psychologist working with such issues, some grounding in addictions treatment would be helpful as well as some experience in the field of pain management. In the Conclusion, there are further suggestions regarding the generalization of these techniques and strategies for other areas in which peak performance is the goal.

In addition to hypnotic techniques, which might include age regression and future projection, I use cognitive behavioral approaches, reframing and other neurolinguistic programming techniques, systematic desensitization, guided imagery and meditation, and uncovering psychodynamic reasons for lack of success. These methods are employed both in and out of trance.

I have included numerous interviews in the book, such as with former National Football League player Brian Kinchen (Chapter 6), the former tight end and long snapper who snapped the ball for the New England Patriot’s winning field goal in Super Bowl XXXVIII. Brian was the subject of The long snapper (Marx, 2009), which focused on the mental turmoil he faced preparing for that game after being out of football for three years. Other interviews are with Leaf Boswell, Louisiana State University (LSU) equestrian coach (Chapter 5), Yvette Girouard, LSU women’s softball coach (Chapter 7); and Tony Minnis, LSU women’s tennis coach (Chapter 8). Coach Minnis was recently selected to coach the Southern US team in the national tournament for high school girls sponsored by the United States Tennis Association in August, 2010. In 2009, he coached the Southern team to its first championship in 12 years. His comments about the mental side of tennis are especially relevant for anyone working with competitive tennis players. I interviewed him because I had not previously worked with any tennis players and wanted to get some inside information in order to develop some protocols. The same was true for my interview with the softball coach, Yvette Girouard. As a result of these two interviews, I have already gotten a referral from Coach Minnis and expect some from Coach Girouard in the future. Coach Boswell has already referred one of her riders as discussed in Chapter 5. The reader will note that time was spent in each interview educating the coach, to some extent, on how hypnosis works. The goal of this instruction is that in addition to getting information from the coaches about their particular sport, I wanted coaches to feel comfortable about making referrals to me and confident that hypnosis training can be of benefit.

Readers will receive the greatest benefit if they read the entire book rather than just individual chapters addressing their particular sport because there is much crossover of information and, in several places, you will be referred backward or forwards to another chapter. For example, in Chapter 6 (Football, Baseball, Basketball), there is an interview with football player Brian Kinchen on the 2003 Super Bowl, but little did I know beforehand what an avid and competitive golfer he is, nor how much of the interview he would spend talking about golf.

Chapter 2 includes a description of a telephone consult I had with a young golfer between his first and second days of competing in a world championship tournament. More recently, I had two telephone consults with the equestrian referred by Coach Boswell. These experiences proved very fruitful and have encouraged me to work with other athletes traveling to compete in other states or countries.

The reader will note a series of dots in the scripts (e.g., “…”). These dots represent what I believe to be strategic pauses in the delivery of the script for emphasis and/or to allow the client time to process what is being said to them. Of course, therapists can modify or adapt pause points to fit more easily with their own personal styles.

A special note: If an athlete’s name is mentioned in the case examples, I have received written consent to do so. These are athletes I have worked with in the past; they are no longer clients, and no longer competing. This fact is important, as I do not wish to create a dual relationship in which an endorsement is given by a current client who then would serve as a marketing agent as well as a client.

Chapter 1

Overview of Hypnotic Approaches with Athletes

Whether you think yourself a success, or you think yourself a failure, in either case, you’re correct!

Anonymous

This quote is one of my favorites for all clients, not just athletes. Although the source is unknown, it sounds a lot like the work of Napoleon Hill in his book Think and grow rich (1938). Much of Hill’s work is about meditation and focusing on what you would like to see happen in the future (in business, finance, life). Hypnotherapists refer to this as “future projection” or “rehearsing future success.”

I anticipate that readers of this book will be different than those who have read my Hypnotically Enhanced Treatment for Addictions (2009), so some of the material on induction and trance deepening is repeated here. The strategies and techniques I use for entering hypnosis are the same regardless of the application.

One of the first issues I deal with when I first see an athlete – whether an adult who is a self-referral, but especially for young athletes who have been encouraged to see me by their parents – is to differentiate between psychotherapy and sports psychology. I explain:

While I am trained as a clinical psychologist, in no way does the fact that you are seeing me imply that anyone thinks you have a mental or emotional problem. Clinical psychologists often see people with mental or emotional problems, addictions, or other behavioral problems (the kids typically know someone with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder who had to see a psychologist). But sports psychology is a sub-specialty of psychology that does not involve these problems. So I’m not going to be your “shrink” as some people call it. Rather, I would like you to think of me as your mental coach.

One exception was a professional golfer (see Chapter 2) who was referred by a colleague who diagnosed him with generalized anxiety disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder. My colleague felt that hypnotherapy could help him with his clinical issues, but the client also wanted me to work with him on hypnotically enhanced achievement of peak performance. We decided we would focus on the clinical issues first, then later on golf.

While I spend time explaining hypnosis to all my clients, I believe a good orientation to hypnosis and self-hypnosis is especially important with the athlete-client. My reasoning is that the athletes spend so much time being coached on the mechanics of their respective sports that I want them to get a feel for the mechanics of hypnosis. I start by explaining that I think of hypnotherapy as involving two components: First, hypnosis is the art of getting the client (or self for self-hypnosis) into a hypnotic state and second, the therapy component involves what is done once the individual is in hypnosis. This represents the lens through which I see hypnosis working, as I understand it, and how I explain it to my clients.

When clients first come into my office, we discuss their presenting problems and determine the goal they wish to achieve. In this phase of information gathering, I especially like two questions recommended by Smith (2009) for beginning to work with athletes:

What percentage of your success is mental?What percentage of your time do you spend on the mental part of your competition?

I tell athletes the same story I relate to all my new clients, although it is perhaps even more significant for them because I use a coaching metaphor that came out of a session with a new client.

A number of years ago, I had a young man come in for his first psychotherapy session. I noticed from his information sheet that he had not been in therapy before. He was kind of fidgety and shuffling his feet. I asked him if he felt a little uncomfortable being there. He said: “Yeah man, I don’t know if I’m wasting your time and mine.” I responded: “I know, guys are supposed to solve their own problems, right?” He agreed, and I continued, “And big boys don’t cry, right?” Again he nodded in agreement.

Well, luckily for me, it happened to be that time of year, which happens