Hypnosis in sport performance "Mock Study"

Running head: EFFECTS OF HYPNOSIS ON ATHLETICS PERFORMANCE 1

EFFECTS OF HYPNOSIS ON ATHLETICS PERFORMANCE 2

Effects of hypnosis on athletic performance

Antonella Monrreal

Barry University

Nancy Graber

The principle hypnosis in sports

The hypnotic principle is good for sports improvement because of the concept of visualization and mental rehearsal. A mental visualization is a form of the hypnosis because it involves imagination that leads to rehearsal of the future activities. For example, an athlete, will imagine running through certain corners hence getting extra practice (Lesko, 2018). It creates a positive expectation in the mind of the athlete. Expectations can influence human behavior and motivation. When people create the right expectations in mind, it makes them channel all their dopamine in a direction that is beneficial. When athletes utilize hypnosis, it can build an expectation of winning in the next tournament, leading to the probability of doing well. Hypnosis that results in bad experience can lead to negative expectations and rehearse failure. The athlete can end up performing badly because of the negative mental rehearsal. Hypnosis in sports also works under the principle of the mind-body connection. There is a communication that goes on between the body and the mind. The mind influences what to think about, and the mind communicates with the body on how to behave. Hypnosis improves the performance in sports because it encourages the transmission of the right message mind to the body (Koehn, Morris, & Watt, 2014). The main contribution of the hypnosis is working and activating the unconscious mind to improve the beliefs and behavior. Hypnosis is used in the moderation of the physiological states and cognitive treatments such as psycho-physiological and behavioral change, depression and anxiety based disorders. Therefore, hypnosis is crucial for creation as well as maintenance of activation states of the mind which are positive. In athletic, hypnosis has been known to improve the performance and enhance self- efficacy. Self-hypnosis is a self- induced relaxation and heightening of the awareness that is used by the athletes as a technique for self-management. Self- hypnosis also accelerates another aspect including mental training.

Effects of hypnosis on athletes’ performance

Historically, hypnosis has been used by different people participating in sports such athletes involve champion boxers and footballers. Athletes who use hypnosis end up realizing success in their competition (Filho et al, 2018). Hypnosis improves the unconscious state of the mind which consequently affect the behavior and beliefs of a person. It changes the state of mind to become more active which is required by every player. Another way that hypnosis is very useful for is helping the athletes to deal with injuries and pain. It helps the athletes to learn how to dissociate with pain during the competition thus the participant would be able to play despite the pain and injuries. Relaxation also assists in managing pain and injuries which is an inevitable part of sports. Similarly, hypnosis improves the confidence of the sportspeople as well as their self-belief. The confidence is achieved by enhancing the mental attitude of an individual that helps in relaxing and eliminating anxieties hence boosting confidence (Kirsch, Montgomery, & Sapirstein, 2017). Additionally, it assists athletes to overcome distractions and maintain composure. Sometimes, it is hard for the brain to distinguish between imagining and doing something and visualization of success can be a strategy which can be utilized in winning a competition because the success will always be in mind. Most of the successes involves the use of hypnosis because it can relax and help the athlete or performer concentrate in what they are doing. The activation of the unconscious mind makes the mind visualize on the success and direct all the energy towards the sports activity.

Benefits of Hypnosis in athletics performance

First, hypnosis mostly concentrates on the human mind, and the mind of a human being is the driving force for behaviors, beliefs, and thoughts. In the case of athletes, the unconscious mind contributes to their limitation to good performance. The fears, anxieties, and worries are in the mind of a person and limit the activities that can be done by the body (Norsworthy, Gorczynski & Jackson, 2017). Therefore, hypnosis is important in managing those fears, helping someone understand the unconscious thoughts and allowing the athlete to conquer the fears. Secondly, hypnosis is one of the technique that allows the athletes to move to the next level through overcoming self- doubts. It helps them have a visualization of their skills improvement and their techniques which can be employed for them to win. Hypnosis can help the athletes to improve on their speed, increase mass of the muscles and agility. It also gives the athletes motivation when they have lost the morale hence realizing good performance (Pelka et al, 2016). Thirdly, hypnosis is important in assisting the athletes to hone the concentration. The hypnotherapy emphasize achieving a peaceful and relaxing mind state through calming both the body and mind. The relaxed minds assist the athletes to overcome anxiety which might be there prior their training, game, and exhibitions. This will help in having good performance and becoming winners.

References

Filho, M. L. M., Savoia, R. P., de Castro, J. B. P., Moreira, O. C., de Oliveira Venturini, G. R., Curty, V. M., ... & Ferreira, C. (2018). Effects of Hypnotic Induction on Muscular Strength in Men with Experience in Resistance Training.

Hau, M. (2017). Performance Anxiety: Sport and Work in Germany from the Empire to Nazism (Vol. 25). University of Toronto Press.

Kirsch, I., Montgomery, G., & Sapirstein, G. (2017). Hypnosis as an Adjunct to Cognitive— Behavioral Psychotherapy: A Meta-Analysis. Hypnosis: Theory, Research, and Application, 405.

Koehn, S., Morris, T., & Watt, A. P. (2014). Imagery intervention to increase flow state and performance in competition. The Sports Psychologist, 28(1), 48-59.

Lesko, J. A. (2018). Continuity and Change in the State of Flow and Athletic Performance Among Collegiate Basketball Players (Doctoral dissertation, Widener University).

Norsworthy, C., Gorczynski, P., & Jackson, S. A. (2017). A systematic review of flow training on flow states and performance in elite athletes. Graduate Journal of Sport, Exercise & Physical Education, 6, 16-28.

Pelka, M., Heidari, J., Ferrauti, A., Meyer, T., Pfeiffer, M., & Kellmann, M. (2016). Relaxation techniques in sports: A systematic review of acute effects on performance. Performance Enhancement & Health, 5(2), 47-59.