Anyone who has pursued athletic endeavor understands that a large part of success contains several mental components: belief, motivation, perseverance, courage, concentration and focus.

While it is true that the body is required for athletic performance, it is also true that the mind greatly affects that function. If the mind is stressed or scattered, this manifests in physical ways. If the body is tense the muscles can fail to operate smoothly, leading to mistakes or even injury. Energy is used up by emotional or muscular tension and fatigue sets in. Hypnosis can help relax the mind and the body through a variety of methods, greatly improving the athletic effort and conserving energy.

Focus and concentration can be improved through hypnosis, allowing the athlete to narrow attention on the present task and eliminate outside distraction. Being adept at putting aside your daily stresses, worries and concerns frees your mind to do its best upon demand.

Visualization skills developed through hypnosis make the imaginary REAL...and what we think and believe, we become. Using this tactic will inspire and motivate you to stay on track, whether it is during training or practice or the actual event.

Mental rehearsal is another hypnotic technique designed to improve your game. Michael Jordan has stated that he has shot many more baskets in his mind than he ever did on the court. Using this tool during trance brings it a step further than just using your imagination: when you see and feel yourself in the athletic activity, it's like you are actually there, living it, which makes it very real to your subconscious mind. At that point, your subconscious memorized how that feels and recalls it later.

Removing negative thoughts and beliefs is another powerful hypnosis approach. Blocks that limit us may have been imprinted from past experiences or from other people. Fears or doubts that surface during physical challenge are often metaphors for ones in other parts of our lives. Identifying and blasting through these can greatly improve not only sports performance, but our life experience in general.

Enhancing feelings of confidence and success helps an athlete re-create past triumphs and forget any failures. Even for a beginner, past success in other areas can be utilized to spur him forward.

As an avid snow skier, golfer and holder of a black belt in karate, I am well versed with how important the state of mind is in achieving our athletic goals. Give me a call to talk about how hypnosis can help you improve your own athletic performance!