Pete Carroll has made a name for himself as one of the most unique football coaches in the NFL. The majority of NFL Franchise owners have gone on record saying that Pete Carroll’s “touchy feely” way of coaching is much better suited for college football than the NFL. His training methods and beliefs and his ability to motivate his athletes to bring out their best consistently are the reason that the Seattle Seahawks have dominated all year and went on to defeat the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII.
Pittsburgh Hypnosis Expert and President of PA Hypnosis Center and the 33 Method, Dan Vitchoff is one of the Nation’s most sought after Mental Training and Performance Coaches. He is best known for his work with Olympic Gold Medalist , Vincent Hancock and Glenn Eller. Vitchoff is a pioneer in the field of Mental Training, he was the very first Mental Coach to combine Hypnosis with Sports Psychology, NLP, visualization, imagery and brain wave technology manipulated by lights and music. Vitchoff, like Carroll recognizes the impact of music on the brain. Vitchoff studied psychology in college and used the Lozanov Method of Learning and Development along with hypnosis to help him overcome his own personal learning challenges and ADD. Bulgarian Medical Doctor, Georgi Lozanov developed a new method of learning through mental concentration and relaxation. He identified specific types of tones and music that stimulate the brain to relax into a more suggestible state such as hypnosis.
When Vitchoff began incorporating this type of music into his mental training and hypnosis programs he found that his clients results were more profound and accelerated compare to traditional hypnosis. Vitchoff’s athletes refer to his mental training programs as fuel for the brain, comparing it to premium (Hi-Test) fuel therefore referring to Vitchoff’s Programs as Hi-Test Hypnosis.
Vitchoff collaborated with a CMU Music Professor to develop specific types of tones, sounds and music that stimulate the areas of the brain necessary for developing new pathways. He then embeds these tones, sounds and music into the recordings that he creates for his athletes to use on a daily basis. Pete Carroll also believes in the power of music which is why he will blast music from his players’ ipods during practice. Pete Carroll interacts with guests and players and almost begins to look like someone hosting a house party rather than a football coach. This positive, upbeat and innovative way of coaching is why Pete Carroll can bring out the best in his athletes on a regular basis. The Seattle Seahawks compare to the famous Pittsburgh Steelers Steel Curtain in which Chuck Knoll who was a Master Mind Motivator used Psychology and Mental Training to influence his players’ performance. He used the blank screen approach as opposed to Carroll’s approach but both are equally effective.
Olympic athletes dedicate their entire lives preparing for the Olympic Games. Olympic athletes are by far, the most physically disciplined and talented athletes in the world. By the time you get to this level, there is a very small variation, approximately 1 ½ of 1% in the physical skills and talent of each of these athletes within their own sports, they really do represent the best of the best. There is only one component that can make the difference between a gold medal performance and not medaling at all and that is the mental game.
After the Seattle Seahawk’s Super Bowl Victory, Pete Carroll was asked about the preparation that he did with his team to help them get to this level and he said, “This has been 4 years in the making!” Pete Carroll knew that the right system of building confidence and teamwork with the right group of athletes based on both talent and personality would ultimately lead to a Super Bowl Victory. It’s no surprise that the leader of Carroll’s offense is a young quarterback who grew up believing in the power of mental training. His father was a Mental Training Coach who instilled confidence in his son by teaching him to say, “why not me?” Quarterback Russell Wilson said “why not me?” last year when he decided to go to the Super Bowl to do research. He believed that he would lead his team to Super Bowl XLVIII and wanted to go to see what it felt like to be there. This form of rehearsal is one of the most basic forms of mental training and preparation. Wilson was able to remain confident, focused and relaxed during the most important game of his career because he was mentally prepared. When Vitchoff’s athletes won the Gold Medals in Beijing and London, he knew exactly what they were going to do, how they were going to react and what their facial expressions and body language would be like because they had rehearsed it thousands of times.
Dan Vitchoff, Pittsburgh Hypnosis Expert and Olympic Mental Training Coach helps Olympic athletes keep their brains in the game. Vitchoff explains, “These athletes train their entire lives for the Olympics or the Super Bowl so when they finally get there, they are like kids in a candy store. They want to enjoy the entire experience, but they also have to maintain focus and concentration to compete flawlessly during competition. Every athlete coming to the Olympics wants to win a Gold Medal. That is the ultimate goal. The athletes that will win the Gold Medal are the ones that are the most prepared mentally just as the Seattle Seahawks won the Super Bowl because they were more prepared “Mentally” than the Denver Broncos. We work with our athletes to help them alleviate the anxiety related to competing at such a high level and “compartmentalize” so that they can enjoy the experience when it’s time to enjoy the experience and then they can get “into the zone” and perform flawlessly under pressure when it’s time to compete.”
Like Dan Vitchoff, Pete Carroll was inspired by the effects of music on the brain and performance. Pete Carroll’s success with the Seattle Seahawks and Vitchoff’s own success with his Olympics Gold Medalists are proof that mental training is a vital part of an athlete’s training routine. Vitchoff’s has previously developed his 33 Method Mental Training Programs for shooting, golf, hockey, volleyball, bobsledding, figure skating, gymnastics, baseball, basketball and more. Now, Vitchoff has developed a new system of Mental Training and Conditioning for specifically for Football Players. This new powerful system will help football players achieve the mental edge and take their game to the next level.
For more information on Dan Vitchoff’s 33 Method Mental Training and Performance Coaching, please contact Catie Dolgos at Pittsburgh’s PA Hypnosis Center at 724-934-8446 or visit one of our family of websites.
www.pahypnosiscenter.com
www.pittsburghhypnosis.com
www.33method.com
www.danvitchoff.com