The Application of Hypnosis in Sports

Abstract

As an ancient science, hypnosis has been used by humans since the primitive societies during theocratic times. By the 20th century, scientists and psychologists had re-recognized and studied hypnosis and explored its applications in fields such as medicine, education, and military uses. A local form of traditional Chinese “hypnosis” appeared in Huangdi Neijing, but it has not received enough attention from Chinese people; China’s modern hypnosis development is later than that of American and European countries. Therefore, people’s understanding and applications of hypnosis remain inadequate. With the development of China’s economy and state power in the last decades, Chinese people were beginning to attach importance to the investment and development of the sports industry and realized that the psychological quality of the athletes is often a decisive factor in the success or failure of the competition. Meanwhile, hypnosis is an effective psychological training method to be used in daily training and competitions. In light of this, this essay firstly reviews the history of hypnosis before carrying out the methods of a literature review and a logical analysis to explore the applications of hypnosis in sports. Thus, evidence is provided in favor of the use of hypnosis in the sports industry.

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fpsyg-12-771162 January 24, 2022 Time: 11:52 # 1
MINI REVIEW
published: 24 January 2022
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.771162
Edited by:
Antonio Hernández-Mendo,
University of Malaga, Spain
Reviewed by:
MaAuxiliadora Franquelo Egea,
Universidad de Málaga, Spain
Rafael E. Reigal,
University of Malaga, Spain
*Correspondence:
Su-Xia Li
li313@bjmu.edu.cn
Specialty section:
This article was submitted to
Movement Science and Sport
Psychology,
a section of the journal
Frontiers in Psychology
Received: 06 September 2021
Accepted: 17 December 2021
Published: 24 January 2022
Citation:
Li Z and Li S-X (2022) The
Application of Hypnosis in Sports.
Front. Psychol. 12:771162.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.771162
The Application of Hypnosis in
Sports
Zhe Li1and Su-Xia Li2*
1Chinese Health and Humanity, Department of History, University College London, London, United Kingdom, 2National
Institute on Drug Dependence, Beijing Key Laboratory of Drug Dependence, Peking University, Beijing, China
As an ancient science, hypnosis has been used by humans since the primitive societies
during theocratic times. By the 20th century, scientists and psychologists had re-
recognized and studied hypnosis and explored its applications in fields such as
medicine, education, and military uses. A local form of traditional Chinese “hypnosis”
appeared in Huangdi Neijing, but it has not received enough attention from Chinese
people; China’s modern hypnosis development is later than that of American and
European countries. Therefore, people’s understanding and applications of hypnosis
remain inadequate. With the development of China’s economy and state power in the
last decades, Chinese people were beginning to attach importance to the investment
and development of the sports industry and realized that the psychological quality of the
athletes is often a decisive factor in the success or failure of the competition. Meanwhile,
hypnosis is an effective psychological training method to be used in daily training and
competitions. In light of this, this essay firstly reviews the history of hypnosis before
carrying out the methods of a literature review and a logical analysis to explore the
applications of hypnosis in sports. Thus, evidence is provided in favor of the use of
hypnosis in the sports industry.
Keywords: hypnosis, athletes, anxiety, relaxation, sports
A BRIEF HISTORY OF HYPNOSIS
Hypnosis is generally believed to have existed since ancient societies (Hammond, 2013). In China,
the earliest recorded text on hypnosis was in the Huangdi Neijing [written during the Warring States
period (475-221 BC) and the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE)]. It mentioned a healing method
called “Zhu You,” which appears to have many elements in common with hypnosis from a modern
perspective (Yao, 2010). “Zhu You” was a sort of witchcraft. It used spells to cure diseases. Apart
from China, the “Sleep Temples” in ancient Greek and Roma centuries were used to induce a sleep-
like state (Muthu, 1930), which can be regarded as the earliest hypnosis-like state. Sleep temples
could heal a variety of ailments. Many of them were psychological in nature. The treatment involved
chanting, meditation, fasting, placing the patients into a trance-like or hypnotic state, and analyzing
their dreams, etc.
Modern hypnosis could be traced back to Franz Mesmer’s (1734–1815) animal magnetism
theory in the 1770s. He believed that all things in nature shared a common magnetic force, and
disease could be cured through a magnetic field (Hammond, 2013). His mesmerism was regarded
as mysterious witchcraft and was not adopted by the scientific community. The mesmerism in
that era performed under the exaggerated background of various spells and astrological wall
decorations, with mesmerists using various strange props to inspire the souls of sleepwalkers to
come and communicate with them (Darnton, 1968). Later, James Braid (1795–1860) ended the
old witchcraft era of hypnotism mystification. He believed that hypnosis was not produced from
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Li and Li Hypnosis in Sports
magnetism. It was a kind of sleep-like state and defined as “a
peculiar condition of the nervous system, induced by a fixed and
abstracted attention of the mental and visual eye, on one object,
not of an exciting nature” (Braid, 1843). At the same time, he
coined the term “hypnosis” (to sleep) from the ancient Greek
term “Hypnos” (the god of sleep in ancient Greek mythology). He
also emphasized a theoretical conception of hypnosis as a state of
increased suggestibility and a form of sleep (Hammond, 2013).
With the in-depth study of hypnosis by scientists, there were two
opposing schools in hypnosis academia in the 19th century. They
were the Paris School represented by Jean-Martin Charcot (1825–
1893) and the Nancy School represented by Hippolyte Marie
Bernheim (1840–1919) and Ambroise-Auguste Liébeault (1823–
1904). The Nancy School advocated the “suggestion theory,”
which believed that the role of suggestion was very important in
the process of hypnosis. The phenomenon produced by hypnosis
was a reaction caused by the hypnotized person accepting the
hypnotist’s suggestion and that the person could be put into
a hypnotic state by purely verbal suggestion (William and
Edmonston, 1986). The Paris School believed that hypnosis was
a form of hysteria, and those who could be hypnotized were
psychotic (Sheehan and Perry, 1976). Although there were many
different understandings of hypnosis between these two schools,
they contributed to the development of hypnosis. Subsequently,
scholars such as Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) and Ivan Petrovich
Pavlov (1849–1936) were also involved in hypnosis research,
making hypnosis a valuable applied science.
HYPNOSIS IS A SORT OF SCIENTIFIC
PSYCHOTHERAPY
Hypnosis is a technique of communication using psychological
suggestions. Under hypnosis, the hypnotized person is more
open to suggestions. The result of hypnosis is that they gain
greater control over their own minds and their own actions.
In the process of hypnosis, the hypnotist will repeatedly use
the auditory, visual and tactile stimuli to induce the hypnotized
person into a trance state. In the meantime, the hypnotized
person will also be asked to relax, imagine and concentrate
on the hypnotist’s suggestions. After the hypnotized person
enters the hypnotic state, the hypnotist will implement various
treatments to address the patient’s psychological disorders.
Nowadays, hypnosis has been used in numerous industries such
as medical/psychotherapeutic uses, sports training, military uses,
self-improvement, employee training, and police confession.
Moreover, studies have shown that the hypnotic effect is closely
related to the hypnotized person’s attitude and belief in the
hypnotic process (Franquelo et al., 2020, 2021a,b). More and
more evidence show that hypnosis is a scientific psychological
therapy technique.
ATHLETES’ PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESS
Psychological training for athletes is an essential part of sports
training because, in any competitive event, there is always
the possibility of misplaying and losing. Many of the best
athletes have worked hard for decades to perform at the top-
level competition but may not always win the championship.
At the same time, athletes’ misplay is a sort of publicity
trick and a conversation topic among the ground. Therefore,
the more higher up into the top elite classes athletes are,
the more they are under tremendous psychological pressure.
A study from Australian academics mentioned that athletes’
emergence of mental illness is usually at the peak of their
competitive careers (Allen and Hopkins, 2015). Moreover, they
experience unique stresses, including sport-related stress (Noblet
and Gifford, 2002), injuries (Smith, 1996;Appaneal et al.,
2009), life away from home (Bruner et al., 2008), and burnout
(Gustafsson et al., 2011). For these reasons, it is important
to pay attention to athletes’ psychological problems. Hypnosis,
used as an adjuvant technique, can help to prevent the mental
illness of athletes, but also can improve their training results
and competition performance. Sports psychologists may apply
hypnosis to athletes’ psychological training because hypnosis may
help athletes attain relaxation during practice and competition
and help athletics control anxiety and manage stress (Paccagnella,
2004). Meanwhile, hypnosis is a simple and easy way to adjust the
physical and mental conditioning without special requirements
in terms of venues or equipment. A previous review indicated
that hypnosis was effective for improving performance across
multiple sports, with the strongest results found for basketball,
golf, soccer and badminton (Milling and Randazzo, 2016).
Therefore, hypnosis is widely used in sports and competitions.
THE APPLICATIONS OF HYPNOSIS IN
SPORTS
Hypnosis Can Explore the Potentials of
Athletes
Hypnosis appears to restructure cognitive processes that are
essential for athletic performance, including self-confidence,
attention, and memory. The enhanced positive self-affirmations
and rational-emotive strategies are commonly reached through
the use of hypnosis (Taylor et al., 1993). Athletes may take
advantage of this “believed-in” state to enhance and tap into the
potentials of their physical conditions. The result can be achieved
by the suggestions that hypnotists convey to them, such as “you
can perform well today” or “you can push your limits”. These
positive suggestions can help them rebuild their self-confidence,
allowing them to concentrate more on their task to reach their
goals more easily.
Hypnosis Can Relieve the Anxiety of
Athletes
It is common for athletes to experience nervousness and stress
before a significant event. These negative moods and mental
strain cannot only affect their daily training and life, but
may also affect their performance in competition. Research
(Ji, 1992) has shown that stress can affect both physiological
and psychological functions. The former includes increased
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Li and Li Hypnosis in Sports
respiratory rate, heart rate, and increased blood pressure;
the latter includes blurred perceptions, slowed reactions, and
thinking and distracted attention. These negative factors can
influence athletes’ performance during competitions. Hypnosis
can be used to reduce athletes’ different levels of tension and
stress before and during the competition. The hypnotist can give
the hypnotized athlete suggestions such as “you may be noticing
that you are feeling quieter and quieter and nicer and nicer, and
your breathing is getting smoother and smoother,” “you can win
the competition.” These suggestions can have a positive effect on
athletes both psychologically and physically (Ji, 1992).
Hypnosis Can Reduce the Fears of
Athletes
In gymnastics, fears are an obstacle to athletes’ training and
competitions. At the same time, the fears of an individual
athlete may develop into a group effect that makes it challenging
to continue group training. What is more, fears may lead
to athletes’ thinking disorder, inability to concentrate, related
muscle tension, increased heart rate and breathing, weakness
of the limbs and even collapse (Xu and Cao, 2013). These
phenomena can cause distortions in the athletes’ movements
and cause boredom to athletes with gymnastics and, in severe
cases, accidents and injuries. Fortunately, Reid’s study has shown
that hypnosis can relieve fear, stress, anxiety and can be used to
help in coping with panic disorder (Reid, 2017). This is because
hypnosis makes athletes relaxed and hypnotists will use calming
words to encourage them. For instance, “you are safe although
your discomfort,” “you can control your mind.” The hypnotist
will also suggest ways for athletes to cope with their fears, such
as “taking deep breaths when you are afraid of training makes
you feel calmer.” In this way, hypnosis provides athletes an ideal
chance to learn how to remain relaxed while facing these fears
and performing at the competitions.
Hypnosis Can Help Athletes Learn and
Improve Their Technique
The enhancement of individual techniques and tactics of athletes
not only relies on the improvement of muscle strength and
physical qualities, but also depends on athletes’ mentality.
Therefore, any physical activity is a brain-body combination.
Sports psychologists place particular emphasis on imagining
skills training for athletes as it helps them build on their
strengths, eliminate their weaknesses, develop their sports skills,
stay confident, focused, and motivated (Ji, 1992). Athletes are
often encouraged to imagine the critical event in their training
and identify with the performance as much as possible. They
could note everything influencing them, their thoughts, their
physical experiences, their competitors, and other significant
things. This process can help athletes become aware of aspects
of the performance experience that are unnoticed, and this can
lead to the discovery of key information. Moreover, it is evidenced
that hypnosis can enhance the imagining skills’ quality on self-
efficacy, skill acquisition, and athletic performance (Taylor et al.,
1993). Due to the relaxed state that athletes are when they are
hypnotized, the results of imagining skills training are better than
that of training in a waking state, which can help athletes gain and
improve their individual technique more efficiently. Even a 10-
min hypnosis intervention can improve throwing accuracy in a
tennis ball test and the retention of the effect can last for a 1-week
(Jalene and Wulf, 2014).
Be it from multiple or one hypnotic intervention, hypnosis
has been found to have positive effects on ball games, including
basketball, golf, soccer, cricket, and badminton (Pates and
Maynard, 2000;Pates et al., 2001a,b, 2002;Pates and Palmi, 2002;
Barker and Jones, 2006, 2008;Barker et al., 2010;Pates, 2013),
and other sports, including archery, weightlifting, shooting sports
(Lee Howard and Reardon, 1986;Robazza and Bortoli, 1995;
Mattle et al., 2020), in either a control study or a single case
study. There have also been conflicting reports of studies that had
not found a positive effect of hypnosis on athletic performance,
such as in tennis (Greer and Engs, 1986), fencing (Wojcikiewicz
and Orlick, 1987), and boxing (Heyman, 1987). However, these
studies have defects such as small sample size or poor design,
which require further research in the future.
Hypnosis Can Help Athletes Quickly
Relieve Fatigue and Restore Energy
The training athletes undergo is continuous and of high intensity,
which can lead to frequent muscle soreness and physical exertion.
Therefore, athletes usually require adequate sleep, massage,
hydrotherapy, and nutritious meals to restore their physical
strength and energy. However, during competition, fatigue and
physical exertion can be decisive factors in the success or failure of
the competition. If an athlete has more energy than his opponent,
he may also have a better chance of winning than his opponent.
Therefore, it is vital to replenish energy and restore physical
strength during the competition quickly. Hypnosis can quickly
relieve fatigue and restore physical strength (Niu, 2013); it can
be performed before or between training and match. When
the athlete enters the hypnotic state, their muscles can be fully
relaxed. The suggestion can be “you have entered the state of
hypnosis, your muscles are fully relaxed, and the fatigue will
be relieved immediately by the massage.” During the process,
suggestion can be “fatigue has been relieved and that your energy
and strength have now been restored,” “you have had three
(or more) hours of rest, the fatigue has all been relieved and
you feel energetic and strong again,” “continue to join in the
match, your energy and physical strength will be very abundant.”
These positive suggestions can help athletes quickly replenish
themselves and gain more confidence.
Hypnosis Can Help With Sleep
It is natural that athletes could be nervous before a competition,
especially when facing a competition related to their country’s
reputation. They could tend to have difficulty falling asleep
due to extreme tension. Insufficient sleep will affect them and
hinder them from replenishing their bodies and restoring
their strength, which will affect their performance in the
next day’s game. There had been several studies on the
procedures involving relaxation help sleep (Graham et al.,
1975), and scientists found that procedures involving
relaxation can play an influential role in reducing the time
required for subjects to fall asleep. Hypnosis can help
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Li and Li Hypnosis in Sports
athletes enter a relaxation state. Hypnotists will help athletes with
sleep problems by encouraging them to relax and creating them
an opportunity to reorient thoughts and emotions (Becker, 2015).
Studies have shown that modest sleep can benefits from hypnosis,
and the suggestion of “sleep deeper” can help participants
prompted increased slow-wave sleep (Feng, 1995). Slow-wave
sleep often is referred to as deep sleep. This period of sleep is
called slow-wave sleep because the EEG activity produces slow
waves with a frequency of less than 1 Hz and a relatively high
amplitude. Hypnosis may also reduce symptoms such as anxiety
and depression as well as treat pain, and these factors are strongly
related to sleep problems or can cause disturbed sleep.
LIMITATIONS AND PROSPECTS
At present, there are several defects in hypnosis application
in sports. Firstly, in most studies, the sample size was small.
Some had fewer than 10 subjects. Secondly, the design of the
research scheme is not rigorous enough. For example, some
studies were just pre - and post-comparison studies without
different types of hypnosis for comparison. The evaluators of
hypnosis effect were not blind to the research scheme. Results
could easily be influenced by subjective factors when evaluated.
Thirdly, no randomized placebo-controlled studies have been
found. Fourth, there are very few studies on the effect of hypnosis
on performance in competitions. In the future, studies on the
application of hypnosis in sports can be appropriately conducted
with large sample sizes, setting up different types of hypnosis for
comparison, blinding the evaluators of effects of hypnosis, and
setting up reasonable and scientific placebo control. In addition,
the effect of hypnosis on performance in competitions should also
be further studied.
CONCLUSION
There is a lot of evidence that hypnosis may be a helpful
tool to address a variety of issues in sports; for example,
hypnosis may help athletes improve their psychological quality,
increase their self-confidence, relieve their fatigue, restore
energy, help them better concentrate on the daily training and
competition, and better improve their skills. However, there is
little methodologically rigorous empirical research substantiating
its value, and there is still a lack of extensive experimental
evidence to prove its mechanism. As a result, hypnosis in sports
still needs to be studied in more depth and breadth, and empirical
verification is necessary and required. But it is undeniable
that hypnosis is a simple and easy way to adjust physical and
mental conditioning without special requirements in terms of
venues or equipment.
AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS
ZL contributed to the literature search, interpretation,
conceptualization, and drafted the manuscript. S-XL contributed
to conceptualization, interpretation, and final approval of the
manuscript. Both authors contributed to the article and approved
the submitted version.
FUNDING
This work was supported by the National Natural Science
Foundation of China (No. 81871071). The sponsors contributed
only financially to the study and played no role in planning or
designing the study.
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Conflict of Interest: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the
absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a
potential conflict of interest.
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Frontiers in Psychology | www.frontiersin.org 5January 2022 | Volume 12 | Article 771162