Barry Jones Athletic Case Studies
Case Study 1.
Gymnastics Case Study: When the Mind Rehearses Failure
Using Hypnosis and Visualisation to Explore Performance on the Balance Beam
Several years ago, I was invited to work with the women's team at a highly respected gymnastics club in the United States—one that has gone on to produce numerous Olympians and National Team members.
I was asked to work specifically with the athletes on what many gymnasts regard as one of the most psychologically demanding pieces of apparatus: the balance beam.
The physical demands of the beam are obvious. The gymnast must perform highly complex movements on a narrow surface, often at considerable height and speed, while maintaining precision, balance and control.
But there is another dimension that interests me just as much:
What is the gymnast experiencing mentally while performing the routine?
Looking at Performance From the Inside
I introduced the women's team to a hypnosis and visualisation exercise designed to have them experience their performance internally.
Rather than simply talking about the routine, I guided them through an imagined performance, encouraging them to experience the movements from within—to see, feel and mentally rehearse themselves performing.
Highly trained athletes are typically very motivated to participate in this type of exercise. They already understand the importance of preparation and are accustomed to working intensely on their skills.
What I find particularly interesting is that athletes often enjoy the experience of entering a deeply focused state where they can let go while still remaining completely in control.
As the exercise progressed, I watched the gymnasts' faces.
Their expressions began to reveal something about what they were experiencing internally.
Some showed tension and emotion. Others appeared to be physically reacting to what they were imagining.
But one gymnast's face remained completely relaxed.
Her expression was one of remarkable serenity.
What Did They Actually Imagine?
After the first part of the exercise, I asked the gymnasts to describe what they had experienced during their imagined performance.
The answers were fascinating.
Almost every gymnast reported that she had fallen from the beam during her imagined routine.
One gymnast did not.
Our "lady of serenity" described performing her routine perfectly.
I wasn't particularly surprised when I subsequently learned that, of all the gymnasts in the group, she was the one who was slated to compete at the Olympic level.
I certainly wouldn't suggest that this single exercise explains why she was selected for the Olympics. Elite selection involves countless factors, including physical ability, technical skill, training, consistency and competitive performance.
What interested me was the difference in their internal rehearsal.
The athletes were highly trained and physically capable of performing their routines, yet many of them automatically imagined failure when asked to mentally experience their performance.
That distinction is important.
The Mind Can Rehearse More Than Success
Athletes often use visualisation to prepare for competition, but simply imagining a skill is not necessarily the same as mentally rehearsing it successfully.
If an athlete repeatedly imagines falling, missing, making a mistake or losing control, those experiences can become part of the mental landscape surrounding the skill.
The athlete may not consciously choose to imagine failure.
It can simply happen.
That was what made this exercise so revealing.
The gymnasts weren't being asked:
"What do you think might go wrong?"
They were being asked to experience their routine.
Yet many automatically incorporated failure into that experience.
Changing the Instruction
I then repeated the exercise with one important change.
This time, I told the athletes that there would be no mistakes in their routine.
The instruction changed the framework of the mental rehearsal.
As I guided them through the exercise again, I noticed something different.
There were many more peaceful expressions.
The atmosphere became noticeably calmer.
When we discussed the experience afterwards, the difference was reflected in what the gymnasts reported.
This time, only one athlete said that she was unable to complete the imagined routine without falling from the beam.
What I Learned From the Exercise
For me, the value of this exercise wasn't that hypnosis magically made the gymnasts better.
It demonstrated something much more interesting.
The way an athlete mentally rehearses performance matters.
A gymnast can be exceptionally well trained physically and still carry an internal expectation of failure.
That expectation may show itself as:
fear of falling
hesitation before a skill
overthinking
loss of automaticity
excessive conscious control
tension
reduced confidence
mental blocks
The physical skill may still be there.
The challenge is allowing the mind and body to work together without unnecessary interference.
Why This Matters in Gymnastics
Gymnastics demands an extraordinary level of precision and trust.
At the highest level, athletes have repeated their skills thousands of times. Ideally, the body knows what to do without the conscious mind attempting to control every movement.
But when fear or doubt enters the equation, an athlete can begin consciously monitoring something that previously happened automatically.
That is where mental rehearsal, visualisation and hypnosis can become valuable additions to physical training.
My role is not to replace technical coaching.
The gymnast still needs the physical preparation, technical instruction and repetition provided by her coaches.
Instead, I work on the mental side—helping athletes develop the ability to approach performance with greater confidence, trust and composure.
The Lesson I Took Away
That session reinforced something I have seen repeatedly throughout my work with athletes:
The mind does not always rehearse what we consciously want it to rehearse.
Sometimes the most revealing part of mental training is discovering what an athlete automatically imagines when they are given the freedom to experience their performance from the inside.
Once that becomes apparent, we can begin changing the rehearsal.
For gymnasts, that can mean developing a stronger internal experience of confidence, trust and successful performance—while allowing their physical training to do what it has been designed to do.
The ultimate objective is not simply to imagine success.
It is to develop the mental freedom to trust the skills you have already worked so hard to build.
Case Study 2
Trampolining Case Study: Overcoming a Mental Block and Regaining Confidence
How Sports Performance Hypnosis Helped a Young National Champion Return to Skills She Had Previously Performed Successfully
A 16-year-old national champion trampolinist was referred to me after experiencing an unexpected change in her performance following a successful championship and a move into a new age group.
She had already achieved a very high level in her sport, competing successfully at national level in the 15/16 women's category and internationally in the 17/21 women's category. However, following the move into the older age group, she began experiencing difficulty taking off for moves that she had previously performed successfully many times.
There was another problem.
After completing a twisting move, she was experiencing difficulties with spatial awareness. This appeared to affect her confidence and her ability to perform other, relatively straightforward movements that followed.
For an athlete competing at this level, losing confidence in skills that had previously been automatic can be particularly unsettling.
What Brought Her to Me?
Her grandmother contacted me to explain what was happening and asked whether I had experience working with gymnasts and whether online sessions could be effective.
The important point for me was that this wasn't simply a question of whether she physically knew how to perform the skills.
She already did.
The challenge appeared to be developing around how she was mentally approaching the skills.
When an athlete begins to anticipate that something might go wrong, attention can shift away from the automatic execution of a well-rehearsed movement. Instead of trusting the skill, the athlete can become increasingly conscious of what might happen, where something could go wrong, or whether they will be able to complete the movement successfully.
That can create hesitation and anxiety where there was previously confidence.
My Approach
My initial focus was on helping her change the way she was using mental imagery and visualisation.
Rather than mentally rehearsing everything that could potentially go wrong, I wanted her to develop a positive internal representation of performing her skills successfully.
This is an important distinction.
Mental rehearsal can be extremely powerful, but what an athlete rehearses mentally matters. If the mind repeatedly practises fear, hesitation or failure, those experiences can become part of the athlete's expectations.
I therefore worked with her to develop a different mental approach—one based on confidence, trust, positive imagery and allowing her movements to become more automatic.
Hypnosis was used to help reinforce this process at a deeper level while reducing anxiety and helping her develop greater confidence in her ability to perform.
I also introduced her to self-hypnosis so that she could continue developing these skills independently between sessions.
The aim was never to make her dependent on hypnosis.
Quite the opposite.
I wanted to give her tools she could continue using throughout her athletic career.
The First Training Session
The response after her first session was particularly encouraging.
Following her training session that evening, she got into her grandmother's car and immediately said:
"Well, that hypnotherapy session worked!"
She reported successfully completing her 1n3 twice, describing both attempts as good. Importantly, she had not performed the move successfully since February.
She also completed other moves and links successfully during the session.
Her grandmother subsequently wrote to me:
"She is very excited that she has experienced something positive."
For me, that was an important early indication that something had shifted.
Not necessarily that everything had suddenly been "fixed", but that she had experienced the possibility of performing successfully again.
And that can be a significant psychological turning point for an athlete who has begun to doubt a skill.
The Importance of Continuing the Process
I explained to her grandmother that one successful training session was an encouraging beginning, but that athletic performance is a process rather than a single event.
Athletes will encounter setbacks.
They will have difficult training sessions. They will make mistakes. They will experience pressure and occasionally lose confidence.
The objective is not to create an athlete who never experiences doubt.
It is to develop an athlete who knows how to respond when doubt appears.
I encouraged Emily to make self-hypnosis and mental training part of her regular routine, allowing the positive mental rehearsal to become increasingly familiar.
For an athlete already competing at a very high level, developing this mental resilience can become an important part of long-term performance development.
What This Case Demonstrates
This case illustrates an issue I frequently encounter in competitive sport: the physical ability to perform a skill can remain intact while an athlete's confidence and mental approach to that skill changes.
A gymnast or trampolinist may know exactly how to perform a movement, yet hesitation, anxiety, overthinking or negative mental imagery can interfere with the automatic execution of that skill.
Sports performance hypnosis can be used alongside an athlete's physical training to help address these psychological aspects of performance.
The objective is not simply to make an athlete feel more confident.
It is to help them develop the ability to trust their preparation, rehearse success mentally, manage anxiety and allow well-trained movements to happen without unnecessary conscious interference.
For Emily, the first session provided an encouraging step forward.
Her journey, like that of every athlete, continues.
And ultimately, that is what mental performance training is about—not eliminating every mental challenge, but giving athletes the tools and resilience to handle those challenges when they arise.
Case Study 3
Triathlon Case Study: Mental Preparation for the Hawaii Ironman
Using Hypnosis, Imagery and Subconscious Conditioning to Prepare an Elite Triathlete for Ironman Qualification
My work with this athlete came through a long-standing professional relationship with one of the most experienced endurance coaches I have known.
I had trained and raced alongside him, and we have known each other for more than 35 years. He subsequently established an online coaching company working with triathletes, from newcomers to highly experienced Ironman competitors.
His own endurance background is exceptional. He has completed 25 Ironman races, more than 100 half-Ironman races, and the Hawaii Triple Ironman, one of the most demanding endurance events in the sport.
For more than three decades, I have worked with him as a consultant in subconscious programming for his athletes. He still uses the self-hypnosis techniques I taught him more than 30 years ago for relaxation.
On this occasion, he asked me to work with one of his athletes who was preparing for the Hawaii Ironman and wanted additional mental training to complement his physical preparation.
The Mental Demands of Ironman
Ironman preparation is fundamentally different from preparing for a short-duration event.
The athlete is not simply training to be physically fit. They are preparing themselves to remain focused and composed through hours of swimming, cycling and running, while managing fatigue, discomfort, changing conditions and the inevitable psychological challenges that arise during a long endurance event.
One of the areas I wanted to address was the athlete's ability to distinguish between productive discomfort and a warning from the body that should be respected.
This became particularly important because he was dealing with a persistent hip problem.
There is a very fine line between using hypnosis and mental conditioning to help an athlete manage the normal fatigue and mental strain associated with endurance training, and using it to override pain caused by a known structural problem.
I am very clear about that distinction.
Hypnosis should never be used to encourage an athlete to ignore injury pain or push through a medically significant structural problem during training or competition.
Pain from an injury is information. It tells you that something may be wrong, and the athlete needs to listen to what their body is communicating.
That principle was deliberately incorporated into our work.
Developing the Sessions
Creating a hypnotic state is relatively straightforward.
The much more challenging—and important—part is deciding what you say once the athlete is there.
The vocabulary used during hypnosis matters.
Words create pictures, feelings, expectations and associations. When working with athletes, I therefore spend considerable time developing language that is specific to the individual, their experiences and their goals.
I have written about this subject in my article [A Doctor Prescribes Medication; A Hypnotist Prescribes Words], exploring the importance of the language used in hypnosis.
Our sessions were conducted approximately every two weeks and were adapted according to what the athlete needed at that stage of his preparation.
I also created a personalised self-hypnosis audio for him so that he could continue the mental training independently between sessions.
Creating a Performance Mantra
One of the first things we developed was a simple mantra that could become an anchor during his self-hypnosis and mental preparation:
"There is absolutely no doubt in your mind that you will qualify for Hawaii."
The purpose wasn't simply to repeat a positive statement.
The mantra was supported by imagery and evidence from his own preparation.
He had trained.
He had been coached.
He had experienced difficult sessions.
He had already demonstrated that he could deal with physical and mental challenges.
The objective was to connect his confidence with the evidence he had accumulated through his preparation.
Building Confidence From Evidence
During the sessions, I used language such as:
You can feel it and you can see it.
Those feelings and emotions are very real, and they come backed up with the knowledge and conviction that you have done everything right.
Every thought and detail has been considered and then reaffirmed.
You have not left anything to chance.
His confidence was not based on wishful thinking.
It was based on the quantity and quality of his training and the structure of the programme developed by his coach.
We reinforced that repeatedly:
Your confidence is warranted because you know you have done the quantity and quality of training that is required.
Your training has been structured and determined by an excellent coach, and you have diligently adhered to it every step of the way.
Even the difficult sessions became part of the preparation rather than evidence that something was wrong.
Even though some training sessions have been challenging, that is what you would expect. In fact, it is what you require of yourself.
Knowing that you have been physically and mentally challenged consistently has given you the strength and confidence to deal with whatever may occur on race day.
Rehearsing Race Day Before It Happened
A significant part of our work involved detailed pre-race imagery.
I wanted him to experience race day mentally before he ever reached the start line.
We began several days before the race.
He would imagine arriving early, knowing the course, having his bike prepared, tapering appropriately and allowing himself time to relax.
The message was simple:
You are rested. You are prepared. You are ready.
From there, we moved into specific experiences from his training.
I asked him to revisit one of his toughest bike sessions in as much detail as possible.
Not simply the physical experience.
The emotions.
The thoughts.
The challenge.
Most importantly, what he had learned from it.
We then did the same with his running.
What had been his toughest training session?
Why had it been difficult?
What had he learned?
How could that experience be used if he encountered a similar challenge during the Ironman?
The purpose was to transform difficult training experiences into evidence of capability.
Instead of:
"That was incredibly hard."
the mental association becomes:
"I have experienced something extremely difficult before, and I know how I responded."
That distinction can be powerful in endurance sport.
Rehearsing the Difficult Moments
The final part of the imagery took him into the race itself.
I asked him to see himself competing in as much detail as possible.
Not simply crossing the finish line.
The entire experience.
The swim.
The bike.
The run.
And within each section, identifying moments where he might reasonably expect to be challenged.
Then mentally rehearsing himself responding effectively.
The objective wasn't to pretend the race would be easy.
Quite the opposite.
It was to become familiar with the experience of being challenged and still responding with confidence.
An Important Part of the Work: Keeping Triathlon in Perspective
There was another issue I considered particularly important with this athlete.
Triathletes can be extraordinarily single-minded.
That determination can be one of their greatest strengths.
It can also become a weakness if the pursuit of a goal begins to overshadow everything else in life.
For this athlete, part of my work was therefore about maintaining perspective.
We worked with ideas such as:
Be a human being, not a human doing.
Triathlon should enhance your life, not consume it.
The goal was to encourage him to recognise that success doesn't have to be defined solely by a finishing time or qualification.
Success can also mean:
enjoying the training
experiencing the race
achieving personal bests
developing physically and mentally
spending time with family and friends
maintaining long-term health
continuing to love the sport
Triathlon is an important part of life.
But it is not life itself.
The Injury: A Different Kind of Mental Challenge
The hip problem required another layer of mental conditioning.
An injury creates more than physical discomfort.
It creates uncertainty.
An athlete can begin asking:
"Will I be able to train?"
"Will I lose fitness?"
"Will I be ready?"
"Will this prevent me from achieving my goal?"
The temptation for a highly motivated athlete is often to focus on what they cannot do.
I wanted to reverse that focus.
One of the central messages in his self-hypnosis audio became:
Focus on what you can do, not on what you can't do.
At the same time, the message had to remain firmly grounded in respecting the injury.
His short-term goal wasn't simply to train harder.
It was to train intelligently without causing further injury.
His long-term goal wasn't simply qualification.
It was to build a healthy, fulfilling lifestyle that could be sustained for many years.
Listening to the Body
One of the most important messages I reinforced was:
Your body has an innate intelligence. Don't ignore it.
Qualifying for Hawaii was the goal.
But achieving that goal required respecting the process that made it possible.
That meant:
listening to the body
following a structured, science-based coaching programme
resisting the urge to do more when the body was indicating that less was appropriate
adjusting short-term goals when necessary
keeping long-term health in perspective
The objective was never to use hypnosis to make pain disappear so the athlete could continue training regardless of the consequences.
It was to help him remain mentally strong while making intelligent decisions about his training and recovery.
The Central Message
The most important message I gave him became the foundation of the self-hypnosis work:
FOCUS ON WHAT YOU CAN DO AND NOT ON WHAT YOU CAN'T DO.
That principle applies far beyond triathlon.
Every athlete eventually encounters something they cannot control—a setback, an injury, poor conditions, an unexpected result, or a period when performance doesn't go according to plan.
Mental strength isn't pretending those things don't exist.
It is learning how to respond to them.
What This Case Demonstrates
This work illustrates how I approach sports performance hypnosis with endurance athletes.
Hypnosis isn't a replacement for physical preparation, coaching, medical care or appropriate recovery.
It is another tool that can complement those things.
For an Ironman athlete, that tool can be used to develop:
confidence based on preparation
detailed race imagery
mental rehearsal
relaxation
focus and concentration
resilience during difficult training
emotional control
appropriate responses to pressure
perspective around performance
self-hypnosis skills that can continue beyond the immediate event
Perhaps most importantly, the mental training should help the athlete become more complete, not simply more competitive.
The ultimate objective is to qualify for the race you have worked so hard to reach—but to do so while maintaining the health, balance and enjoyment that make endurance sport worthwhile in the first place.
MORE CASE STUDIES TO FOLLOW
training this evening, she got in my car at 7:30 and said ‘well that hypnotherapy session worked’!
She has apparently achieved to carry out her 1n3 twice she said they were good she hadn’t done them since February. She also completed other moves and links successfully.
She has received the recording, thank you. She is away from tomorrow for a few days but will be back training on Tuesday. She said she would review the recording daily. She is very excited that she has experienced something positive.
Thank you, I know early days but very positive so early on in the process.
Kind Regards
Carol
Emily went training this evening, she got in my car at 7:30 and said ‘well that hypnotherapy session worked’!
She has apparently achieved to carry out her 1n3 twice she said they were good she hadn’t done them since February. She also completed other moves and links successfully.
She has received the recording, thank you. She is away from tomorrow for a few days but will be back training on Tuesday. She said she would review the recording daily. She is very excited that she has experienced something positive.
Thank you, I know early days but very positive so early on in the process.
Kind Regards
Carol
Hi Barry
I didn’t mention the session with you today.
Emily went training this evening, she got in my car at 7:30 and said ‘well that hypnotherapy session worked’!
She has apparently achieved to carry out her 1n3 twice she said they were good she hadn’t done them since February. She also completed other moves and links successfully.
She has received the recording, thank you. She is away from tomorrow for a few days but will be back training on Tuesday. She said she would review the recording daily. She is very excited that she has experienced something positive.
Thank you, I know early days but very positive so early on in the process.
Kind Regards
Carol