The DOI matches its Crossref record; 17 of the 38 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
A Review of the Development of Sport Hypnosis as a Performance Enhancement Method for Athletes
Abstract
The purpose of this review was to trace the historical milestones in the emergence of sport hypnosis from its earliest beginnings to the present time. The authors reviewed some important definitional conceptualizations of hypnosis from the work of Braid, Bernheim, Freud, Hull and Erickson. Erickson laid the groundwork for the modern definitions of hypnosis and eventually of sport hypnosis. Clinical sport hypnosis was defined as: “helping athletes overcome a variety of psychological symptoms and problems” [1]. Attention was given to both research and conceptual literature on the role of hypnosis in sport. Contributions of leading sport psychologists, e.g., Bruce Ogilvie, Lars-Eric Unestahl, Terry Orlick, Ken Ravizza, Brent Rushall, Robert Nideffer, Kay Porter, Maxwell Maltz, whose work in mental training, laid the foundation for sport hypnosis were presented. Finally, the future of sport hypnosis was explored as an empirically demonstrated methodology for expanding the range of mental skills training.
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“Within this framework, SmartACT likely operates through complementary pathways—top-down regulation (ACT), sensorimotor simulation (imagery), and autonomic/attentional tuning (hypnosis)—to yield concurrent gains in motor efficiency and reductions in psychosomatic distress [44,49,50,51,58,59,60,61,62,74,75,76].”
From Effects of the SmartACT Intervention on Motor and Psychological Variables in Adolescent Athletes: A Controlled Trial Using BlazePod and Microgate. (2025) · cites this paper as [51]
Citations
Cites
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The collected papers of Milton H. Erickson on hypnosis
Erickson, M., & Rossi, E. (1979) · Scandinavian Journal of Behaviour Therapy · doi:10.1080/16506078209455643 · Cited by 118 · cited 1×
“Erickson [7,8] believed that the unconscious mind was always attending to stimuli and indicated that indirect suggestion or what has he called conversational hypnosis that permitted the unconscious mind to participate actively in the therapeutic process.”
BackgroundSuggestive Therapeutics—A Treatise on Nature and Uses of Hypnotism
Bernheim, H., & Herter, C. (1889) · Buffalo Medical and Surgical Journal · doi:10.1037/12998-000 · Cited by 75 · cited 1×
“Induced by a fixed and abstracted attention of the mental and visual eye, Braid [3] thought that hypnosis created a peculiar state of the nervous system [4].”
BackgroundEffects of Hypnosis on Flow States and Golf Performance
Pates, J., & Maynard, I. (2000) · Perceptual and Motor Skills · doi:10.2466/pms.2000.91.3f.1057 · Cited by 71 · cited 3×
“Recent empirical investigations have focused on experimental research designed to determine to what degree hypnosis can be used to enhance sport performance [26,27] studied flow states and hypnosis on golf putting execution.”
BackgroundMorgan, W. (1981) · Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport · doi:10.1080/02701367.1981.10607886 · Cited by 66 · cited 2×
“or increased systematically by hypnosis during exercise [20, 21].”
BackgroundIntroduction to clinical hypnosis.
Kirsch, I., Lynn, S., & Rhue, J. (1993) · American Psychological Association eBooks · doi:10.1037/10274-001 · Cited by 64 · cited 1×
“[32] indicate that there is only limited empirical investigation that supports these reports.”
BackgroundHypnotic perturbation of perceived exertion: ventilatory consequences.
Morgan, W., Hirta, K., Weitz, G. A., & Balke, B. (1976) · American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis · doi:10.1080/00029157.1976.10403796 · Cited by 62 · cited 1×
“or increased systematically by hypnosis during exercise [20, 21].”
BackgroundAn Investigation into the Effects of Hypnosis on Basketball Performance
Pates, J., Maynar, I., & Westbury, T. (2001) · Journal of Applied Sport Psychology · doi:10.1080/10413200109339005 · Cited by 59
The Pursuit of Excellence: The 47th Annual Rovenstine Lecture
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Using Hypnosis to Enhance Self-Efficacy in Sport Performers
Barker, J. B., Jones, M. V., & Greenlees, I. A. (2013) · Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology · doi:10.1123/jcsp.7.3.228 · Cited by 22 · cited 1×
“In addition, Smith, Glass and Miller [34] published meta-analytic studies on sport hypnosis.”
Background
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- Horn T (2008) Advances in sport psychology (3rd Ed.), Champaign IL: Human Kinetics. Hull C Hypnosis and suggestibility: An experimental approach. Williston, VT: Crown.
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Hypnosis-induced modulation of corticospinal excitability during motor imagery
Cesari, P., Modenese, M., Benedetti, S., Andani, M. E., & Fiorio, M. (2020) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-020-74020-0 · Cited by 18
The impact of sport hypnosis on volleyball athlete performance: An empirical study
Hasyim, A. H., Amirzan, Muhammad, Humaedi, & Sujarwo (2023) · Journal Sport Area · doi:10.25299/sportarea.2023.vol8(3).13637 · Cited by 3
Mental Imagery and Self Hypnosis in Sports Performance
Mukhopadhyay, K. (2021) · International Journal of Advanced Research in Science, Communication and Technology · doi:10.48175/ijarsct-1615 · Cited by 3
Timea, B. M., Carmen, C.-B., Nicolae, O. M., Nicola, M., Teodor, G. V., Maria, S. A., Cornelia, P., Hervás-Gómez, C., Florina, G. E., & Dan, M. (2025) · Children · doi:10.3390/children12101338 · Cited by 2
Madár, T. B., Costea-Bărluţiu, C., Ordean, M. N., Mancini, N., Popovici, C., Grosu, V. T., Zadic, A., Pop, R.-M., CRISTEA, D. I., Grosu, E. F., et al. (2026) · Applied Sciences · doi:10.3390/app16020825 · Cited by 1
Altered states of consciousness in sports psychology: hypnosis, suggestion and auto-suggestion
Kvitchasty, A. V. (2021) · Journal of Modern Foreign Psychology · doi:10.17759/jmfp.2021100309 · Cited by 29
Metadata
- Authors
- S, W. F.
- Venue
- Journal of Psychology & Clinical Psychiatry
- Publisher
- MedCrave Group, LLC
- Published
- 2016-11-01
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 6
- ISSN
- 2373-6445 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2549325031
- Cited by
- 6
- References
- 38
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 1 · 2016: 1
- FWCI
- 0.78
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Psychology & Clinical Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Sport Psychology and Performance
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Pain Management and Placebo Effect
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
- Keywords
- performance improvement, history of hypnosis, mental training, sport psychology
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