From parlor-room to swimming pool
Hypnosis helps leap mental blocks
Hypnosis. The mere mention
of the word continues to conjure
up images of palm-readers and
parlor-room performances.
But a quiet hallway near
Leighton Pool isn’t exactly what
one would call a parlor room.
And the man holding court for
some Oregon swimmers doesn't
plan to levitate his subjects.
Instead of “your eyes are get
ting very heavy,” the words are
“concentration,” “stamina,"
and "strength.”
The words have a calming
effect. By some definitions, the
swimmers are being hypno
tized, but actually it is self-hyp
nosis, says the man — Oregon
men's swimming coach Rich
Schleicher.
“It's training the mind to
overcome mental blocks,”
Schleicher says.
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Despite the skepticism sur
rounding such hypnotic tech
niques, he contends that they
work.
Schleicher should know. For
the past seven years the swim
ming coach, who holds a Ph D.
in psychophysiology, has incor
porated hypnotic techniques
into swimming on a voluntary
basis.
Since his arrival at the
University, Schleicher has suc
cessfully used self-hypnotic
techniques in Oregon's training
program. "I don't care.if your're
talking about sports or anything
else," he says. “Everyone has
mental blocks. And those
blocks can be overcome."
Overcoming self-imposed
barriers, there for one reason or
another, is what Schleicher
strives to do. "I train people how
to understand those barriers
and work past them on an in
dividual level.
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‘‘I couldn’t just
go out and hyp
n o t i z e
somebody. I’d
have to know
them, know what
they react to,
which words to
use to be effec
tive. And then, I’d
be teaching them
how to effect
themselves.
“Everything
we use, they can
do.”
Schleicher’s
interest in self
hypnotic tech
niques and athle
tics began while
he was working
on his master’s
degree at the
University of Illin
ois. He became
interested in the
attraction and
hynotic effect of
various charis
matic leaders.
A chance to
make his own
observations
came when he was hired by the
University of Evansville as the
swimming coach. There he was
able to formulate his hypothe
sis.
He observed that college
swimmers peaked in their senior
year and seemed able to mount
the starting blocks and ignore
anything about them.
This power of concentration,
he observed, was similar to
hynosis.
His first chance to apply his
theory though came while he
-v
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Rich Schleicher
was at Illinois. One day a swim
mer came to him, exhausted
after swimming only a few pool
lengths.
Schleicher taught the swim
mer to focus his thoughts, vi
sualize a single object and
breathe deeply. The swimmer
entered an induced trance.
The coach then set the stage
by having the athlete swim a
series within a set time. He did it
— down to the second.
From there, the “self-im
posed” technique found its way
to Oregon.
And Leighton Pool became a
place of intense concentration.
“It’s not a cure-all or a pan
acea,’’ says Schleicher. “But
there is something to focusing
your attention. Telling your self
you can do anything.
“It’s the same technique ath
letes have used for years to
‘psych’ themselves up. I’ve only
developed a more concrete and
workable focus."
Story by Tamara Swenson
Photo by David W. Zahn
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