On 2/5/09, USA Today published an article titled, “High school hoops coach told to stop hypnotizing team.”
The gist of the story is this:
The St. John High School boys basketball team was in a slump, and their coach decided to bring in a hypnotist. He did the prudent thing and sent permission slips home. All the boys’ parents signed but one, Merlin Spare, who happened to be a member of the school board.
Spare is quoted in the article: “I am a coach myself and I try to teach kids to be visionary and believe in what they are doing. I think a person who is solid on their feet doesn’t have to do this. I think it is something a person could rely on and become hooked to.”
I can understand a coach/school board member being ignorant when it comes to hypnosis. I can even understand an entire school board’s ignorance and decision to ban it. What is most disheartening is the response USA Today got from University of Kansas sports psychologist, Scott Ward, “When I think of hypnotism I think of someone going into a comedy club and being hypnotized to cluck like a chicken. It’s not used in sports with the leading athletes.”
Sigh. I would expect a sports psychologist to be more sophisticated.
Here are the facts:
Sometimes athletes get rattled.
A sports hypnotist simply helps athletes tap into their potential and gives them tools to help them stay relaxed and focused, regardless of external pressures and distractions. They employ some of the same techniques of sports psychologists, for example, having the athlete mentally rehearse their game.
Leading athletes have been using hypnosis for years.
See USA Today’s 2/18/09 article, “Tour of California leader Leipheimer helped by hypnosis CD.“
See Associated Content’s 2/24/07 article, “Hypnosis: Even Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant, and Shaquille O’Neal Use It.“
See the 7/30/07 American Chronicle article, “Using Hypnosis in Athletic Performance.”
See the New York Times 12/29/98 article, “VITAL SINGS: Performance for Athletes, Better Focus with Hypnosis.“
