Sports hypnosis: how athletes train the mental game

January 5, 2023OMNI Hypnosis International

In top-level sport, the rules are relentless. If second place is “only” the first loser, nothing can be left to chance. Athletes hone their technique and tactics, study video analysis and play test matches, only to find out on the big day that they were “mentally exhausted” or “mentally unprepared.” Sports hypnosis starts exactly there. It gives athletes and coaches a way to train the part of performance that physical work alone does not reach.

When the body is ready and the mind is not

There is a lot at stake for athletes. Whether you want to win a championship, a tournament or simply make more of your training, it is hard physical work. Hours of it, week after week.

And yet the difference between a good day and a bad one is often not in the legs or the lungs. It is in focus, confidence and the ability to stay calm when it counts. Most athletes know this. Far fewer train it with the same care they give to their bodies.

So the question is practical: what can you do to stay mentally strong during the particularly tough phases of training and before the event itself? Hypnosis offers real possibilities here.

What sports hypnosis is, and what it is not

Sports hypnosis uses the natural state of hypnosis to work with the subconscious, where habits, emotions and automatic reactions live. Under pressure, those automatic reactions take over. If they are working for you, you perform. If they are working against you, no amount of willpower will fix it in the moment.

In hypnosis, an athlete can work on exactly these reactions. Distractions can be faded out, and limiting beliefs can be recognized and changed. The feeling of a good performance can be rehearsed until it becomes familiar.

What sports hypnosis is not: a replacement for training, talent or medical care. It does not run the race for you. It helps you bring what you have trained to the moment when it matters.

Hypnosis for athletes: self-hypnosis as a daily tool

Not everything needs a session with a hypnotherapist. Self-hypnosis is an effective tool for athletes and reaches into many areas that matter in competitive sport: recovery between sessions, focus before a start, calm after a setback.

In our article on stress in the workplace, we describe how team leaders and employees use self-hypnosis to create islands of calm in a busy day and stay productive. The same idea works in sport. A few minutes of focused inner calm between training blocks or before a competition can change how an athlete feels and performs.

Once distractions fade and limiting beliefs lose their grip, many athletes move beyond what they thought were their limits. Hypnosis or self-hypnosis often sets this process in motion, and coaches can learn to use it as well as athletes themselves.

OMNI and competitive sport

Sport became part of the OMNI training through one person in particular. Adrian Brüngger is the former head coach of the first team of handball club Pfadi Winterthur, which plays in the top Swiss league. Today he is part of the OMNI management team.

He used HypnoSport®, the OMNI program for sports hypnosis, during his own coaching career, and many coaches and therapists have since followed his lead. OMNI hypnotherapists use the method in their practices to support athletes. Adrian Brüngger works with top athletes such as decathlete Simon Ehammer and Swiss wrestler Samuel Giger. You can read one of those stories in our article on Simon Ehammer’s long jump record.

What research says about hypnosis in sport

Hypnosis in sport is also a subject of research. A systematic review published in 2025 in the International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology analyzed 13 studies on therapeutic hypnosis in sport. It reported significant improvements in performance, recovery from injury and psychological distress.

For athletes, that is an encouraging picture. It also comes with a reminder: in sport as elsewhere, hypnosis works best as part of a complete approach, together with good coaching, sound training and, where needed, sports medicine.

Mental training in sports: coaches and athletes both benefit

Mental training in sports is not only for the athlete. Coaches and team physicians are in a particularly good position to use hypnosis, because they see their athletes every day and know when the mind is the limiting factor.

For coaches, hypnosis adds a tool to the existing toolbox: a way to prepare a team for an important game, help an athlete recover from a setback or work on the confidence that tactics alone cannot give.

For team physicians and therapists, it adds a mental dimension to the physical care they already provide, always within the limits of their role.

For athletes, learning self-hypnosis means independence. They are not bound to a coach or therapist for every mental adjustment. They learn to use the tool on their own, in training and in competition.

Where to start

If you are an athlete looking for support, the OMNI team can recommend a trained OMNI hypnotherapist who works with athletes. If you are a coach, a team physician or an athlete who wants to learn the tools yourself, start with the foundation.

Sports hypnosis builds on the same skills as all hypnosis work: understanding the subconscious, guiding someone into hypnosis, deepening the state and working with suggestions. Module 1 of the OMNI training covers these basics, including self-hypnosis. From there, you can go deeper, all the way to the hypnotherapist certification.

The mental side of sport can be trained. Athletes who train it do not have to rely on luck on the big day. They prepare the part of performance that others leave to chance.

Your next step: start with Module 1: OMNI Hypnotist, online and at your own pace. You learn the basics of hypnosis and self-hypnosis that every form of sports hypnosis builds on.