Hypnosis For Sports Performance

Get Your Game On Through Hypnosis

Tiger Woods uses a little blink. Others may use a breathing pattern or a phrase they say to themselves. These ‘anchors’ and ‘triggers’ call up suggestions, put into body and mind muscle memory through hypnosis. The suggestions are designed to be exactly what you need to hear or remember to play golf or any activity to your best ability. 

Anchoring and triggering come from the world of NLP (neuro-linguistic programming). In NLP, ‘anchoring’ refers to the process of associating an internal response with some external or internal ‘trigger’ so that the preprogrammed response may be quickly, and sometimes covertly recreated. For example, if you watch Tiger Woods play you will notice he opens and closes his eyes before each shot. He is recalling his state of excellence, or what some may refer to being ‘in the zone.’  

“Golf is a blending of physicality and of visualization,” says Beth A. Snyder, a Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist and Master NLP Practitioner practicing in Sarasota (bethsnyderhypnosis.com). “That is why hypnotic techniques and suggestion therapy work so well for golfers,” she adds.

Snyder begins her work with a complementary consultation to discuss motivation and goals. “My approach is customized, because there are so many ways people block their own performance. Also, people have different areas they want to enhance,” she says.

She reports that some of her clients have to overcome the competitiveness of the game, or even need help to transform their own anger and frustration. If you are breaking your clubs or feeling more stressed after a game than before you start, then hypnosis can help to transform that anger into focus and enjoyment.

On the technical side, let’s say you are struggling with your long shot or putt. If so, Snyder can help you experience making the shot mentally. “Many times people are thinking about what can go wrong, not visualizing what will go right.” Hypnosis can turn that negative into the positive. By ‘seeing’ the perfect drive on the course, and setting up an anchor and trigger to that vision, you are conditioning and rewiring your brain and body for success. It puts the visualized shot into ‘mind muscle memory’ so that the trigger movement or phrase will bring back that ‘perfect’ feeling.

Sports hypnosis is not new; in fact it has been used by Olympic athletes and professionals to achieve excellence for many years. “I like to dispel any myths around hypnosis. It isn’t something that takes you over or where you lose control. It is an alert state, it wakes you up so you are more aware and able to achieve your personal best.”