Winning the Mind Game: Using Hypnosis in Sport Psychology

Winning The Mind Game
By John Edgette and Tim Rowan
Crown House Publishing Limited, Published September 2003

There is no doubt about the fact that during the past decade, hypnotherapy has certainly gained momentum and acceptance and has earned its place in the health care of many people. Techniques are used in a wide variety of problems many of them emotional and medical, but not exclusively so. Hypnosis is a valuable tool that can be used quickly and effectively to create influencing strategies in the subconscious mind to create lasting change within the patient. This can be to reduce anxiety or fight phobias. More and more it is also found to be an invaluable tool in the preparation of sportsmen. It can promote lasting changes within the athlete.

This exciting book contains a wide range of interventions that can be used by the therapist with sportsmen as individuals or as teams to enhance performance, etc. It includes: a clear step-by-step guide for working with sportsmen; a guide to using hypnosis with groups and teams; transcripts of proven successful interventions; detailed case studies; and details on how to promote this side of your business. It is a book ideal for anyone who works with sportsmen and teams with professionally or as a hobby. It also is an excellent guide to anyone who is already in the business of hypnotherapy to expand business into what is more commonly called these days, sports psychology.

This book leaves no stones unturned, no questions unanswered. It has been carefully written by its co-authors and is an immensely readable piece of literature. So much sport, in fact so much of life, is almost entirely dependent upon the way that we think so this book is that guide we have been looking for to help people "win the mind game". The book is easy-to-use and comprehensive and gives excellent step-by-step guidance for its development. I can think of a few football and cricket teams which could do with help at the moment. How about your local ?? Well----it may be worth considering!! Highly recommended!! And I am only an armchair sportsman but I can see great potential for its use here.

David C. Slater


Winning the Mind Game   November 26, 2003
 3 out of 4 found this review helpful

This book is directed towards the ones that coach athletes with the aim to improve performance, and deals with how one in a systematic way can use hypnosis for this purpose. The authors claim that the method they describe can be very successful but that there is a multitude of other ways that works at least as good. This humble attitude is kept throughout the book and contributes to a very pleasant reading atmosphere. The reader gets many interesting perspectives on sport psychology and many case stories can provide a source of inspiration for the coach or psychologist. A strength and weakness with this book is that it is very clear and detailed, sometimes too clear and detailed and even extracted, which perhaps makes the book more suitable for beginners in sports psychology.

Mark: 4 (i.e. very much worth reading).

Dan Hasson, PQ Magazine Sweden


Winning the Mind Game   November 26, 2003
 5 out of 6 found this review helpful

Reviewed by Trevor Silvester - The Hypnotherapy Journal Autumn 2003

There is a growing level of interest amongst athletes in the use of Hypnosis for performance enhancement. Having a performance coach is now an everyday experience for tennis players, golfers and athletes. In a world where success and failure (and millions of pounds) can be measured in slivers of a second, or millimetres of accuracy, anything that can bring an edge - legally - is worth investigating.

This book delivers a step-by-step guide for those interested in working with sports people. Their approach is based on a four step model which allows those new to this field to be clear about what to achieve and how to achieve it. They support this framework with clear case studies, transcripts of particular interventions, and interesting anecdotes.

I found their in-depth exploration of the use of particular trance phenomena in focusing the client on positive outcomes to be especially good. The authors are very much at the 'new hypnosis' end of the profession, not attributing the efficacy of a technique to the trance depth of the client, so the chapter on Alert Hypnosis explains the uses of, and how to achieve, an eyes-open trance state, as well as talking and walking while in hypnosis.

While the book is aimed at sports psychology it has relevance to any field where performance is an issue, and as such is a welcome addition to my bookshelf.

Crown House Publishing
ISBN 190442402-3