Hypnosis

A reader inquired about my use of hypnosis
for pre-match preparation.

This is a topic I have not covered before
because I wanted to keep it as
one of my private secrets to success.
So now, for the first time ever,
here's my take on hypnosis:

Up until I started using Self-Hypnosis for pool,
about 4 years ago,
my estimation of it was that while
it may be an interesting thing for some people,
it wasn't the sort of thing I wanted to try.
I don't like anybody having control over me,
make me act like a chicken,
or leaving little messages in my head,
telling me to jump off a roof.

But when I started to realize just how much
the game of billiards is Mental,
that's when I started giving serious consideration
to Self-Hypnosis.

I was lucky to have a trusted guide,
a good friend who just happens to be
a highly entertaining comedy stage hypnotist,
Barry Jones.
I had hired Barry a long time ago to perform
for the customers at my software company's
annual conference.
It was amazing! He got to talking
and within minutes he had virtually everyone
in the audience in a trance!

Of course, I had to stay "normal",
I couldn't let myself go
in front of all my customers!
So, until just a couple of years ago,
I refused and rejected hypnosis.

But, again, if pool is so much mental,
then hypnosis, which is all mental,
might be of some use, right?
And, if it's Self-hypnosis,
and I know what I'm telling myself,
then, it might be worth a try.

I started with a visit with Barry.
He told me all about the process.
And gave me a book,
I think it was "Hypnosis for Dummies".

I took a week or so to do research,
and feel comfortable with the idea,
then had another meeting with him
to go through the process,
to see if I could be hypnotized
(not for everyone, it seems).

We discussed some of the things
that I wanted out of the process.
I think I told him I wanted reduced stress,
that I wanted to eliminate the nervousness,
that sort of thing.

Then he went through the process,
talking me into a very relaxed state,
then moving into talking about pool,
and how I would feel while playing,
and then he started to bring me out of it.
It was all over in what seemed to
be about 20 minutes.
I didn't feel as if I had been hypnotized.
He said that's how you're supposed to feel.
Strange stuff.

Ok, so now that I had the general idea,
it was time for me to move on into
Self-Hypnosis.

This is simply doing the same things,
but you record your voice,
and play it back on your iPod (or whatever).

I wrote a script,
so I would know I covered all the bases,
then sent it to Barry for approval,
which he gave,
and then I recorded it.

I then used that same recording for the
next couple of years.
I played it at night
just before sleep.
Many times I would be asleep
before the end of the 11 minute recording.
I would also play it before a match,
and in some cases between matches
in a long tournament.

About a year ago
I experimented with a product on the market
that I found at Bebob Publishing
a site where I buy some pool books and DVDs.

The product comes in two sets of CDs:

Overcoming Contenderosis (5 CDs)
and
The Dead Stroke Tapes (6 CDs)

I finally settled on 1 or 2 sessions
out of the 22 sessions on the CDs
that reflected what I wanted to work on.
I used these sessions
during my last undefeated run last summer.

In summary,
I think it can help.
It works because we give it the power to work.

I'll mention more about
self-hypnosis
and how I used it to succeed in billiards in
The Book,
which is now in development.
Stay tuned...

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