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Deepak Chopra, MD
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EFT improves soccer players' free kicks
Hi Everyone,
Tim Watts of the UK gives all the details of his experiment. Note that the same concepts can be used for ANY sport.
Hugs, Gary
Gary,
I have just completed an experiment with a group of people who receive treatment for various mental issues AND who attend a Football (Soccer) Camp that runs for a total of 10 weeks. It is run by a friend of mine, and it has been very successful in the rebuilding of confidence and self-esteem for each of the participants. The course has already won several awards, and continues to go from strength to strength.
As I have a background in sports, and particularly football (soccer), John asked me to help out occasionally. He asked me to take the session today, and to bring something different to the meeting. I knew this would be a great opportunity to introduce EFT to the participants, and to run another experiment of using EFT in sports performance.
My plan was to see the effects of a round of tapping in between free kicks (a kick taken from a stationary position following a foul from the opposing team), and how performance may increase, or decrease as a result.
Before mentioning that we were going to tap, and use EFT, I asked each participant to take a free kick from a particular spot on the pitch, roughly 20 yards away from the goal. Each player faced a goal keeper, and would give me a personal score out of 20 as to how well they think the free kick was hit regardless of whether they scored, or even hit the target, and based the score on power, accuracy and how cleanly they felt they struck the ball. Many of the participants had never even kicked a ball prior to beginning the Football Camp – they were on week 7.
Here are the results from the first free kick:
| Player Number | Score out of 20 |
| 1 | 6 |
| 2 | 4 |
| 3 | 11 |
| 4 | 15 |
| 5 | 10 |
| 6 | 15 |
| 7 | 8 |
| 8 | 8 |
| 9 | 8 |
| 10 | 15 |
| 11 | 2 |
| 12 | 14 |
| 13 | 7 |
| 14 | 13 |
I then gathered them round to show them the various tapping points while explaining to them the damaging effects of self-doubt - be it in sport, business or just life! I told them this relaxation tool was excellent for improving self-confidence, and increasing mental focus for their chosen task.
I had their attention at this point and I chose to use “I choose to feel calm and confident” as the standard phrase to tap on all the points as we stood in a circle. There were a few giggles and puzzled faces, and many smiles. Then without hesitating Player 1 took his second kick, then Player 2, and so on. As before I asked them to score their shot immediately after the kick had been taken.
Here are the results from the second free kick:
| Player Number | Score out of 20 |
| 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 15 |
| 3 | 15 |
| 4 | 10 |
| 5 | 20 |
| 6 | 10 |
| 7 | 15 |
| 8 | 10 |
| 9 | 10 |
| 10 | 15 |
| 11 | 18 |
| 12 | 12 |
| 13 | 15 |
| 14 | 16 |
We regrouped and I asked two questions, the first: “Who felt a difference between the first and the second kick?” Six hands shot up, here are some comments I received:
- I felt really focused on the ball on the second free kick
- I struck the ball much more cleanly on the second, even though I didn’t score, it felt really good.
- I managed to focus really hard the second kick.
- I kicked the ball much harder the second time
- I felt more relaxed.
I then asked if anyone experienced any difficulty on the second free kick. After a long pause, one player said, “I still doubted if the ball would go in the net before taking the kick.” So, I instructed them all to tap the Karate Chop Point and repeat after me:
Even though I doubt myself, I choose to feel calm and confident
Even though I’m worried what they’ll think if I miss, I choose to feel calm and confident
Even though I’m worried I won’t hit the target, I choose to feel calm and confident
We then did 1 round of “I choose to feel calm and confident” on each of the points. After this round of tapping, we launched straight into the third round of free kicks. Here are the results for the third free kick:
| Player Number | Score out of 20 |
| 1 | 5 |
| 2 | 16 |
| 3 | 17 |
| 4 | 12 |
| 5 | 19 |
| 6 | 15 |
| 7 | 10 |
| 8 | 12 |
| 9 | 8 |
| 10 | 10 |
| 11 | 16 |
| 12 | 4 |
| 13 | 7 |
| 14 | 15 |
As I will show in the results later in this report, the total average of the above scores were lower than the second kick, however here are the comments I received following the third free kick:
- I felt really confident kicking the ball!
- I love this [tapping]!
- I’m going to do a speech in front of the group and use the tapping for my confidence, I was really nervous at the speeches at the end of the last course, this is great!
- This has been the best session so far, it’s been a lot of fun!
- I feel really good!
- Are you going to come again? (Smile, nothing to do with me, but just shows how effective EFT is when used in a group).
I explained that they were balancing their energy systems out, that’s why they felt better, and also explained how tapping in a group is so much more powerful. I then stressed the importance of working together as a team, working toward a common goal, and helping one another achieve their own personal goals. Working alone is not nearly as much fun as working in groups of 3, 4 or 14. When members of a sports team are all working together they achieve goals they originally thought out of reach, and that I believe EFT helps cement the bond between team members to do this.
The next table shows the percentage increases in perceived performance after each free kick, measured by totaling the whole group.
| Free kick 1 (no tapping) | Free kick 2 | Free kick 3 |
| 48.6% | 64.9% | 59.3% |
The results show that performance by the whole group improved by at least 10.7%, and by up to 16.3%.
The most interesting results came from the top three improved performances:
- Player 11 showed an increase of 70% from the first to last kick.
- Player 2 showed an increase of 60% from the first to last kick.
- Player 11 also showed an increase of 80% from the first to second kick.
To conclude this experiment proved more to be just a test in overall improvement of sports performance. What I observed was a massive shift in team cohesion, laughter, joy and a keenness to improve. This was coming from a group of people who, outside of the treatment centre can be perceived as “losers”, “no hopers” and “trouble makers”.
EFT does more than improve results, it helps lift the spirit in us all, taking us to our highest joys - whatever our status. I was moved by what I experienced that day. I encourage anyone reading this to continue giving this stuff away, by keeping EFT to ourselves I feel we deny others to live a blessed life. The more we give away the more we get to keep for ourselves too.
Blessings to you,
Tim Watts
