Under Pressure: Mind Focus for Athletic Performance

Elite basketball players train their mind to expect success.  (Photo source: Express.co.uk)

Why is it that when the clock is winding down and the game is on the line only certain players want the ball in their hand?  How do some players rise above adversity while others forever fold? 

I wanted to share this exceptional article published by ESPN.  Although it does not mention hypnosis or the practice of visualization, it does discuss the all-important mental conditioning required for exceptional performance in high-level athletic competition.


Rise Above It or Drown:  How Elite NBA Athletes Handle Pressure
ESPN (May 2019)

Kevin Durant can relate. He was a sophomore at National Christian Academy in D.C. and a blossoming star after being relegated to mop-up duty the previous season.

"I wanted to see my name in the paper," Durant says. "But when the time finally came, I wanted it so badly, I robbed myself of the moment."

Durant's team was down by two to Montrose Christian (Durant would transfer there as a senior) in the final seconds of the game when Durant was fouled.

As he stepped up to the line, he was suddenly lightheaded. His adrenaline was on overdrive, and no one had taught him yet that a few deep breaths would be helpful.

"My mind was racing," Durant says. "'What happens if I miss? What happens if I make it? Will everyone love me?' You weigh the pros and cons. Nothing felt right. All I could think of was if I missed. I knew those feelings, and I knew I would drown in them."

Durant, who went on to become an 88 percent career NBA free throw shooter, knew the second he released the free throw, there was no chance of it going in. He was too focused on the wrong things.

"I was so upset with myself," Durant says. "You dream about those moments, but when you dream about them, you always make the shot. And it's never a free throw.  You have to work on making that small little tweak in your brain where your thoughts are empty and free. But you only learn that going through the tough times and the losses and the misses."

Expect Success

Span's expectation for success set the stage for last night's victory.

A 10-game winning streak in professional baseball is tough to pull off.  Four walk-off victories in five days as part of that streak is a near impossibility. Yet, that is exactly what the Washington Nationals have accomplished during the past two weeks.

Yesterday’s game against the Arizona Diamondbacks was a pitching and defensive exhibition when Nationals center field Denard Span came to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning.  With no runs on the board for either team, Span hit a bloop single to center field.

According to the Washington Post, Span arrived at first base and thought, “Here we go again.”

Diamondbacks’ first baseman Mark Trumbo whispered to Span, “Just how you guys like it.”

Span proceeded to steal second base and then trot home with the winning run after the Diamondbacks third baseman threw wild to first on a relatively basic ground ball off the bat of Anthony Rendon.

Nationals win!

When asked during his post game presser about the string of victories, Nationals manager Matt Williams emphasized the daily preparation, training and effort his players invest to put themselves in a position to achieve success.  Yet, I’m confident the Diamondbacks put forth a comparable level of preparation.

The wild card here may very well be an expectation for success stirring in the Nationals dugout.  The team is confident it will achieve, while, at least last night, the Diamondbacks expected failure.

Success is the intersection of talent, preparation and confidence. 

College Basketball Star Sharpens Performance with Hypnosis

Basketball star Doug McDermott uses hypnosis for in-game performance.  (Photo credit: SI.com)

As you improve and advance in any endeavor – whether it is athletics, music, theatre, academics, etc. – the quality of competition ratchets up.  What then is the differentiation when everyone is talented, gifted and focused on success?

The answer lies in the ability a person has to prepare themselves mentally and emotionally.  To sharpen their mind on the positive; building a strong base of confidence and self-esteem.

Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks subscribe to this philosophy.  Here’s a link to a wonderful read in ESPN Magazine about how this NFL franchise invests in meditation and positive visualization to drive a higher level of performance.

College basketball star Doug McDermott of Creighton is also a believer.  This recently published profile by Sports Illustrated overviews McDermott’s use of hypnosis as a tool to improve game performance. 

Almost all of Doug McDermott's points -- including the career-high 45 he dropped against Providence last Saturday -- have been scored in a state of posthypnotic calm. At the CenturyLink Center he enters this state before warmups, when the 6' 8" senior forward retreats to an empty hockey locker room with Jack Stark. The Omaha-based psychologist worked with Nebraska's football dynasty in the 1990s, helps NASCAR drivers Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr., and has become attached to the basketball program at Creighton, a Jesuit school, partly because he believes he's doing his Catholic duty but mostly because he loves being around Doug and his father, Greg, the coach of the Bluejays.

Stark has McDermott lie on a training table and talks him into a deep-relaxation phase. Stark counts backward from five to one. McDermott arrives at a beach. There, he removes the clutter from his mind -- the anxiety of game day, the pressure of carrying an offense for a top 10 team, the desire to not let anyone down-- and puts it in a box, on a raft, and pushes it into the blue water. The tide carries it away.

Hypnosis opens the mind to suggestion, so Stark begins refilling McDermott's with positive past experiences, reminders of times when the points came easy. 

Confidence and Attitude: Winning Combination in Sports

Washington Wizards' Bradley Beal and John Wall.  (Photo Source: NikeTalk.com)

With the game tied and the clock counting down, the Washington Wizards’ Trevor Ariza grabbed an offensive rebound and passed the ball to John Wall who was more than 20 feet from the basket. 

Although not recognized as a great outside shooter and having an off game from the field, Wall calmly swished a three pointer that proved to be the game winner.

When interviewed by ESPN after the game, Wall shared some insightful thoughts, “I felt like I had some good looks, just like I did the other night and I just couldn't make them,” he said.  “But I stuck with it and kept playing defense, and didn't let it get me down."

Wall’s teammate, Bradley Beal, is known for his deft shooting stroke.  However, like all athletes, he goes through phases when he isn’t playing as well as he’d like.

Here is how he described his approach to the Washington Post, “Before, I would always get down on myself because all the shots I miss, I feel are easy shots for me to make. Shots I know I’m capable of making,” said Beal. “Whenever I have amnesia, it’s just forget about it. Just continue to shoot, continue to have fun and continue to play the right way.”

The confidence, focus and positive attitude demonstrated by Wall and Beal represents the mindset required by athletes at all levels (recreation, high school, college and pros) to achieve their potential.  It’s true in the classroom, on the job and in other endeavors.

When sharing the practice of self-hypnosis with athletes, the message I emphasize is that it’s a tool that can instill and reinforce confidence and a positive attitude.   Adversity is constant in sports.  How a person rises above it is something that can be learned.

Here are links to a few other articles I’ve written about hypnosis for athletic performance:

Whitman High School Athletes Give Hypnosis a Try

Hypnosis Sharpens an Athlete’s Mindset for Recovery

Hypnosis for Exceptional Athletic Performance

Pathway to Success, Achieving Confidence Through Hypnosis

A successful business presentation requires confidence.  Can hypnosis help a person achieve this mind-set?  Photo Source:  123rf.com.

Success in academic pursuits, athletic competition and career advancement is very much determined by confidence.  

Confidence is merely a state of mind defined by the honest, raw and all consuming belief that you are talented, skilled, focused and well prepared.  I will ace this test.  I'm going to be sharp during my presentation at work.  The game is at a critical point...I will make this free throw.

Of course, it's easier to aspire to then actually achieve this mindset.  That's because our conscious mind -- where rational thought and critical decision-making exists -- spends much of its time telling us why we cannot achieve things.

Can hypnosis help instill confidence, thereby inspiring a person to be more successful in life?

A few weeks back I met with a woman in her mid-20s who is pursuing a career in sales.  She has a world of natural ability and talent -- attractive, likeable, intelligent and strategic.

Yet, a lack of confidence had hindered her success when it came time to make a presentation to a prospective customer.  Her fall back was to typically bring a more experienced colleague to the pitch meeting and then shrink away by failing to interject her thoughts into the discussion.

After rapidly achieving a state of hypnosis, I asked her to visualize herself leading a new business presentation.  She pictured the audience responding well to her pitch, and respecting her knowledge about the product and the industry.  She imagined addressing questions (even the tough ones) in a calm and poised manner.

As we concluded the hypnotic experience, I encouraged her to think about how a successful business presentation had made her feel positive and comfortable.  And that this feeling of confidence will define all aspects of her life -- professional and personal.

Did this help her?  We'll see...I anticipate meeting with her again in December. 

Hypnosis is not magic as a person must have the talent, ability and discipline to prepare.  Yet, by conditioning the mind to accept success as the outcome, a sense of confidence can absolutely be realized.

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If you live in the Washington, DC area, please check out the event I'm hosting in partnership with Professionals in the City on Monday, November 19th in Georgetown.  It is entitled "Hypnosis: a Positive Approach for Exceptional Living."  You can find a 1/2 off registration deal at this link.

The Impossibility of Perfection

Perfection is a wonderful aspiration, right?

For many it's sought in physical appearance.  Do a Web search using the phrase "plastic surgery and beauty" and you'll see what I mean.

For others, perfection is paramount in professional or academic accomplishment, athletic achievement and/or family relationships.  I used the words "and/or" in the previous sentence for a reason.  That's because the desire to craft perfection in different aspects of life can become all consuming.

The perfect marriage...perfect kids...perfect friends...perfect career...perfect hobbies - I hear this all of the time from my friends, neighbors and people I interact with professionally.

To this my response is always the same:  "For me, good enough is good enough."

Perfection is simply an unrealistic expectation.  Its pursuit creates an unsustainable level of stress and dissatisfaction that can manifest itself in a myriad of unhealthy ways, such as restless sleep, irritability, illness, nagging physical injuries, poor career or classroom performance, etc.

In my pre-talk prior to the start of a hypnotic induction I seek to learn a bit about the person who has expressed interest in exploring emotional and physical balance and well being.  I don't probe too far, yet it is often apparent the person has set themselves up for failure and disappointment by pursuing perfection in aspects of their life.

It's not an age thing either.  Earlier this month I hypnotized a group of college and high school students who had defined completely unachievable goals for themselves in school, athletics and personal relationships.  A fair number of them expressed feelings of regret for perceived failure.

Hypnosis is a powerful tool that can help an individual let go of pent up stress and tension, and more effectively manage it in the future.

Plus, I typically encourage a person under hypnosis to embrace the concept they are beautiful, smart, energetic, confident and loved exactly the way they are.  Good enough is good enough!

Yuck!  The unrealistic journey to perfection can create stress and anxiety.  Source: CNN.com