Dream incubation  

"The next frontier in mental training"

By Brad Properjohn 

Whilst searching the web recently looking for ways for my students to gain an edge by utilizing technologies and methods that are outside my areas of knowledge, I stumbled across “dream incubation”.  Dream incubation in sport/tennis is most probably the next biggest thing in preparing a player mentally, outside mainstream sports psychology.  

Most young players would be familiar with some form of focusing technique used in an attempt to create or enhance our ability to find the “winning feeling”, even if it’s just controlled breathing.  Visualization, deep breathing/breath control and eye roll methods are all used extensively and now “dream incubation” maybe something extra to consider.  

Perhaps combining the unconscious with the conscious could offer something new or complementary to the method you use now.  As these themes tend to get a little esoteric and unquantifiable, indeed the method used by anyone in particular represents the depths of individualism, the key is to experiment to find out what method works for you.  

Now before you parents out there in “tennis parent land” start to conjure up visions of a “Clockwork Orangesque” scene, Droog with his eyes wired open, projector running with mind re-training footage, the mind training or “dream incubation” proposed is a lot  friendlier and is actually controlled by ones self (not by “the doctors”).    

In short, you try to develop dreams by coaxing them along consciously with the power of suggestion.  The theory being, that if you think about something enough just before you go to bed, your subconscious might take over during sleep and find a solution or foster the experience you want to have .  In the case of a tennis player, you might try to get the feeling of what it’s like to win a match or to seek a way to beat a particular opponent, in a sense asking for guidance.

The presumption is that your subconscious has the answers, or it has the power to think unhindered by conscious thought.  The mind could also deduce unhindered, that it does not have the answer you seek or that it chooses not to breach the subject at all, that’s the chance you take.

A key ingredient is to develop a positive attitude, so as to be able to deliver a clear request to your subconscious and not to have those requests clouded by negative self talk.  You’re seeking to boost your self belief with positive dreams.

The idea is that you choose a key phrase like “how can I win this match”, or perhaps, “I want to dream about winning my tournament”. Next thing is to attach an emotion to the request like eagerness, happiness etc.  Dreams seem to latch onto what drives us emotionally rather than intellectually, so you have more chance of a dream being realized this way.  

By immersing yourself in the “request” occasionally throughout the day, your chances of a positive outcome increase.  This includes trying to feel the emotion that you have attached to the “request” at the same time.  

There are a whole bunch of other behaviors that complement dream incubation and it  takes practice to become proficient as does any other relaxation or positive thinking technique.  If you’re serious about your tennis at tournament level, then eventually you’re going to have to develop a mental technique that is going to help you achieve your goals.  

Finding ways to improve your powers of positive thinking is something that is just part of becoming a tennis professional and not something weird or silly.  It’s also worth noting that these mental skills are not just “God given”, that they can be developed to a very high level with enough time and energy.  

Before you get started it would be a good idea to do a bit of research on the subject or even contact your mental health professional/sports psychologist.