When I run any adverts for my NLP courses I always use the word “pragmatic” in the description of the course. Something which always bothered me about my profession was that claims were sometimes that NLP was all you needed, it could change anything and you could create changes in any sphere you wished.
What bothered me most was that ultimately our profession was doing exactly the same as others and in fact limiting itself within its own boundaries as the “only choice”
One of the main themes of Neuro Linguistic Programming is that it is not a “do to” process, it is a “do with” which I perceived always to be an encompassing statement of not only the client or groups you are working but also the learning and experience you are developing and in effect the evolution of the techniques you are using.
Now, the only way we can do this is by learning, understanding and utilizing the expertise and experience of other professions to in fact make it as “do with” as possible and in turn making the entire discipline as beneficial to those we work with as possible.
The ethics and original intent of NLP work incredibly well with other professions and frequently there is an overlap which when taken out of its own context bear similarity and therefore should in fact be complimentary to one another.
The reason for an introduction to an article in this way is to make it clear that, as a Trainer and also someone who works with individuals and teams as well application to my own competing, the discipline I teach and also practice can be a beneficial addition to any therapeutic tool kit. However, at this point I will not make wild claims that NLP is the only intervention required to deal with cancer, world war and getting your client to get off their backside and get on the track.
There are a great many interventions which NLP uses but primarily, in a therapeutic context, it is used to establish and elicit a pattern of behaviour from root cause to exhibited behaviour and to the highest intention of the behaviour – all of which can in fact have their own belief system and own ultimate goal.
One of the issues with using NLP in sport is that when you are standing out on the track or pitch in a gale force wind with your client, working through a pattern of behaviour for example an over analytical thought process, to at that point suggest you go through a complex question and answer session plus a complete intervention is somewhat impractical let alone soggy coupled with a seriously bad hair day.
One of the parts I teach is about adaption to the client and thinking “laterally” about how to apply what you are using. Using calibration skills to notice a state change in the client as they take you through the stages of the problem step by step, watching the eye patterns and listening to the predicates which will indicate which “language” system they are using in order to effectively then communicate with them in their own language pattern.
A number of other basic and simple first steps to understanding the problem and in fact getting to the bottom of the real problem instead of problem they have handed to you!
There are a great many ways the use of NLP can be incorporated into sport, the coaching of and performance in. Its another angle and has varying techniques which can be adapted and moulded to the individual client or team to produce the desired results.
A very small part of that are the direct interventions – the rest are elicitation strategies, values, rep system and communication infrastructure and recognition systems which will reframe and divert thought process and patterns. We use these from the smallest part of a competing strategy which is causing a problem right through to underlying causes of self belief issues acting as a block.
Some of the skills we teach I honestly think are somewhat temporary unless the actual underlying cause of the problem is addressed possibly in the hope of diverting the behaviour or process long enough for it to ingrain. Again, working a sport environment, frequently you do not have the time on site to elicit the root cause as the problem needs to be addressed now.
For instance, a football player I was working with had a situation that he was about to put on a transfer list due to a tackling issue. He had a crutiate injury over 18 months before which was fully healed and he had been given the all clear. The help he had received form the club at that stage wasn’t working for him and he was referred to me.
He had never quite regained confidence in the knee and tackling force he could use so as he came in for the tackle, he would experience a sudden loss of power. Up to that point, as soon as he knew he was going to tackle an entire thought process was starting which was negative and so he would enter into an over analytic process forcing him to go conscious at that point. Overall this was causing a loss of self confidence and in his playing ability as well as producing a sudden return to a consciously incompetent state instead of unconsciously competent.
From the angle of what I do and the processes we use, we looked for the trigger, the moment both systems started. He was highly process orientated and so the trigger when he realized he was going to tackle was an internal dialogue which began. For that we used a anchoring technique which made the connection to the physical stimulus of that action and provided a new direction for the behaviour so that he didn’t have the same internal dialogue.
We also used a replay of the moment when he would lose the power which was when he drew his leg back to directly challenge for the ball which was the same leg he had the crutiate problem . At that moment we used another anchoring technique to collapse the sudden loss of power and be overtaken with a focused drive he had experienced in the past which we used.
He then went into tackle with another player and found that the loss of power had gone and he in fact carried through in a committed movement without the fear or protective loss of power.
Now, this was all carried out on site so no other underlying cause or interview was carried out that point so in effect these issues were only temporarily dealt with.
On a one to one session at the clinic 2 days later, we then went into the underlying issues which had build over that period of time which had effected his belief in ability and was therefore producing a limiting belief. There is no quick fix as such for this and I covered techniques we use which I know are questioned but work for me. We used a values elicitation which transpired that his criteria had changed and his own success in football had been overtaken by an away from motivation of not wishing to let his club and family down therefore reducing his drive to move towards his goal.
A fear of failure had also started which was blocking him and causing limitations.
Along with sub modality work and reframing I also covered with him methods of changing the internal dialogue which then change the focus of what you want. This meant that he needed to practice it and there is no fast way of doing that and the main key is being able to recognize that you are in fact doing it before getting sucked into that vortex of self doubt and negative thought process. This takes time but eventually will change the overall process if they can stick at it.
The outcome 3 weeks later was that he had successfully tackled at the clubs matches and he had in fact been taken off the transfer list. Of course there were ongoing small issues which needed to be dealt with over a period of time but none of them required further direct work with me and he could work on these himself whilst keeping in contact by email and phone.
The example is only used as small except of some of the work which can be done but I really do want to emphasise that what we do is not something I believe is a “cure all” and in a ideal world if all the disciplines that are available could be lumped into one, then we would have something amazing. However, regardless of who does what, the only thing which should be important is the individual and getting results for them and watching them reach the potential you know is there.
For further information about NLP in sport and performance optimization please visit www.emmajamesport.co.uk
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