Improve your sports performance with hypnosis
Whether you are a footy fan, tennis aficionado or have been recently enjoying the Commonwealth Games and European Championships, no one can deny that it’s been an amazing year for sport so far! With the Premier League just around the corner, I’m looking forward to the last sporting quarter of the year.
I never fail to enjoy this kind of competition. Watching top athletes at the peak of their performance is so inspiring, particularly when you think about the amount of dedication and hard work involved to maintain this level of fitness. As many of you know, I play tennis for fitness, fun and competition, but whatever the sport, and whoever I’m playing; I always make an effort to ‘get in the zone’ and visualise success beforehand.
Here are three of my hypnosis tips for sports performance:
Get in the zone
It’s natural to feel nervous before any kind of sporting event. Use steady, calm, diaphragmatic breathing to clear your mind of any anxiety or stress around sports performance.
Begin to breathe slowly and deeply in through your nose and out through your mouth with a steady rhythm. If you can, close your eyes to focus on your breathing. Visualise drawing pure fresh air into your lungs and clearing away any stale air with every out-breath. Enjoy the feeling of the clean air filling your lungs and continue breathing away any traces of stale air.
Take time to really focus on your breathing before, and during the activity. For example, if you are playing tennis, make sure to relax your body and breathe deeply between points. Before a race focus on your breath and performance, and block everything else out. You will be amazed by the difference in the way that you feel, and the way that you perform. Practice this self-hypnosis technique every day for best results.
Visualise your success beforehand
Footballers, golfers and others sportspeople regularly use self-hypnosis and visualisation to mentally prepare themselves before a competition. By seeing themselves succeeding, they are able to condition their brains into believing that they can do so.
Win or no win, before a big sporting event, see yourself beating your own personal goals, performing to the best of your ability and enjoying every minute. Close your eyes, breathe deeply and visualise performing at your best. Do this regularly in the run up to your competition event.
Imagine the sights and sounds that you would experience at a game, and really focus on bringing them forward in your mind, making them as clear and realistic as possible. Whether it’s the cheer of the crowd that spurs you on, the rush of endorphins brought on through exercise or just a healthy competitive streak that drives you, take these positive feelings to inspire you before an event.
A quote by Novak Djokovic sums this up for me: “In order to win against Rafa or Roger, you have to believe… there is no other way.” Before his Grand Slam wins at the Australian Open, French Open, US Open and Wimbledon, Djokovic already thought of himself as a champion. Confidence in his abilities, a great training regime and a complete focus on his goals made it a reality.
Novak Djokovic – photo by Gavin Zau
Work hard!
Despite what we are told by the media, great sportsmen and women are not empowered and inspired by fizzy drinks, processed sugar and fatty foods, but by a very real focus on succeeding, and developing what it takes to succeed. Training your body and your mind regularly sets you on a perfect path. When asked the secret to his success, Mo Farah famously stated that ‘It’s all hard work and grafting. It’s been a long journey grafting and grafting, but anything is possible.’
If you are looking to increase your sporting potential, you might want to try my recordings –
Sports Performance
Play Great Golf
These are great for amateurs or professionals alike, and helps achieve a peak performance state whenever you need to be at your sporting best.
Hypnosis is truly effective. I have tried this before and it works.
Hello Glenn! Hypnosis helps in better performance, improve your mental skills by decreasing your nervousness during clay shooting as well as any other sports. It is really a beneficial technique for an athletics in particular and general for all.
I really appreciate your efforts put on this blog. You have shared very valuable information for Sports Performance. This blog post will be very helpful for people. Thank you so much for sharing this kind of information.