So Tiger’s Secret is Self Hypnosis and having learnt it, he uses it to communicate with his subconscious mind easily and effortlessly, to control his mind and body whenever and wherever he wants to.
As Tiger says, “If you grab hold of your mind, your body will follow.”
Q. Who has used hypnosis in cricket?
Wasim Akram’s late wife Huma used it with Wasim to help him with his performance. Huma was a psychologist who had specialized in hypnosis, she helped Wasim with his bowling and in dealing with the pressures of Captaincy.
The Pakistan Cricket Team used it before winning the 2009 T20World Cup.
Q. So what is hypnosis and how can it help you as a cricketer?
The wonderful thing about hypnosis is that it is a natural state produced by the brain to help us learn, heal and achieve our goals.
Yes, I will repeat that, it is produced by the brain, it is not some mystical place outside you or some power that another person uses over you.
Q. Is it in accordance with religious principles?
All religions and faiths utilize suggestion and the concepts of imagery and visualization, these are natural functions of the mind, they can be used positively or negatively through free will.
The Catholic church is in favour of hypnosis when used for licit purposes.
Hypnosis is a form of communication where the critical faculty of your conscious mind ( the part of your mind, like ‘Doubting Thomas’ that questions, ‘Can I or Can’t I’) is by passed.
When the conscious mind is quiet you can communicate easily and effortlessly with your subconscious mind.
This is important because it is the subconscious that stores every memory since you were in your mothers womb, yes, really !
If the memory of a past experience, real or imagined, doesn’t help you to perform at your best, is in conflict with a goal you desire or you have created an unhealthy habit you can get in touch with this memory and reframe, reprogram or release it to help you be and do better at your desired goal.
It also allows you to experience a level of relaxation which is beyond belief, where your body and mind let go and you can just be… blissfully.
Q.Is there anything to be worried about ?
No, the movies have done hypnosis a dis-service in making hypnosis look like it takes a person’s power away so that they can be manipulated.
In truth you are more focused and attentive in hypnosis than at any other time, you won’t accept any suggestions that are in conflict with your belief system. You certainly wouldn’t accept a suggestion in hypnosis that you wouldn’t accept in your normal conscious state.
Q. Do you go anywhere if you are in hypnosis ?
No, you are in your body, happy and healthy, focused and relaxed.
You can be guided into a trance which is like being absorbed in a good book or movie … you go into different states all day and night, from the deepest sleep to driving on the highway.
When you get in your zone state and you are batting and bowling really well, you are in a state of focused concentration, this is really a state where your conscious mind has become quiet and you are performing from your subconscious.
We love this state because the constant chatter of the conscious mind has shut up.
Q. How can you use it for cricket and improving your performance?
To reduce your pre-match or pre-performance stress and anxiety that chokes up your game.
To help you focus better, to manage your focus and your energy during a days play.
To slow down the flight of the ball in your mind so that you can get into better positions to play your strokes.
To release and reframe previous ‘bad’ memories from the past that you are fixating over and allowing your ‘fears’ to dominate your performance.
To set and program your goals into your subconscious mind so that they happen automatically.
You literally set the goal and let it happen, this comes from pre and post hypnotic suggestion …
It is a concept known as ‘creating your future’ and is built on working with your subconscious mind in a trusting and respectful way.
The slow way to improve performance is to ‘try’ and do it through the conscious mind, which can only process a small amount of information at any one time.
Anyone who has tried to give up an old habit, perhaps a bad habit like smoking, knows how slow and tiresome ‘trying’ to do it is. The memory is in the subconscious, if you don’t load up a new program to over-ride the old habit then it will keep on running automatically.
I ‘tried’ to give up smoking for twenty years … failing all the while and then using self hypnosis I gave up over 21 days and have never craved another cigarette … ever !
Sports Hypnosis in contrast to sports psychology allows you to improve performance quickly and effectively.
Tiger’s Secret of Self Hypnosis needs repetition to become wired into your subconscious mind, 21 days of practicing the self hypnosis exercise allows you to be able to access the state on demand and use it for beneficial auto suggestion.
The door to ‘The Zone’ is learning to bring your focus to one place, try this exercise to give yourself a simple experience of self hypnosis.
Find a quiet place and time where you won’t be disturbed.
Make yourself comfortable.
Put both feet flat on the floor.
Put a cricket ball on a flat surface in front of you, just below eye level.
Take a deep breath, breathe deep into your belly, as you exhale repeat to yourself ‘relax, relax, relax’ . Repeat this seven times.
As you continue to breathe, rest your attention on the ball, pick a point that attracts you, perhaps a stitch on the seam.
… and as your focus becomes fixated … you may find you continue to relax… and as you continue to relax you become connected with the ball as you do when you are batting in your zone … or when your mind has quietened in a spell of ‘Zone’ bowling… and if your mind wanders, gently bring it back to the focus of your attention.
Relax and enjoy it.
Watch this space as I continue to add resources for you to improve your game.
About Richard Pybus
I'm Richard Pybus, I've coached Pakistan, Bangladesh, Middlesex, Titans and the Cape Cobras in South Africa and the goal of this site is to help you to play winning cricket.