The Super Mental Training Book (12 page)

While hypnosis may cure the athlete suffering from an apparent injury, its main utility is in the boosting of confidence and concentration. For example, left fielder George Foster, former Cincinnati Reds star, nearly quit in frustration during the '73 season. But, Foster did not hang it up, the Associated Press informing us why:

The Reds shipped him back to the minors at age 25, after a disappointing trial. His confidence shattered, he sought counsel with a hypnotist.

"I went to him as a last resort. I had to regroup. I had to do something to regain my confidence. He helped change everything around. That summer was the turning point of my career." [2]

The Reds brought Foster back up, and in 1975 he replaced Pete Rose in left field, with Rose moving to third base. Two years later in 1977 Foster hit 55 home runs, and was voted the National League's Most Valuable Player.

After his return to the majors, Foster may have continued to visit the hypnotist who initially helped him. Whether the case or not, reports later emerged that Foster was practicing self-hypnosis daily, making himself his own hypnotist. In an article called "The Hypnotic Hitter," which appeared in the October 3, 1977 issue of Newsweek, the Reds slugger stated:

I believe that everyone should take ten or fifteen minutes a day to recharge, to reinvigorate himself, a time of insight and introspection. I project my thoughts into the situation that I'm going to be in later, so that I'm prepared. Then, nothing surprises me, because I've been there before in my mind.

In the same article catcher Johnny Bench called Foster "a very disciplined hitter," one who "concentrates as well as anyone at the plate." This, of course, is how we would expect the ballplayer using hypnosis to appear—really into the game. Now, some people will explain away Foster's enormous success, which happened only during the time he used hypnosis, as mere coincidence. But, such an explanation is simply not convincing. It is one of those explanations which says nothing and requires little effort to make. Claiming that coincidence was responsible for the success of Foster, and other athletes who have been helped by hypnosis, is merely the lazy man's way of explaining a phenomenon he either does not understand or does not wish to acknowledge.

Foster's teammate at the time, right fielder Dave Collins, also tried self-hypnosis. Collins was interviewed by Tony Kubek of NBC before the third game of the 1979 National League Play-offs, and the Reds right fielder stated he had learned self-hypnosis from Lee Fisher during the preseason. "I think it's been hyped up a little too much," Collins remarked, though he acknowledged that the self-hypnosis had helped his confidence and concentration.

Some more examples of hypnosis helping professional baseball players regain confidence were presented by Marty Bell in Sport magazine.[3] Bell chronicled the positive experience with hypnosis of many ballplayers and athletes in other sports. One player who dramatically benefitted from hypnosis was center fielder Paul Blair of the Baltimore Orioles, who had been struggling at the plate for three years. Blair visited Dr. Jacob Conn, a psychiatrist, on June 15, 1973. Dr. Conn

hypnotized Blair. Then, while Blair was in the hypnotic state, Dr. Conn had the Orioles center fielder "review his experiences when he was the best hitter around." Continued Dr. Conn:

Then we spent some time recalling his hitting against the better fastball pitchers in the league and he realized that he had often hit the inside fastball. He realized that if he had hit the best pitchers' inside fastballs in the past, there was no reason why he should not be able to now.

After the hypnosis session, Blair hit over .500 the next two weeks, and finished the season batting .282 (which was 48 points higher than his '72 average). During Blair's 2-week hot streak he also reportedly used self-hypnosis. But, this is only partly correct. The Orioles outfielder actually was carrying out an ingenious post-hypnotic suggestion Dr. Conn gave him; this suggestion instructed Blair to daily enter the hypnotic state on his own. As Dr. Conn tells it, "I then gave him a post-hypnotic suggestion. I told him to go home and find a spot and to concentrate on that spot every day. And then, when he reaches a state of heightened concentration, I told him to go over his good hitting experiences in his mind." This Blair did, achieving the impressive results already noted.

In 1975 pitcher Burt Hooten benefitted from a trip to Arthur Ellen. The Chicago Cubs had recently given up on Hooten, trading him to the Dodgers. Soon after joining the club, Hooten was approached by outfielder Willie Crawford; Crawford suggested to the pitcher, who was close to being sent down to the minors, that he join him in a visit to Ellen. Hooten decided he had nothing to lose and tagged along. Ellen hypnotized both players, spending 20 minutes with each. Hooten came away from the session virtually a new pitcher. He relates what occurred in Ellen's office:

I was a bit skeptical. At first I didn't think anything would happen. He was standing in front of me and said, "Okay, now I want you to close your eyes. I'm going to count to three and tap you on the forehead and you're going to fall forward. Don't worry. I'll catch you." I was thinking, sure you will. He counted to three and I fell forward. I was totally aware of what was going on, but I couldn't stop.

Soon he had me doing all kinds of things, like holding my legs straight up for five minutes. If you've ever tried to do that, you know how tough it is. When I walked out of Ellen's office, I felt the world was off my shoulders. I felt relieved and relaxed. [4]

After his trip to Ellen, Hooten pitched brilliantly, and in just two appearances earned a permanent position on the Dodgers starting rotation, where he remained for several years. Hooten had done other things besides hypnosis to improve himself. He had lost 25 unnecessary pounds, and had worked with Dodgers pitching coach Red Adams on his delivery. But, it is significant that Hooten did not put it all together until after his hypnosis session with Ellen. In fact, Hooten himself credits his comeback to Ellen. He recalls, "I was sure I could get hitters out while I was sitting in the dugout, but once on the field it was something else. The hypnotist turned it around. He rid me of all my negative thoughts."[5]

Pitcher Don Sutton, a 300+ game winner during his career, also had occasion to visit Arthur Ellen. During 1974, while with the Dodgers, Sutton at one point had not won in 14 starts. This clearly disturbed him, and rightly so. It was then that Maury Wills introduced him to Ellen. As Sutton told me in a May 20, 1978 interview, "At the time I went to Arthur Ellen I was really having trouble relaxing away from the ballpark." The subsequent hypnosis session with Ellen, said Sutton, "provided the impetus to go on, to perform successfully after that." This it certainly did: Sutton won 16 of his next 17 decisions!

I have encountered some ballplayers who were so reluctant to discuss their experience with hypnosis that they would not even talk to me; this despite the fact that their hypnosis experience was already a matter of public record. It would not be fair to reveal the identities of these players. However, since the mid-1970s so many athletes have gone on record about using hypnosis,

visualization, and other mental training strategies it should be no big deal to discuss the subject. Curious about this reluctance, I asked Sutton why some ballplayers do not want to talk about their use of hypnosis. He came up with three very logical reasons:

1) Some players believe that the hypnotist might exploit them; that is, the hypnotist is interested in them only to build up his own business and reputation. As Sutton noted, "It's very fashionable to hitch your wagon to a jock and say 'Hey, I made him what he is."'

2) Many players feel that the public should care only about "the job we do on the field—not how we got to that point." In other words, these players regard the physical and mental preparation as nobody's business but their own. Besides, contended Sutton, "we are paid to provide leisure time entertainment—that's all! We're not paid to write secret life stories."

3) Some players do not like the kidding they get from some of their teammates over their use of hypnosis.

Sutton believed the first two reasons were the most important. Of course, his comments strictly apply to professional baseball players. And when we are talking about professional baseball, we are talking about a lot of money. We are also talking about a certain amount of loss of privacy for the player. He is now a public figure, a celebrity. The high stakes involved, the constant public relations' demands on the athlete's time, and so on, make for a highly-charged situation. The pressure at times must be unbearable. Under the circumstances, it is not surprising that some players develop an overly-protective attitude.

Sutton summed up his thoughts on the matter this way:

Who really cares what I do this morning to get ready for tonight? I'll tell you, the fans don't care! It's the sportswriters, the broadcasters who bring it to their attention; because they get bored writing about the facts about the game. It's easier to create a Hollywood setting for a baseball game than it is to write about double plays, groundouts, and sacrifices.

Sutton's perspective is realistic, and his contention that some hypnotists try to hitch their wagon "to a jock and say 'Hey, I made him what he is,'" contains validity. The following story may be said to illustrate this point.

Halfway through the 1986 season hypnotist Peter Siegel informed Los Angeles Times staff writer, Pete Thomas, that he was working with Sid Fernandez, a starting pitcher for the New York Yankees.[6] According to Thomas:

Siegel works with Fernandez for about an hour before each of his outings, usually by telephone but sometimes on tapes, and believes that his work is partly responsible for Fernandez's achievements on the mound. "I don't take the credit for the success of my clients," he said. "But my influence in that kid's life is absolutely undeniable, and we keep working and we keep coming on strong."

That Siegel told Thomas about his work with Fernandez hardly surprises one because at the time Fernandez's record was an outstanding 12-2. When things are going great for a particular athlete-client, many sports psychologists will let the whole world know. However, whenever the athlete-client suffers reverses, the entire matter is often suppressed and completely swept under the rug.

Thomas reported that "according to Siegel, he [Fernandez] will get better." Predicted the hypnotist, "I think Sid will win between 20-24 games this season." When contacted by Thomas, Fernandez conceded that Siegel "gives me a load of confidence. He puts you in a relaxed state of mind and brings out what's positive in your subconscious." Despite this praise for the hypnotist, Fernandez made clear to the Times reporter that the pitcher himself deserved most of the credit,

stating:

Just because I know him [Siegel] doesn't mean I had a good year. I could have probably done it on my own, but he brought out in me what I didn't know existed, but what was in me.

After predicting that Fernandez would win 20-24 games in '86, Siegel rhapsodized at length about his client's newly discovered inner strength—"he can dig within himself and find out his true power," etc. These comments naturally aroused one's curiosity about the accuracy of the prediction. Did it come true? The balance of the '86 season saw the Mets pitcher post a 4-4 record, making his overall record 16-6—still excellent, but a far cry from the 20-24 victories Siegel envisioned. In the 1986 National League Championship Series against Houston, Fernandez started Game 3, but lost, 3-1. In the subsequent World Series against Boston, Fernandez only pitched in relief, but put in a strong appearance in Game 7, which earned him the Player of the Game award.

What we have in Fernandez's 4-4 second half record and his post season performance is a mixed bag. From 12-2 to just so-so, Fernandez appears to have slipped some as the season progressed, a contrary development to what Siegel told Thomas would occur. So, one wonders exactly what happened, whether Fernandez experienced arm trouble, discontinued his relationship with Siegel, or what. Perhaps, though, nothing changed. The pitcher might have just happened to have gotten off to a fast start thanks to a chance coalescence of favorable factors (such as his teammates providing him a lot of runs, the opposing batters in a slump, etc.); eventually, however, the law of averages caught up to Fernandez and things balanced out more. Many other plausible explanations can be cited. Additional information therefore is required before hypnotist Siegel's attention-grabbing hypothesis about why his client began the '86 season so well can be adjudged the most pertinent—or most impertinent. [7]

Hypnosis is not the only mental training strategy to which baseball players have resorted. Meditation at one time claimed several players as adherents, although the exact percentage of major leaguers who meditated is not known. In the late 1970s the Transcendental Meditation people put out a unique film, "The TM Program in Baseball," which shows one player after another giving his pro-TM testimonial (if interested in viewing the film, contact the Transcendental Meditation Program Center in your area). The film is part of the promotional effort the Transcendental Meditation people stage for new prospects who might sign up for the TM course. It does not show any of the players actually meditating; it just shows them saying how much TM has improved their athletic performance and general well-being. The players (and their respective teams at the time the film was shot) who gave their TM testimonial include: Larry Bowa (Phillies), Jim Lonborg (Phillies), Willie Stargell (Pirates), Bill Freehan (Tigers), Ted Simmons (Cardinals), and Del Unser (Mets). Meditation is not as results-oriented as hypnosis. It does provide internal peace and quiet, though; this in itself can be of tremendous value for players constantly in the limelight and subject to all sorts of pressures.

So far we have mainly talked about how individual players have used hypnosis and meditation. We mentioned early in the chapter the abortive attempt by Dr. Tracy to hypnotize the St. Louis Browns to a pennant. Another incident involving team hypnosis occurred in the summer of 1977 when Arthur Ellen was invited by the California Angels' management to work with the team.