Sports psychologist

Maybe you should ask A-Rod?

Looks like A-Rod subscribes to TO's "I love me some me" concept.

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Both MLB and DI use them pretty extensively...Obviously you have to read the player and the Doc, but I think it's a great option given the right fit. I know we used the concepts extensively. Thought it gave them a real advantage and a great tool box that others did not have. Didn't jump, or push them rather, gave them mental options and tools to make every situation tolerable or better yet work to their advantage. They use them on a daily basis now, fun to watch.

I believe that the brain is the most important of the "tools"...have watched lots of players crash, and have seen more players crash beacsue they did not know how to use their brains, than I have kids without talent. The sports world is littered with players who had million dollar bodies and 10 cent brains....Players who know how to hit and field, but do not know how to think like athletes. Only makes sense to train the brain.

44
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As observer44 alluded to, the higher the level the more mental the game becomes. Nearly everyone has the physical skills at the MLB level, the real difference is the mental approach.

I doubt most HSBBWers have a sports psychologist "on staff". That said there are a number of books, videos, and clinics available. One of the first books on the subject, "Heads up baseball" by Tom Hansen and Ken Ravizza, is still one of the best. Allan Jaeger spends as much time on the mental side of the game as he does on the physical at his clinics.

There are lots of other resources on the subject if you search around.

My sons college team met as a team with a sports psychologist on a weekly basis and individually if they wanted. This Doc was a Psychology prof at the school and is a sports psychologist for various US Olympic teams. A luxury and perk to say the least. My son always says that her sessions, while competitive in nature, tied together the "overlap" of baseball life, academic life, and post college life. IMHO, If the opportunity presents itself to anyones kids that they approach it in a positive light, keep an open mind, and plug in the memory chip so the knowledge learned can be applied down the road of life.

BOF mentioned Ken Ravizza name as top guy and I would agree 100%. At my sons school Ken Ravizza and the UIC sports psychologists did some exchange sessions. This was during my sons TJ rehab and Dr. Ravizza had a huge part in keeping him focused on the "dream".

Good thoughts have been expresseed in this thread!

The mental game may be the most important part of baseball imho.

I think it is important to understand how these type of mental tools fit into the over-all picture. If you are currently in a slump, I don't believe there are magical words that can snap you out of it. On the other hand, the mental tools provided by these professionals and other sources can equip the young man to handle adversity and likely minimize struggles they may have both on and off the field. More importantly, they learn how to properly deal with adversity/pressure in a healthy manner.

I played sports psychologist last week for my son who was at the 17U WWBA in GA. Prior to giving him my superior insight and words of wisdom he was 3 for 6 with a HR, DBL and a few RBI..... After our session (via phone) he went 4 for 11 with only 1 extra base hit...... I think I may owe him a refund.

We used therapist Stuart Smalley for our son, did wonders for the boy.

"I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me"

One man,Walter Herbison,IMO, is the man to contact. Walter authored the book "Head Games" in text and CD. Ask Ron Polk or Skip Bertman who they turned to when a player had an issue. Great Southern gentleman. One telephone session may be all that is needed.

walter@headgames.com
wherbison@techinfo.com
1-888-270-9130.

If Walter is not available, Dr. Tom Hansen would be my second choice.

quote:

The mental game may be the most important part of baseball imho.

Stay tuned for a new forum we will be adding soon, titled "The Mental Game". The forum will feature comments from Harvey Dorfman, author of the book The Mental Game of Baseball (five stars on Amazon.com).


Julie

Son's team is reading "The Mental Game of Baseball" right now. They will read a chapter and discuss before a game. The team is been playing very strong and is relaxed.

Son likes it, and we have had several productive discussions so far.

Many teams and players use them. We often work with athletes of all ages to strengthen their "mental game" and character. Many athletes (men and women) improve beyond sports when we identify the performance behaviors that they struggle with and then enable them to strengthen themselves. Amazing resutls....everything improves.

Steve, this is a little off the topic but I am trying to settle my mind on postgraduate work. I originally considered continuing in biomechanics but a good friend that recently retired as a D-1 track coach asked why I wanted to be just another "gym teacher".

The more I thought about it the more sense it made to me. I looked at the University of the Rockies, formerly Colorado School of Psychology located in Colorado Springs, and learned that they started a sports psycholgy masters program. I had several schools to choose from but this seemed to be the best fit.

The question I have is this. What are your feelings and experience with this in an online format? I am considering a lack of clinical studies in this type of environment as a primary concern.

Thanks for the time.

Second choice!

Tom Hanson is your second choice?

Actually I'm honored to be second, esp to Walter. He's a great man.

I've enjoyed reading this thread and would be happy to respond to questions.

I've been working on the mental game of baseball for a long time, wrote Heads-Up Baseball with Ken Ravizza and worked full-time for the Yankees (then got fired by Steinbrenner which I think is pretty cool).

Coach0:

The biggest thing I'd say is to focus on what you want to do with the degree.

Imagine what life will be like in 2-3 years when you are kicking butt with your degree (more importantly, your knowledge).

What do you NEED in order to do that? To create that life?

You don't need a degree; Tony Robbins doesn't have a degree and he's helped and made millions.

Knowledge is good, when applied. The key is to 1) work on yourself. Take all the sport psych stuff and apply it to yoruself rather than focusing on your athletes.

My personal biggest transformation was when I made that shift -- develop and evolve me instead of thinking how others should learn this stuff.

2) work with athletes; find ways to help them; when you are good at helping people they don't care what degree you have.

In short, get jacked up a bout your future and then reverse engineer it and see what degree and where makes the most sense.

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quote:

Originally posted by DrTomHanson: ...wrote Heads-Up Baseball with Ken Ravizza...

Tom...Figured you'd appreciate this...Just read a paper my son wrote for a Sports Psych class...and he said that Heads-up baseball had a major influence on his game...

Thanks!

44
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Tom, I appreciate your response. It provides a great deal of insight that is very useful to me. I have a desire to improve myself in this area primarily because of a sense of failure in not being able to instill a good mental aproach in two very good ball players in recent years. One was a pitcher from Wichita State that is LH and threw in the mid 90's. He went undrafted and wanted to try to catch on somewhere. I was unable to convince him that needed a quality breaking pitch and an improved change up to earn that chance.

Another was my own son. As a sophomore he was rated even at skills with Josh Fields when he was a senior in high school by a scout from the Royals. Because of occurences such as this I am trying to improve my own personal abilities.

Thanks for the input.

I see.

Always good to discover the underlying "why."

I don't recommed you get a degree unless you want/need a masters to advance in your career (as a teacher or something).

Just go straight at the content yourself, or align yourself with someone teaching you what you want.

To get a degree you'll have to veer right and left a lot when you want to go straight ahead.

Gold nugget: Learn EFT and NLP and you will be better than most of us PhDs at helping people.

Thanks for the info.

I just want to make sure that you are referencing EFT (emotional freedom techniques) and NLP (neuro-linguistic programing).

I am preparing to do alternative certification for secondary education in Oklahoma in three content areas initially.

Just a reflective moment here. I realized that I was and still often do put players into a box.

By this, I mean that I think a lot in terms of teaching in a kinaesthetic, auditory, and visual learning approach without spending enough time reading their eyes to see where they may be mentally.

The EFT and NLP methods got me to thinking about Gardner's multiple intelligence theory and many of those concepts make sense when I attach them to the two methods mentioned.

Again thanks for the advice.

Yes.

quote:

Tom...Figured you'd appreciate this...Just read a paper my son wrote for a Sports Psych class...and he said that Heads-up baseball had a major influence on his game...

Thanks!

Yes, very much appreciated, thank you. It's nice to make a difference.

If you are fortunate to get the right sports psychologist, it will contribute to success. We see ourselves as Performance Behavior Coaches. That is, coach the right performance behaviors to build character....on and off the field. When I coach athletes, I look at what performance behaviors they need improvement on. It could be mental toughness, or impulse control, etc. Assessing the athlete and addressing their needs elevates their performance. Often our coaching is done via phone and just the discussion of these behaviors make them aware of how they can improve.

Find the coach that works for you...you will see improvement.

10 Minute Toughness is a great book by Jason Selk. Sports psycologist for St. Louis

I'm reading The Talent Code right now and like it. Very good stuff on practice, motivation and coaching, the 3 things the author says separates top programs (in anything) from lessors.

I got asked a lot of questions lately about motivating today's youth. That book has some powerful distinctions around that.

Dr. Tom, all this knowledge, a Ph.D AND a rookie phenom pitcher for the Braves. Very impressive!

Where do you find the time?

I have used many of Tom Hanson;s techniques with teams I have coached and also recommend them on my site. Self-evaluation, and traffic lights, and tapping have all proven effective. Others techniques used include Alan Jaeger's meditation approach (team lying on the field, deep breathing), and ideas from others. Have just read a new book "How We Decide" by Johan Lehrer and it will form the bg for some new material I'm working on - on how we can break through to the parts of the brain engaged when performing, how instinct needs to dominate over reasoning.

Thank you, Mr. Webball. (great place to buy equipment btw, webball.com)

Thank you also to fillsfan for noticing my busy summer, I was pleased with both my performance and my make-up...

Tom

On of the better Sports Psychologists for Baseball is Justin Sua from Sua Sports Psychology. He is also a member of our advisory board. Justin Su'a Sports Psychology articles You will find that he is the bomb.com and will help you overcome the emotions that many players face during a game. thinking too much about stats is one problems players face; he talks about overcoming those as well. Good luck to you.

Yes, our HS team has used the materials from Brian Cain over the past 3-4 years and have also had him in to present and work with our team. Good stuff.

It is something good to have a sports psychologist. They can bring out some motivational changes.