Mental Conditioning For Athletes

Time Magazine reported in a cover story during the 1984 Olympics, that in the darkness before the finals in women’s gymnastics - Mary Lou Retton, (16 years-old) laid in bed at the Olympic Village mentally rehearsing her routine ritual. She had done the same on hundreds of preceding nights, visualizing herself performing all her routines flawlessly in her mind, rehearsing them yet again and again. The end result was a routine of flawlessness, presented with charisma, composure and coolness, culminating in a gold medal.

Professional Caliber Athletes Succeed Using Mental Conditioning.

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For runner Lee Evans, a famous 400-meter Olympic champion and world-record holder, success involved visualizing every stride of his race. His strategy was to seek-out and correct weaknesses in every stride he made on the track. Evans perfected his form in his mind, and then accomplished the same feat on the track. With the use of dual conditioning and a powerful ability to focus entirely on each stride of every single race, Evan’s became a true champion.

At the 2006 Junior Olympics in Baltimore, Maryland — Shelby Kennard, (a freshman) set the high school record of 12′ 6″ on her first jump. Shelby said, “I used to get frustrated while training, especially during meets. I definitely was not meeting my potential. When I added Mental Conditioning to my training, I began improving fast. I still listen to sessions on my IPOD before every meet to relax and focus during competition. It also helps with taking tests and my school work, which is an added bonus.”

Angela Bailey, three time Olympian, Olympic Medalist, and an internationally recognized advocate of drug free sports said, “Before I was an Olympic Medalist, I was overwhelmed by fear and doubt. But I was determined to achieve my dreams. Then I discovered hypnosis, and the rest is history.”

Boxer Ken Norton attributed his world-famous victory over Mohammed Ali in part, to the addition of sports hypnosis to his rigorous physical training program.

Wayne Gretsky used Mental Training for the edge it gave him, enabling him to become one of greatest hockey players in the world.

Mental Conditioning Increases Focus And Concentration While Helping To Black-Out Distractions.

Tiger Woods has a definitive edge - his personal Coach, Jay Brunza, is a trained and Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist. Brunza has been working with Tiger Woods for years. There is no question that Tiger Wood’s great golfing performances have been greatly impacted by the Mental Conditioning techniques he has learned and uses every day.

Jack Nicklaus is well known for coining the phrase, “Golf is a game of inches and the most important are the 7 inches between your ears.” Three of the best golfers in the world, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Lee Trevino have all made use of Mental Conditioning techniques to improve their play, avoid distractions and help them play every single hole of each game “in the zone.”

Elite basketball champion, Michael Jordan is yet another example of how Mental Conditioning has powerfully effected and improved his sports performance. Phil Jackson (who re-joined the Los Angeles Lakers as head coach on June 14, 2005) is the NBA’s career leader in playoff victories and playoff winning percentages. Jackson has won nine NBA titles, tying Red Auerbach for the most all-time.

Jackson insists that the Chicago Bulls practiced daily Mental Conditioning techniques when he coached Michael Jordan and the Bulls to their 6 NBA Championships. Later, after coaching the Los Angeles Lakers to a win in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals in 2002, Jackson credited his morning practice of Mental Conditioning with giving the Lakers the belief they could win - so they did.

Perhaps one of the most famous examples of the benefits of Mental Conditioning for an athlete is the story of Rod Carew, one of American baseballs finest. Carew had suffered a serious injury, which while technically healed, left him with pain and an elevated sense of self-doubt. A sports hypnotist was consulted. Carew began sessions. In a very short time, Carew came back and had the best season of his career, with a batting score of almost .400. He went on to win the MVP Award that same year.

Major league baseball players such as George Brett and Damion Easley have both made use of Mental Conditioning or sports hypnosis to improve their performances.

The entire 1983 Chicago White Sox team used Mental Conditioning to help them win their division and reach the playoffs that year.

Famous tennis player, Jimmy Connors, used Mental Training to win the U.S. Open Championship.

“My visualization has been refined more and more as the years go on. That is what really got me the world record and Olympic medals. I see myself swimming the race before the race really happens, and I try to be on the splits. I concentrate on attaining the splits I have set out to do. About 15 minutes before the race I always visualize the race in my mind and “see” how it will go. You are really swimming the race. You are visualizing it from behind the block. In my mind, I go up and down the pool, rehearsing all parts of the race, visualizing how I actually feel in the water.” Alex Bauman, Olympic Champion.

In the 1988 Seoul Summer Games, the power of sports hypnosis on focus and performance was displayed beautifully when Olympic diver Greg Louganis hit his head on the board while performing a complicated dive during the 3 Meter Final. In what is considered one of the greatest feats in sporting history, Louganis, his head gushing blood, had the wound treated (while he put earphones on to listen to his Mental Conditioning tapes.) Amazingly, Louganis then went out to score a perfect dive the second time, earning him enough points to win the gold medal.