This system is very simple, and is ideal for limited work environments, such as in field sports as well as in large department store-type jobs. The key is to set up filters that kick into existence every time a participant walks onto the playing surface of the game (or in the store as a representative of the company).
In professional sports like Hockey, Football, Rugby, or Soccer, there are very few things that really matter. The rules, the ball/puck, the players on your team, and the goal. Now, there are some things that only matter a little bit of the time: The coach and the referees. Then there are things that don't matter, but are in the way: The other team and the time clock. And finally, there are things that do not matter to the game at all: Everyone and everything else.
Herein is the filter: Until a goal is achieved, only the important things will matter. Everything unimportant will not be even noticed or bothered. And the other team, though on the field, will be regarded as an annoying barrier which will have to be controlled and avoided. As long as the team follows the rules, the referees will not matter nor get involved, so just play by the rules.
Once a goal is achieved, all filters are turned off, and the body gets a rush of adrenaline and accomplishment. Each player gets to join the crowd in the excitement of the moment. Once they return to play themselves, the filters turn back on, and they, once more, will concentrate on the game. All this will just happen.
With baseball, it's easier, for the focus is all in swinging and running for offense, and in fielding and running in defense. But the filters can be shut off as long as the player is in the dugout or in the locker room, as the coach dictates.
Mental Blocks: Baseball 1
A coach contacted me about a player that was not swinging at a any pitches. After four games, he had not swung at even one pitch.
Under hypnosis, I asked this player what was bothering him, and he said that during the past summer, his parents had divorced. What bothered him more was that his dad had said, "You and your Goddamned baseball is what's breaking us up." So, subconsciously, he decided that if he didn't do baseball, perhaps his parents would get back together.
Now that this discovery was made, his coach then talked him through some of the best pointers about baseball, how it is a mental game, with staggering odds of 9 to 1 against each batter, and therefore, since it is so easy to lose in baseball, you need to get over it's feeling so that you can learn from your mistakes and get immediately better.
According to the coach, he began hitting from that point on. With luck, I ran into him about eight years later, when he worked as a security guard at a local mall. He relayed that he did fairly well in College baseball, but didn't go professional.
Baseball 2:
A little leaguer that had played on my son's team a year before our session had not hit this year. In that past year, he had hit fairly well, and had played with fairly good confidence, especially since his dad had been one of the coaches. However, during the season that I was called in, he had, in ten games, not swung at even one pitch. His mom called and asked for my help.
While in hypnosis, I asked him to tell me how he felt being up to bat. He expressed a queasy feeling in his stomach. So I then asked him to go back to the first time he ever felt this. He expressed that on his first day up to bat this season, he was warming up (known as On-Deck in baseball jargon) and the player at bat was hit by a pitch. He stated that that didn't bother him, but what did was when he went up to the plate, someone in the stands shouted, "I wouldn't want to go up there (to bat). I might get hit too."
The player said that what the man in the crowd said really bothered him, and he became afraid that he would get hit, so in his mind, he decided, subconsciously, that if he did not swing, he was not placing himself at risk. According to his parents, the reason they contacted me when they did was because on that tenth game, he was hit by a pitch anyway, and had a grave emotional reaction.
Using the garbage can, I asked him to throw it away, and his dad helped with the explanation of the game to his sub-conscious to help aid his son's thinking process of batting. From the next game on, he hit, and hit well. At the end of the season, his coach relayed, though not knowing about the hypnosis, that somehow this player snapped out of whatever was the problem, and with this player's effort and hitting ability, they made it to the playoffs, where he did very well for the team.
Baseball 3:
About two years ago, I had the opportunity to do a session for a pitcher. The problems that the pitcher had, as described to me by the coach, signaled that a mental block of serious proportions existed.
The pitcher had been pitching worse and worse, and it was evidenced over 18 months. According to other team mates, he had done better in previous years, but seemed destined into this slump.
Under hypnosis, he stated that he felt guilty about throwing bad pitches. As it turned out, he would recall how bad the last pitch went, and then use that to support how much worse the current pitch was. It was a deadly cycle of sulfate and guilt.
I suggested that, at the moment when the ball leaves his fingertips, that he is looking into the past and can no longer affect the ball. I then suggested that since the ball, the past, and the outcome of the pitch were now clearly out of his hands, he did not need to feel guilty about their outcome, but to learn from the experience and continue learning and getting better. As an added note, I suggested that when he came on the field, unless there was an emergency that required all his attentions, he would find that everyone and everything beyond the fences would not be either seen, nor heard, for they are not a part of the game, and thereby do not need his attention if he is playing.
According to his coach, later, the player's self-consciousness turned to self-confidence, and the other players stated that they noticed a better attitude. His pitching did improve slightly, but the coach relied upon a different pitcher for most of the season from that point.
Weight Lifting:
A man contacted me to try hypnosis for a difficult reason. He had been "sucker punched" in the eye while in the Air Force, and lost his eye in the process. He said that he couldn't lift 100 pounds and that he felt weak. While in hypnosis, he stated that he felt excessive hatred for the guy that punched him, and that he felt ugly and weak from the loss of his eye.
I suggested that his anger towards this guy was hurting only himself, and so he needed to release it. He agreed, and after crying for about five minutes, I asked him to forgive himself for the self loathing.
Finally, with the help of a spotter, I asked him to open his eyes, and follow me into the weight lifting area of his house. I loaded every weight in the house on the bar, bringing it up to 180 pounds. I asked him to lift it, which he did, but said it was too heavy. So I lowered it to 165 pounds, and he lifted that twice. I then asked him to fully wake up. He did, and I said, "Do you remember lifting that bar?" to which he answered yes, so I added, "That weighs 165 pounds. So, do you think you can lift 100 (pounds)?" A wily grin crossed his face as he answered, "Yeah, I guess I can..."