In the media

The following article appeared in Rugby Club MagazineFootball Focus Magazine, and Cricket Club Magazine in January 2011.

Neil is a professional golfer and general sports fanatic and with a special interest in what separates high achievers from those who should achieve more in their chosen sport.

I came up with the idea of a “complete sports psychology system” in 2007 after making a few exciting discoveries in my own mental game through using a systematic approach to controlling my mindset. I trialled the concept in 2008 and 2009 with 25 athletes from all different sports from an international and world class level through to average club players. I believe I’ve been able to come up with something unique.

I’ve had some good results from people who have used the system. The research allowed me to gain lots more information on how and why it works so I published my ideas in a book and offered my services to people for one to one consultations.

I believe mine is the only systematic approach to Sports Psychology in the world that is used specifically during competition. Sports psychology is typically thought of as something that is used to treat a problem off the pitch and then when the problem is treated it’s the end of the intervention. The Increment System stays with the client on a long term basis, on and off the pitch, and it’s something that has never been tried before within the field.

It’s also personalised to every individual, meaning that when a client starts using it they go through a system of self-discovery which allows them to find out what makes them tick. I’ve come across some people who… never get nervous, so we worked on attributes that are related to adrenaline and focus. Conversely, for people who easily get anxious we worked on attributes like relaxation and trust. The system then develops with the client as we find out what is effective for them.

The system is geared to individuals but isn’t restricted to individual sports. You could quite easily introduce the system into a club and pick key players who may need some assistance.

Out there at the moment is NLP and hypnosis and beyond that there aren’t many options to choose from. I’m really excited about the results that I’ve been able to generate using The Increment System. There’s a lot spoken and written about confidence and belief being the two key factors in performance. Incredibly, my system has found that in fact they may have nothing to do with feeling good mentally. It seems more effective to concentrate on attributes such as trust and focus, than it is to try to achieve confidence and belief because the latter are just by-products of a good mental state.

There are many other misconceptions surrounding Sports Psychology and many people don’t take it seriously. I think it’s such a shame because I believe there is so much to be gained and it really can help people to meet their potential in their sport, or at the very least set them free and allow them enjoy themselves again.