It is my honor to treat a number of professional, amateur and elite athletes. I wanted to share with you an observation from the recent Olympic events in Rio (2016) that can hopefully help your own performance in any realm.
In watching all the spectacularly talented athletes from around the globe competing in Brazil, I notice a pattern in the competition: anxiety increases exponentially when an athlete waiting to perform watches the successful athlete before him or her, and/or reads his/her score. If the previous performer excels, the athlete grows more nervous. The ole “tough act to follow” syndrome kicks in. If the previous performer does poorly, on the other hand, the athlete many times follows suit and makes a similar error!
Notice Michael Phelps makes virtually no eye or ear contact with anyone in his sphere before he hits his mark. He is in his own world, listening to empowering music, absolutely in his own world, focusing on exactly how he intends to perform. The legendary Vaudeville artist, Al Jolson, was famous for staying backstage in his dressing room, running the water faucet full blast before he went onstage to drown out the laughter and applause for the performer before him. Stagehands and others were forbidden from speaking about any other performer to him before he went onstage. He avoided crossing paths with other performers, using a different side of the stage to enter so that he was completely in his own zone, as free as possible from any suggestions but his own for excellence in his performance and connecting with the audience.
Watching the performer right before you, it is all too easy to take the non-verbal “hypnotic suggestion” that you, too, might fail. During competitions, unlike practice scenarios, athletes go into the fight-flight mode. This is equivalent to a hypnotic trance state. Whatever you see, hear, feel, and perceive in your environment can “slip into” your unconscious mind as a negative suggestion. It is crucial at this time to focus on only that which serves you. Easier said than done, I know. But many talented athletes, unfortunately, focus unconsciously on exactly what they do not want to do. This thwarts the ability to focus on what they do want to do: celebrate the love of the sport, win a place on the platform, and promote national pride for their country.
Of course in many sports, it is impossible to avoid your opponent’s performance (football, basketball, boxing, fencing, most team and one-on-one sports). But for the solo sports (golf, skateboarding, ice skating, triathlons, gymnastics), avoiding any excess arousal can allow you to stay in your zone.
Play ball…
The lesson to learn from the Olympiads is this: If it is at all possible in your sport, find a way to “run the water faucet” and avoid watching the performance of your competitors and seeing their scores. Ask your coaches and teammates to avoid apprising you of any other performances or anything but your goals.
For more sports enhancement, hypnotherapy ,or hypnosis questions, feel free to contact Dr. Nancy Irwin located in Los Angeles!