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Though not always flying under the banner of 'hypnosis', these days almost all top level sports men and women - and the elite mental coaches who work with them - use some form of hypnosis to aid them in performing at their very best.
Through its unique ability to harness the power of the subconscious mind, hypnosis is able to assist the sports person in achieving some really amazing results.
In today's world of competitive sport, where huge amounts of money - and very often national pride - are at stake, it simply makes sense for the athlete to use every legal means available to get real results.
Indeed, hypnosis has a very long history in connection with sports of all kinds.
For years, the Soviet Olympic team used it in order to give them the edge, and because of their success, it didn't take long for other teams to rapidly incorporate hypnosis into their own elite athlete training with impressive results.
Competitive sports, of course, are intensely results oriented. Strategies that just don't work and which fail to produce winning results are rapidly discarded, while those that prove themselves valuable are quickly adopted and incorporated into training - and performance.
The list of very positive advantages that athletes gain from using hypnosis is long and varied. Benefits include enabling the athlete to remain calm under pressure, maintain focus and eliminate distractions, improve mental stamina and increase endurance, ease pre-competition nerves, as well as improve the athlete's attitude and motivation.
Often, the mental coach or sports person will use terms such as 'creative visualization' or 'entering the zone'. What this really means is that the athlete is enabled to access and work directly with the subconscious mind, that powerhouse of beliefs and driver of abilities, in order to program it for success.
Since he was very young, champion golfer Tiger Woods, for example, has used hypnosis on a regular basis. His mental coach and family friend, Jay Brunza introduced the golfer to this powerful tool when Woods was just thirteen years old.
States Woods: 'We worked on a way to visualize the target and pull it back into my hands and body and let my subconscious react. That's what's best for me.' So successful was this strategy that: 'It is inherent in what I do now,' he declares.
In the UK, WBC Heavyweight Champion Frank Bruno and WBC Super Middleweight Champion Nigel Benn both employed hypnosis in order to perform at their peak.
And in the 1996 WBO Super Middleweight title fight Chris Eubank was defeated by Steve Collins, who attributed much of his success to the mental preparation he had achieved with hypnosis.
Collins had worked with former champion bodybuilder Tony Quinn and was hypnotically programmed to deliver two punches for every one thrown by his competitor. In the fight, Eubank threw 300 punches, compared to over 600 from Collins.
But you don't need to be a professional athlete or sportsperson in order to harness the wonderful power of hypnosis. You too can learn to use it to enhance your game, allowing you to fully enjoy yourself and the results you get from your sporting hobby.
If you want to be at the top of your game, it makes sense to seek out a properly qualified hypnotherapist, someone who has both interest in and experience of working in the field of sports hypnosis.
Do that and you too can put yourself into 'the zone' and become even more of a winner!
Peter Field is a leading British hypno-psychotherapist, with clinics in both Birmingham and London, England, and the author of numerous articles on psychotherapy, hypnosis and health. He is a Member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and Fellow of the Royal Society of Health. For more of his interesting articles, hypnosis for sports improvement and other helpful information, visit his website: http://www.peterfieldhypnotherapy.co.uk
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