Following the nailbiting Wimbledon match between Britain's Barry Cowan and reigning champion Pete Sampras, the Daily Mail has revealed, unsurprisingly, that a large amount of mental preparation helped him on his way.
Apparently the 'fashionable new discipline' Neuro-Linguistic Programming was responsible for Cowan's impressive performance last week. Sports psychologist and performance coach Gloria Budd had Cowan visualising victory before the match began, according to the paper. While others were suprised at the strengh of his performance, Budd told the paper she really believed he could win: "He squares up to his opponent, his head is raised and he looks focused and positive. If you appear confident enough, even the most intractable opponent will feel dimished." Budd got Cowan to picture himself on the court, to imagine the colours, to hear the sounds, and to play the whole game out in his mind. Other support came from Cowan's personal stereo - as a lifelong Liverpool fan, 'You'll Never Walk Alone' has a strong significance for him and was played at the changeovers during the match.
Budd's background is diverse, reports the Mail - she has worked as a secretary, an air stewardess and administrator, before training in NLP two years ago, and is now a master practitioner. Like Paul McKenna, who delivers NLP programmes as part of McKenna Breen, Budd uses some hypnosis in her work, although she takes clients to what she calls a 'semi-trance' state. Two of Budd's clients are up-and-coming names in the tennis world - Martin Lee is the other British player under her wing. With NLP apparently working so well for Cowan, maybe he could pass some tips on to Tim Henman!
For more information:
Find an online coach specialising in NLP
Read about H.O.T. Conference speaker Michael Breen's work with NLP
