Hypnosis For Sports 1

HYPNOSIS MEETS
SPORTS
Brain training for mental focus
in sports
By
Sheila Granger
Clinical Hypnotherapist (UK) DHP, GHR Reg.
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Sheila Granger
The Beverley & Molescroft Surgery
30 Lockwood Road
Beverley
East Yorkshire
United Kingdom HU17 9GQ
Tel +44 1482 638198
www.sheilagranger.com
Email think@sheilagranger.com
Dear Colleague and Fellow Hypnotherapist
I am very pleased that you have made the decision to take this
training, and I hope you will find it both useful and informative.
It has been designed to give you the tools and techniques to help
aspiring sports people in your local community and beyond to perform
at their best.
If you feel I can offer you further advice in the future, please do not
hesitate to contact me by email or telephone.
Sheila Granger
©Sheila Granger 2017 !2

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Table of contents
Copyright Warning ...............................................................................5
Introduction.......................................................................................... 6
Where Sports and Hypnosis Meet....................................................... 7
What can Sports hypnosis and psychological Interventions help with?
............................................................................................................ 8
The market for hypnosis ......................................................................9
1. Tickton Football Club ..through to Britains leading hypnotist!........ 10
2. The Competitive Horse Rider .................................................... 15
Horse jumping ...................................................................................16
Confidence ....................................................................................22
Tools and techniques for increasing confidence ............................23
Creating positive self-affirmations..................................................24
Drawing on past successes ...........................................................25
Drawing on the positives ................................................................26
Hypnotic Techniques for increasing confidence .............................27
Self-Talk ......................................................................................... 29
Tools and techniques for dealing with negative self-talk ................ 30
Hypnotic Techniques for negative self-talk ....................................32
The use of Power Triggers............................................................. 35
Pre-Competition Routines.............................................................. 37
Focus .............................................................................................38
Create a Strategy to Help to Refocus ............................................ 39
Script for Installing Self-Hypnosis ..................................................40
Improve Shooting Skills .....................................................................41
Example Invitation letter to sports team.........................................44
Press Release 1 ............................................................................45

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Hypnosis Script to Improve Shooting Skills ................................... 46

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Copyright Warning
ALL MATERIALS USED FOR THE CONTENT OF THE TRAINING

ENTITLED “HYPNOSIS MEETS SPORT - BRAIN TRAINING FOR
MENTAL FOCUS IN SPORT’’ ARE PROTECTED BY THE LAW OF
COPYRIGHT.
NO PART OR PARTS OF THE COURSE NOTES MAY BE

REPRODUCED BY ANY MECHANICAL, PHOTOGRAPHIC OR
ELECTRONIC PROCESS, OR IN THE FORM OF ANY
PHONOGRAPHIC RECORDING.
NOR MAY IT BE STORED IN A RETRIEVAL SYSTEM,

TRANSMITTED OR OTHERWISE COPIED FOR PUBLIC USE,
INCLUDING TRAINING OF ANY THIRD PARTY, WITHOUT THE
WRITTEN PERMISSION OF SHEILA GRANGER.
SHEILA GRANGER WILL TAKE LEGAL ACTION AGAINST ANY

PERSON OR PERSONS OR ORGANISATIONS IN BREACH OF
THIS COPYRIGHT STATEMENT, NO MATTER HOW SMALL.
THERE WILL BE NO EXCEPTIONS
©SHEILA GRANGER 2017
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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Introduction
I initially became involved in the area of sports when I very first

started out in my hypnotherapy practice. I personally found that it was
a great place to generate interest in hypnotherapy, simply by giving
talks to local sports teams - generated clients.
I began getting myself known in this area by offering a talk to different
types of sports clubs on “Psychological skills for success” and in the
audio that goes with this training manual I go into a little bit more
detail to how you might like to structure that session. Within the
training manual is the exact letter I send out to sports clubs to
generate interest, and the press release you can send to your local
media that lets clubs and teams know that you are available to help
them too.
I went on from those early days to work with tennis players,
badminton teams, golfers, boxers, clay pigeon shooters, horse riders
and runners.
When you think about it the list of sports people really is endless. I
have put this training material together drawing on my own
experiences in this field to share with you some simple psychological
and hypnosis tools and techniques that have worked for myself and
my clients.
Keep making a difference

Sheila

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Where Sports and Hypnosis Meet
According to research, sports performance has as much to do with
mental abilities as physical abilities.
Hypnosis is the training of those mental abilities, and can therefore

contribute to enhancing and improving athletic performance.
Mental training for sports people is gradually becoming more

recognised and acceptable as attitudes towards sports psychology
are changing, more and more sports people are happy to talk about
their mental coaching and indeed recognise the need to develop
mental skills that may give them that competitive edge.
Sports hypnosis can help anyone - from the young person new
into sport to the elite athlete.
Some Famous Users of Hypnosis…
Tiger Woods had a prestigious golfing career.

He was able to make shots that no one else could.
He used hypnosis since he was 13 to calm his mind, free his mind
from worry, pressure, distraction and focus on the pleasure of the
game.
Kevin McBride (boxer) is known for beating Mike Tyson in a

championship fight. The boxer used hypnosis to unlock his talent at
just the right time.

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What can Sports hypnosis and psychological Interventions help
with?
• Confidence Building
• Anxiety Management
• Arousal Control
• Dealing with Self-Talk
• Improving Motivation
• Maintaining Focus
• Competition Preparation
• Improving Mental Toughness
• Performance Enhancement
• Technique Rehearsal
This training manual is in the main psychology based with a few

hypnosis scripts and the techniques you will learn are widely
recognised to increase an athlete’s performance but can equally be
used in a clinical setting with clients with anxiety and depression. I’ve
also used the techniques in business settings around goal setting.

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The market for hypnosis

In the largest ever survey of sports clubs in the UK - published by
the Sport and Recreation Alliance (SRA).
There are 151,000 sports clubs in the UK, which each club having
an average of 141 adult members. That is a lot of potential exposure
for you and your business!
Organised youth sports are highly popular for youth and their families
in the USA with approximately 45 million children and adolescent
participants.
Seventy five percent of American families with school-aged
children have at least one child participating in organised sports.
Other key findings in the uk report include the average sports club
having 33 non-participating members - evidence that clubs don't
merely offer opportunities to play sport, but a social environment for
the community to be part of.
This in part perhaps explains why when I give a talk to the sports
people I also come away with work with all the other issues
hypnotherapy can help with!

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1. Tickton Football Club ..through to Britains leading
hypnotist!
This was one of those scenarios that was totally unplanned. Isn’t it
strange though that when you just do something to help somebody
else out, that the universe has a habit of paying you back…ten fold!
I was working in my clinic late one evening with a lady whose

husband was the coach of a local teenage football team, she was
telling me that this team really wanted to move up the league,
however they were due to play a team of “big lads” who had
completed wiped the floor with them the previous season. The score
had been 11 - 1.
She went on to tell me that they were going into the game with the
attitude that the same thing was going to happen again.
I offered to do a couple of sessions with them, to give them some
techniques to be able to really feel much more positive, and play at
their best when it mattered most.
Session 1 - Meeting the team
I went along to meet the team on one of their regular training nights,
and watched them train before introducing myself to them afterwards.
(I noted the number of times when they weren’t really focused on the
game, or were distracted by other things).
It appeared that their only issue was lack of focus and belief in
themselves.
©Sheila Granger 2017 ! 10

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Of course these boys had never met me before, and they were your
typical teenager, in fact if I had said something was black, they would
probably have said it was white! I had to find a way to engage them in
a way that they found amusing and interesting!
I started off by collecting some positive affirmations and doing a little
team building exercise.
I asked each in turn to tell me something positive that the person
sitting next to them brings to the team.
They came up with things like:-
“He gives great goals”
“He gives great tackles”
“His defending is brill”
I made a note of these, to use ahead of the “big game”
I then asked them “Do you want to know how to hypnotise
somebody?” to which the reply was “Yeah! I want to hypnotise him!”
I said “ Okay. I want you all to sit on the floor and stare at the football
in the middle of the floor and in your head you are going to give
instruction to the person sitting next to you, who you are going to
imagine hypnotising”
“ Imagine telling him to close his eyes but imagine he can still see the
football”
“ Imagine telling him to listen to any sounds in the room”
“ Now imagine telling him to keep his eyes closed but create an
image in his mind of a time he has played football at his absolute best
- lets call it his success image, it could be a time recently or from
ages ago, it really doesn’t matter. Make it really bright, really loud and
feel how it feels when you play like that, how you feel playing at your

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absolute best. Anytime in the future when you go out to play, you can
play to your success image, you can be that person, and if things
don’t go as planned, that’s okay, life happens, but you’ll immediately
shrug off any self doubt, negativity and return to playing to that
success image. All nod your head if you understand. Good.
Now you can open your eyes”
They all seemed to enjoy this little exercise, and it seemed to get
them on side. I also checked in with the coach, that he was happy
with what we were doing and that he would reinforce this during any
practice sessions.
Session 2
During session 2 we talked about focus/distraction. ( I’d noted on the

first session when i’d watched them train how often they were not
focused on the game).
I asked them what kinds of thoughts were running through their head
when perhaps the ball was up at the other end of the pitch perhaps “I
wonder what i’m having for tea?” or “What’s he looking at over
there?” I explained to them that every time this happens during a
match, every time they lose focus, they potentially give their
opponents a competitive advantage.
(Some sport psychologists believe that selective attention is the most
important cognitive characteristic of successful athletic performance
A split second loss of concentration during a critical play can spell the
difference between winning and losing).

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After talking about it for a while, they decided that when the ball
wasn’t with them they were simply going to recite the word “focus” in
their mind to fight off any needless distractions.
We also introduced a pre-match routine into this session, in the

changing rooms, prior to playing they spent a couple of minutes using
self -hypnosis visualising how they wanted the game to go - playing
to their success image - dumping any negativity. Then, immediately
before playing the whole team chanted their positive affirmations that
were collected in the first session.
The Results
Match day came, and my little football team went off to play the team
of “big lads” who had previously beaten them 11-1.
This time with a determined attitude to play at their best they still lost,
but..this time the score was 3-2! A huge difference, and they came
away feeling really proud of themselves.
The Press
It really took me by surprise where this little story ended up.
My local newspaper ran the story about how hypnosis had helped this
football team, and all the boys were thrilled to see their photograph in
the paper, but this was just the start of it….
The national newspapers feed out of local newspapers and it was the
start of the football Euros, so the biggest selling national Uk
newspaper picked the story and used the story as a lead in to the

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European football tournament to “How much of football is a head
game”. Of course the boys were astounded that they had gone
national, but again that wasn’t the end of the story. The times of India
then picked up the story and covered it as a front page article and I
was named as “Britains leading hypnotist” - a title i’d have paid for!
It just goes to show how far a local story can go.
I’ve included the press release at the back of this training manual,
that was used, so that you can adapt something similar for your local
media.

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2. The Competitive Horse Rider
I was contacted by a young lady of 23 years old who was a
competitive horse rider. Her speciality was show jumping, but some
months before she had taken a very bad fall, and broken a few bones
in the process. Whilst she would still hack out on her horse, she did
not want to continue riding just to hack out - that wasn’t where her
interest or passion was, and she would rather not ride at all, if she
wasn’t riding competitively. She wanted to get back to jumping but
fear was stopping her.
Session 1
In hypnosis we replayed the day of the accident - not how it actually

was, but how she would have liked it to have gone. We then installed
self-hypnosis and created a winning image - an image of her going
over jumps superbly.
Out of hypnosis, we set a three week plan for her riding. For the first
two weeks even if she really wanted to jump she wasn’t to do so until
the third week. ( we always want what we can’t have)
a. Week 1, mental training before every ride. (No trotting poles

or jumping).
b. Week 2, mental training before every ride, use trotting poles,

no jumping.
c. Week 3, mental training before every ride, jumps.

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She was also going to practice some mental training before every
ride.
Before every single ride she was going to do some self hypnosis
“Each and every time before you ride, sit somewhere quiet for a
moment, use self hypnosis to become relaxed, then see yourself in
your minds eye riding/jumping etc. looking calm and relaxed,
everything going how you want it to”.
Hypnosis Script Used
Horse jumping
I wonder if you can take yourself soon to a time, place in your mind
where you felt most relaxed, perhaps a holiday maybe, somewhere
skiing perhaps. Just take yourself in your mind to a time, a place
where there was really nothing much to think about, be concerned
about. Just take yourself in your mind there for a moment, almost as
though you're there again right now, all you could see, all that you
could hear, how it felt being there when you could just go with the
flow.
While you're there you can begin to ponder, perhaps, how good it
would be to be able to jump in a positive way, to just be able to get
over all the jumps.
Just get that sense, that belief within you, how you would perhaps
feel after you've done it, just going with the flow. Just for a moment,

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I'd like you to replay in your mind, perhaps times when you've had
bad experiences jumping, the times when perhaps you weren't able
to do it. This time, as you think about those times, I'd like you to think
about them in a slightly different way. This time, I'd like you to go
through those times again in your mind, not how they were but how
you'd of wanted them to have been. Replay those times again and
this time, see everything going just how you want it to but you there
just making it happen, going with the flow in a really positive way,
almost imagining that any tension just disappears.
As you create that feeling, I'd like you to create a really clear image in
your mind of how you want things to be, a success image of you
jumping and making it happen, what that looks like, almost like taking
a snapshot photograph of yourself. Then getting that really clear
image in your mind of
what you want to achieve you going over all the jumps. Maybe it's the
body language of that you there that looks so calm, relaxed. Perhaps
it's the expression on your face but think about a really clear image in
your mind. Any time you find yourself with any of those self-doubts,
you immediately become aware that you're thinking negatively. Find a
way to dump those thoughts, bury them in the garden, throw them out
a car window. It really doesn't matter how you do this, but
immediately replacing those doubts with that image of you, that
success image, you making it happen.

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While you're feeling so relaxed, I'd like you to take a moment to begin
to see yourself in your mind's eye, as you arrive at the arena and
looking so calm, so relaxed, getting your horse ready. As you go out
to your jumps, you instantly relax a hundred times deeper than you
are now, knowing that the horse can make it happen, you can make it
happen. All you need to do is just go with the flow so that everything
can work out just how you want it to.
Just take a moment to get a sense or feeling of going and doing that
right now and to see how much better things can be when you do just
go with the flow, getting a sense of going over those jumps, letting the
horse just do what it knows how to do, so that you can just enjoy it
and allow things to be and be positive with just going with the flow.
The more you practice this ... As human beings, whatever we do and
whatever we practice, we become really good at. The more you
practice this and the more you're in a very relaxed place, you find that
it's just how things will be.
You can find yourself going with the flow and making it happen feeling
calm, relaxed, feeling good.
I'm going to wake you up now. I’m going to count from five to one.
When I get to one you'll be able to open your eyes. You'll be wide
awake, fully alert. You'll feel really good inside. Five, just slowly,
slowly waking, four, waking a little bit more. Three, feeling some
energy. Two, feeling really good inside. One, you can open your eyes.

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Session 2
I caught up with this lady after two weeks, and the change in her was
remarkable, she was raring to go to do some jumping and felt like she
was being held back from this now.
We finished off by finding away for dealing with any self doubts that
may creep in when she was actually riding, any negative self talk
about hers or her horses ability to get over a jump, and for her it was
simply enough to realise that it was “just a thought” and she didn’t
have to think it, she had the control back. She’d got her winning
streak back.

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3. A Tennis Players Anger
The Paradoxical intervention

Reverse psychology, sometimes you have to act it out in
order to get rid of it, instead of getting angry they do
something silly.
I’m sure some of you remember the angry outbursts of John McEnroe
at Wimbledon. “You cannot be serious!”
Had McEnroe used tantrums as a way of motivating himself?
He says that they had become a defence mechanism. If you're out

there and things are going badly, are you going to cry or break down?
Eleven years old and angry

I had a lady bring her eleven year old son to see me, he was a
brilliant tennis player and due to play in the nationals, but what was
letting him down time and again was his anger. When I met him he
was lovely and engaged with me very easily. When I asked him why
he got so angry, there was nothing involved or complicated, it was all
very straightforward.
When he thought his opponent was cheating, or not playing fairly, he
got really cross. (fair enough, I thought)
I asked him, “If you could do anything at all to them, what would you
do”?
He replied “ I’d smash their face in with my tennis racquet”

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“Okay, I said, what if you did do that..just in your head. Next time this
happens, when you get that thought that your opponent might be
cheating I want you to go to the back of the court and in your own
mind hit him as hard as you want with your racquet, then immediately
dump that image and replace it with your very own winning image. Go
back on the court and resume play. Do you think you can do that”
He went away, agreed to do that at the match he had coming up at
the weekend.
I asked him if he would send me a text after the match letting me
know how he’d got on.
On the Saturday afternoon, I received a text from him, it said “It was
okay”. Then about an hour later I received another text message that
said “ Mum said I had to tell you that I won”
It goes to show that some very simple techniques can make all the
difference.

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Confidence
The world of sport recognises the importance that confidence has
upon success. The great boxer Muhammad Ali said “To be a great
champion you must believe you are the best. If you’re not, pretend
you are.”
Self confidence and attitude are vital if you want to

succeed in your sport
Vealey an expert in sports psychology describes confidence as "the

belief or degree of certainty individuals possess about their ability to
be successful in sport”.
Most sports people believe it or not are not particularly confident in

themselves, with our sports hypnosis though we are looking to help
the client to create confidence in a specific situation as opposed to
general self confidence.
At some point, without doubt a sports person will suffer a a loss of

confidence, perhaps due to some poor performances, or they might
have had an injury that has taken them out of the game for a while.
Circumstances that have had an affect on the image they have of
themselves.
Confidence is a skill, much like technical skills, that can be learned.
Just like with any type of skill, confidence can be developed through
focus, effort, and repetition.

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Tools and techniques for increasing confidence
As Hypnotherapists we need to make sure that our client has a skill
set to use that enables a consistent self-image regardless of wins or
losses.
Increasing Confidence with Psychological Interventions
Self-image is something that your client has created on their last few
performances. Out of hypnosis find out about the self-talk and images
that the client will be without doubt continuing to replay over and over
in their mind about these past performances. Are their specific words,
negative statements that they are reinforcing to themselves? Is their a
particular scene from the competition/match that is the part that they
are highlighting?
Confidence can be increased by use of the following

psychological Interventions:-
• Creating positive self-affirmations

• Drawing on the positives
• Drawing on past successes

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Creating positive self-affirmations
Self-affirmations are positive verbal statements that are to be be
expressed aloud or internally. They are designed to place your clients
mind and body into highly resourceful states.
Help your client to write down ten different self-affirmations, all
designed to work in different contexts.
If in your discussion with them they came up with a number of
negative self statements, take each of these statements in turn, and
ask them if they were to turn this statement into a positive, what
would it say? It is important that the affirmation is in the words that
they would choose.
For example; “I am going to have the best game of my life’’ is a self-
affirmation that your client could use just before a big performance.
Once your client has written down their affirmations, get them to
practice using them in the desired situations, remembering that the
self-affirmation can be expressed internally or externally. Both can be
equally effective.
The affirmations must be stated in the present tense, for example “I
am performing at my best and it feels fantastic.” This way the
message is more effective as it directly relates to a current emotional
state.
It may be useful for children to put their affirmations on a wall at

home, perhaps in their bedroom, or somewhere they can see them all
of the time.

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Drawing on past successes
Ask your client to close their eyes and focus on their breathing for a
moment . Next asking them to imagine a time when they performed at
their best - thinking of one of their greatest past performances
Continuing imagining this with their eyes closed recreating all the
sights, sounds and feelings of that greatest past performance. Then
leave them for five minutes or longer indulging in this performance,
asking them to nod their head when they have no doubt that they can
recreate that past performance again in the present moment.

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Drawing on the positives
At the end of each match, write down 3 things that you did well.
To keep confidence high regardless of a match win or loss, I

encourage a discussion of all the positive things that happened
during the game/competition. What were the parts of the performance
that are to be celebrated? What went really well?
At the end of each match, write down 3 things that you did well.
When working with a team - ask the coach if he/she is happy to do
this.

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Hypnotic Techniques for increasing confidence
As I have already mentioned, mental rehearsal is a powerful tool that

most top athletes have used at some point in their careers. Mental
rehearsal can be used to recreate past successes. This gets your
client into a positive internal state, and reminds them that they have
the resources they need to succeed. Installing these images, sounds
and feelings with hypnosis of course makes them much more
powerful!
Installing a success or winning image with your client and anchoring
this ensures that they always have a technique at their disposal
should they need a boost of confidence.
Script for installing a success/winning image
Apply appropriate induction/deepener.
Take yourself back in your mind to that game/competition/poor

performance that you told me about, and when you can recall it, just
nod your head so that I know you have got it. Good. Now just play it
through in your mind.
Now go back to the beginning of it and play it through again, but this
time i’d like you to do something slightly different. This time i’d like
you to play it through again not how it was, but how you would have
liked it to have been. Play it though how you would have liked it to
have been. Then do this again two or three times times. When you’ve
done this three times, played it through that same performance how

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you would have liked it to have been -just nod your head so I know.
Good.
Now I’d like you to recall a time when you have performed at your
absolute best, your most outstanding performance, a part of a game/
match that was just brilliant, and when you can recall such a time just
nod your head so that I know. Good.
Now, you can just focus on that scene now, the enjoyment, all the
feelings, make the image bigger in your mind, make it brighter, bolder.
Take a snapshot photo of that scene. Then give that snapshot photo
a name. Now i’d like you to squeeze your thumb and finger together
and all the feelings will get bigger and bigger, much more intense,
more and more powerful. You can now release your finger and the
feelings go back to normal, squeeze the fingers again now whilst
saying the name of that snapshot photograph and the feelings
become more and more powerful. You can now release your finger
and the feelings go back to normal, squeeze the fingers again now
whilst saying the name of that snapshot photograph and the feelings
become more and more powerful.
At anytime in the future when you need to access feelings of
confidence you can simply squeeze those fingers together, and say
the name of that photograph and all the feelings, confidence and
energy will be there for you.
Awaken then practice recall in alert state.

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Self-Talk
Self-talk is an umbrella term for the way individuals think and talk to
themselves about a situation. Self-talk can be positive, for example
‘’’Great shot!’’ or negative, such as ‘’you idiot!’’
The Australian Sports Commission carried out research that
demonstrates the detrimental impact negative self-talk has on
performance and having a positive attitude when it comes to athletic
endeavours improves performance.
Young people, in particular, can benefit from learning more about
positive self-talk. Improvements in their inner dialogue can improve
both their attitude and performance and can have a positive influence
on their interactions outside the sporting sphere.
A common presentation for our young athletes is an inner dialogue
that is dominated with doubt and negativity. Common expressions we
hear from our young athletes are:
“I’ll never be able to do it!”,
“I am no good at it,”
“there is no point trying.”
This type of negative self-talk can prevent a young athlete from
performing well and create a negative cycle of poor self-esteem and
poor performance. If a child feels they can’t be successful at a task,
they often accept, and even expect failure. Negativity can turn a
child’s insecurities into a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Negative self talk leads to tension, increased anxiety, frustration,
anger and lower self-confidence. Positive self-talk can enhance
motivation, confidence, focus and subsequently overall performance.

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Tools and techniques for dealing with negative self-talk
Psychological Interventions for negative self-talk
We should in every instance when working with sports people

highlight to them how any negative thoughts can impact on
performance, and help them find a way, that works for them to deal
with these. Initially the first step has to be around having that
conscious awareness that we are experiencing a negative thought.
Then having a technique to process it.
Interrupting and replacing
Most tools and techniques for negative self-talk involve “interrupting”

the negative thought and “replacing” it with a positive one.
One particular runner I worked with favoured the ‘rubber band’

technique. He wore a rubber band around his wrist. When he noticed
the intrusion of a negative thought, he’d snap the rubber band on his
wrist and repeat an inspiring quote that really motivated him.
Rubber Band Technique

Put a rubber band around your wrist. Whenever you want to stop an
unwanted thought, say "Stop" to yourself and snap the rubber band at
the same time. After a while, you will be able to just snap the rubber
band to stop an unwanted thought.

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Another client, a boxer would do a couple of star jumps and

consciously take a deep breath to shift from an unwanted thought
pattern.
For any of these to be successful, you must advise the client

that they must be practiced and rehearsed repeatedly.

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Hypnotic Techniques for negative self-talk
Hypnosis Script for Negative Self-Talk
Apply appropriate induction/deepener
I would like you to take yourself in your mind to a time and place
where you felt really relaxed. Perhaps a time just being on holiday, or
just somewhere really peaceful. Take yourself in your mind to a time
or place where you felt really relaxed. Almost as though you are there
again right now. All you can see, all you can hear.
Then for a moment I would just like you to focus on your breathing. I
want you to notice every inward breath and every outward breath and
imagining that each breath is coming from a point that’s just behind
your belly button, that every breath is coming from that point, just
behind your belly button.
I would like you to take a moment to think about all those thoughts
that hold you back. All the ‘what if’s?’, the self- doubts, and just
wonder for a moment how you performance may be without any of
those intrusive kinda thoughts.
I would like you to find a way, your way, to dump all those thoughts.
After all, they are just thoughts. All those unhelpful thoughts. You
could maybe imagine dumping them in a rubbish bin. Throwing them
out a car window. Burying them in the garden. Find a way, your way
of dumping all those unhelpful thoughts.

!
Or you may be simply saying to yourself ‘okay, i’m having a thought
that….., but it is just a thought, it doesn’t mean it’s real’
Next I would like you to create an image in your mind of you. Your
winning image, your success image, and image of you performing at
your absolute best. It feels good. It feels so good, and you can make
that image bigger, you can make it colourful, you can make it loud.
Anytime you find yourself with any of those unwanted thoughts you
will immediately become consciously aware that you are thinking
negatively and immediately imagine dumping those thoughts and
replacing them with your winning image, your success image, and the
more you practice this the better you become at it, the better you
become at it, the more confident you feel, the more confident you feel
the better you perform, just nod your head if you understand. Good.
Awaken
Remind your client after the session:
“The best athletes say that they always visualise succeeding in their
sport they are about to undertake in before it happens. This allows for
their brain to comprehend and understand what it is needed to do and
achieve.is actually a mental rehearsal of an event that you create in
your mind. This allows you to practice as many times as you want, at
any time in any place. At little as five minutes a day can have a huge

!
impact. Simply spend five minutes away visualising yourself being
successful in your sport.”

!
The use of Power Triggers
Imagine the scenario two competitors are nearing the end of a race
and are head to head. They are getting tired..one of them needs an
extra burst to get past their competitor and win the race….
Increasing Arousal
You can increase arousal at a time that it is needed most by creating
a power trigger. a surge of energy when your client needs it the most.
Specific sports people may benefit most from this technique. For
example:- Swimmers, Runners.
Hypnosis Script to install a power trigger
Apply appropriate induction/deepener
If you were to imagine you were a creature of great power and

strength, I wonder what creature you would be?
(swimmers might imagine themselves as a dolphin. Runners may
imagine themselves as a cheetah. It is important that they create the
image for themselves.)
I’d like you to imagine that you are now taking on all the extra
strength and energy of that creature, your whole body taking on all
that extra power, your muscles, your legs, your arms, your whole
body becoming that creature of great power, great strength, and
when you can feel all that extra energy, all that extra strength simply
squeeze your thumb and finger together. Good. At anytime in the

!
future you need to access that extra strength, that extra energy, that
extra power all you need to do is squeeze that thumb and finger
together.
Awaken.

!
Pre-Competition Routines
Routines enable athletes to be completely physically, technically,

tactically, and mentally ready. They are most often used before
competitions to make sure that athletes are prepared to perform their
best.
The primary benefit or purpose of a mental preparation plan is to get
the athlete in a mental state that seems to relate to successful
performance.
Creating pre-competition routines
A Pre-competition routine is a clear plan, a “to do list” for them to

follow before a competition to get them in the right frame of mind. In
particular if they report feeling lethargic or anxious before a match,
help them create a pre-competition routine.
(With my little football team, we did affirmations, visualisation, winning
images, directly before going out to play)
Your client might already do things that work for them so you can
build on this.
Twenty minutes before - Get them to find a quiet corner, to use self
hypnosis, and visualise their performance being exactly how they
want it to be, perhaps including techniques the coach has taught
them.
Five minutes before the game, they do an abbreviated version of this,
sitting in the changing room, pick a spot on the wall to focus on, deep
breath, go into calm place, visualise their winning image.

!
Focus
If two athletes have equal skill and ability, it is almost certain that the
one who is able to best focus on the task at hand will be the one who
prevails.
The ability to concentrate on the task in hand in sport is essential to
success in many sports.
A lack of focus can be caused by internal things such as thoughts,
emotions, and physical responses, and also external things such as
sights and sounds.
Focus in sports involves focusing only on cues that help you to
perform at your best.
Athletes who are skilled at concentrating have the ability to focus
intensely on some things while blocking other things out.
The first step is to get the client to recognise who and why they tend
to lose focus.
Recognise when and why focus is lost

This is the most important step in dealing with distractions. Ask them
about their past performances, how and when did they get
distracted? Were they external or internal distractions? When the
other team scored? After making a mistake?
Help them to make a list of their most common distractions.

!
Create a Strategy to Help to Refocus
Once you have identified the triggers that cause them to lose focus,
you can figure out what can help them to forget those distractions and
get back on task.
I always recommend using a statement or mantra to help regain
focus, such as "that's not important, lets play" or "let it go, focus on
the next play".
To make this refocusing stick, I would also recommend that you install
the strategy in hypnosis, and make it part of the mental rehearsal in
their pre-competition routine.

!
Script for Installing Self-Hypnosis
Apply appropriate induction and deepener
At anytime in the future you can put yourself into this very relaxed
place simply by closing your eyes and counting from one to ten,
matching each number with your breathing, and with each outward
breath saying to yourself the word relax.
So, at anytime in the future you can put yourself into this very relaxed
place simply by closing your eyes and counting from one to ten,
matching each number with your breathing and with each outward
breath saying to yourself the word relax.
And in this very relaxed place you will find it incredibly easy to
practice anything you choose with great precision. You will be able to
practice your chosen routines and competitions over and over in your
mind in great detail, perfecting every detail calmly and with great
clarity, and the more you practice this the better you become at it and
the more relaxed you feel.

!
Improve Shooting Skills
I wonder, if you can think of a time in your life when you felt most
relaxed, a time when you felt at ease, maybe a country you visited
sometime. Just take yourself and your mind to a time, a place where
you felt most relaxed, almost as though you're there again. Back at
that time. All you could see, all you could hear, how it felt. A time you
can remember, any time you choose. While you there how good it'd
be if you could shoot just how you wanted to, if everything could just
be done correctly just like a sewing machine. How you would feel
achieving that again.
While you're feeling so relaxed I'd like you imagine the time just
before you go on the stands and notice that you there looking totally
relaxed, determined. Before you go on that stand you can even take
a moment to take yourself in your mind to a time, a place where you
feel totally relaxed, undisturbed. You can notice yourself finding a way
to almost tune out any distractions. Focused, completely determined.
You can notice yourself maintaining that focus. If at any time you find
yourself with any of those distractions or perhaps that you there
looking around you'll be looking for problems that don't exist, become
consciously aware you're losing focus, you immediately refocus on
the job in hand.
Notice yourself, on that stand standing correctly. You can check that
you're standing correctly. As you do so you can imagine that you

!
there mounting that gun free of any distractions, totally focused.
Notice yourself being totally relaxed, mounting that gun. You fix your
eyes just beyond that trap, your eyes are fixed beyond the trap. You
take up any necessary slack. That you there is totally relaxed, totally
focused, your eyes fixed, you can call a nice, relaxed
‘pull’. You maintain that position as you see that clay away 10 yards
you find your eyes, your gun move in unison, fast, smooth.
I'm going to go quiet for a moment George while you can take the
time, so you can practice in your mind all of the necessary moves.
That you there relaxing before you go on the stand determined and
focused, standing correctly, mounting that gun, focused, mounting
that gun, relaxed, your eyes fixed.
The more you rehearse this, the more you practice it in this very
relaxed place the sooner it will be you can find yourself relaxing more
and more, maybe doing that pre-competition routine. Relaxing before
you go on stand. Practicing focus. Knowing that you can be your very
best. As human beings whatever we practice become really good at.
The more you practice with this recording the more improvement
you'll see.
I'm going to wake you up now. I'm going to count from 5 to 1. When I
get to 1 you'll be able to open your eyes. You'll be wide awake, fully
alert and you'll feel really good inside. Five, just slowly slowly waking,
Four, three, feeling some energy now starting to work its way through

!
your body. Two, feeling really good inside. One, you can open your
eyes.

!
Example Invitation letter to sports team
3/1/17
Invitation to Beverley football club
I am a professional Clinical Hypnotherapist based here in Beverley Town Centre, I

run a very busy full time practice. However once a month I offer free training to just
one particular group or club in order to help the local community.
This month I would like to offer your team a one hour “Psychological skills training
for success” training with myself, completely free of charge.
Psychological skills in Sports can help with focusing on success, feeling calm and
focused at will, overcoming mental blocks and barriers, reinforcing self-belief,
performing at your best when it matters most, motivation and positive thinking.
If you would like to accept this offer, please contact me on the telephone number
above, in order that further arrangements can be made.
I very much look forward to hearing from you.
Kind Regards
Sheila Granger
Clinical Hypnotherapist

!
Press Release 1
Press release: Is sport just a mind game?

A local team of under 14s footballers beat a losing mentality, using the power of the mind
with clinical hypnotherapist, Sheila Granger.
Tickton FC in East Yorkshire had suffered a heart-breaking defeat of 11-1 in the previous
season against another team whose players who were bigger and bolder. The coaches
and parents were in despair as the youngsters said they couldn’t take another
hammering and didn’t want to play the match.
Coach, Mike Talbot said:

“We felt terrible for the kids. They had worked so hard but were expecting to get beaten.
One of the parents had been a client of Sheila Granger’s hypnotherapy practice and
when she mentioned it, Sheila said she could help.”
“Sheila came along to watch a training session and found players were lacking self-belief
and focus. They undertook two group sessions at our training ground. The lads were a
bit reluctant at first but Sheila made it fun and worked on their level. There was nothing
magical or strange about it, instead Sheila told us how to hypnotise someone and guided
us all through a simple process of relaxation and visualisation of a success image
performing at their absolute best. In the second session we focussed on removing
distractions to avoid giving competitors the advantage.
Sheila Granger adds:
“Some sport psychologists believe that selective attention is the most important cognitive
characteristic of successful athletic performance. A split second loss of concentration
during a critical play can spell the difference between winning and losing. I see this a lot
with my clients, but hypnotherapy helps to switch off these negative thoughts and focus
on winning instead which in turn improves performance.”
“We also introduced a pre-match routine so that prior to playing they spent a couple of
minutes using self-hypnosis, visualising their winning image and dumping negativity by
chanting positive affirmations.”
“On match day the team went off to play the “big lads” and this time with a determined
attitude to play at their best they still lost, but the score was 3-2, a huge improvement
and they came away feeling really proud of themselves.”
“This team is a classic example, that shows football and many other sports are as much
a mind game as physical fitness and skill.”
Ends.

!
Hypnosis Script to Improve Shooting Skills
I wonder, if you can think of a time in your life when you felt most
relaxed, a time when you felt at ease, maybe a country you visited
sometime. Just take yourself and your mind to a time, a place where
you felt most relaxed, almost as though you're there again. Back at
that time. All you could see, all you could hear, how it felt. A time you
can remember, any time you choose. While you there how good it'd
be if you could shoot just how you wanted to, if everything could just
be done correctly just like a sewing machine. How you would feel
achieving that again.
While you're feeling so relaxed I'd like you imagine the time just
before you go on the stands and notice that you there looking totally
relaxed, determined. Before you go on that stand you can even take
a moment to take yourself in your mind to a time, a place where you
feel totally relaxed, undisturbed. You can notice yourself finding a way
to almost tune out any distractions. Focused, completely determined.
You can notice yourself maintaining that focus. If at any time you find
yourself with any of those distractions or perhaps that you there
looking around you'll be looking for problems that don't exist, become
consciously aware you're losing focus, you immediately refocus on
the job in hand.
Notice yourself, on that stand standing correctly. You can check that
you're standing correctly. As you do so you can imagine that you

!
there mounting that gun free of any distractions, totally focused.
Notice yourself being totally relaxed, mounting that gun. You fix your
eyes just beyond that trap, your eyes are fixed beyond the trap. You
take up any necessary slack. That you there is totally relaxed, totally
focused, your eyes fixed, you can call a nice, relaxed
‘pull’. You maintain that position as you see that clay away 10 yards
you find your eyes, your gun move in unison, fast, smooth.
I'm going to go quiet for a moment George while you can take the
time, so you can practice in your mind all of the necessary moves.
That you there relaxing before you go on the stand determined and
focused, standing correctly, mounting that gun, focused, mounting
that gun, relaxed, your eyes fixed.
The more you rehearse this, the more you practice it in this very
relaxed place the sooner it will be you can find yourself relaxing more
and more, maybe doing that pre-competition routine. Relaxing before
you go on stand. Practicing focus. Knowing that you can be your very
best. As human beings whatever we practice become really good at.
The more you practice with this recording the more improvement
you'll see.
I'm going to wake you up now. I'm going to count from 5 to 1. When I
get to 1 you'll be able to open your eyes. You'll be wide awake, fully
alert and you'll feel really good inside. Five, just slowly slowly waking,
Four, three, feeling some energy now starting to work its way through

!
your body. Two, feeling really good inside. One, you can open your
eyes.

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HYPNOSIS MEETS

Dear Colleague and Fellow Hypnotherapist

©Sheila Granger 2017 !2

©Sheila Granger 2017 !3

©Sheila Granger 2017 !4

ALL MATERIALS USED FOR THE CONTENT OF THE TRAINING

NO PART OR PARTS OF THE COURSE NOTES MAY BE

NOR MAY IT BE STORED IN A RETRIEVAL SYSTEM,

SHEILA GRANGER WILL TAKE LEGAL ACTION AGAINST ANY

©SHEILA GRANGER 2017

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

©Sheila Granger 2017 !5

I initially became involved in the area of sports when I very first

Keep making a difference

©Sheila Granger 2017 !6

Hypnosis is the training of those mental abilities, and can therefore

Mental training for sports people is gradually becoming more

Some Famous Users of Hypnosis…

Tiger Woods had a prestigious golfing career.

Kevin McBride (boxer) is known for beating Mike Tyson in a

©Sheila Granger 2017 !7

This training manual is in the main psychology based with a few

©Sheila Granger 2017 !8

The market for hypnosis

©Sheila Granger 2017 !9

I was working in my clinic late one evening with a lady whose

Session 1 - Meeting the team

©Sheila Granger 2017 ! 10

©Sheila Granger 2017 !11

During session 2 we talked about focus/distraction. ( I’d noted on the

©Sheila Granger 2017 ! 12

We also introduced a pre-match routine into this session, in the

©Sheila Granger 2017 ! 13

©Sheila Granger 2017 ! 14

In hypnosis we replayed the day of the accident - not how it actually

a. Week 1, mental training before every ride. (No trotting poles

b. Week 2, mental training before every ride, use trotting poles,

c. Week 3, mental training before every ride, jumps.

©Sheila Granger 2017 ! 15

Hypnosis Script Used

©Sheila Granger 2017 ! 16

©Sheila Granger 2017 ! 17

©Sheila Granger 2017 ! 18

©Sheila Granger 2017 ! 19

3. A Tennis Players Anger

The Paradoxical intervention

Had McEnroe used tantrums as a way of motivating himself?

He says that they had become a defence mechanism. If you're out

Eleven years old and angry

©Sheila Granger 2017 ! 20

©Sheila Granger 2017 ! 21

Self confidence and attitude are vital if you want to

Vealey an expert in sports psychology describes confidence as "the

Most sports people believe it or not are not particularly confident in

At some point, without doubt a sports person will suffer a a loss of

©Sheila Granger 2017 ! 22

Increasing Confidence with Psychological Interventions

Confidence can be increased by use of the following