The Super Mental Training Book (14 page)

Most of Misel's pro ballplayer clients have been drawn to him by word of mouth. Rod Carew, for example, suggested to his teammate, Angels pitcher Mike Witt, that he visit Misel. [14] Witt had struggled to a 7-14 record in 1983, and decided in late April, 1984 to see if Carew's hypnotist could also help him. He went to Misel in Minneapolis, and like so many other novices to hypnosis was skeptical. Recalled Witt, "He turned off all the lights and put on this strobe light. I said, There's no way this is going to work.' But darned if it didn't."[15]

Witt claims the hypnosis session, in which Misel's main hypnotic suggestion was for him to "be mean," vastly improved his concentration:

I used to get up there and think, "If I walk this next guy, then they'll have guys on first and second with no outs and the next guy could hit a home run," and on and on. Now, I don't even see the hitter.

Witt followed up his hypnosis session with Misel by telephoning the hypnotist before his next two starts. Reinforcing suggestions were given Witt over the phone, and he proceeded to pitch complete game wins over Milwaukee and Seattle. Misel commented at the time to the press that he was attempting to use hypnosis to speed up the process of developing Witt into an excellent pitcher:

He wants to be the best he can be. We're trying to teach him things that might

otherwise take him five years to learn through experience. The key is in not being afraid of the hitters and having the intensity to make every pitch the best pitch he can possibly throw. [16]

Witt definitely made every pitch the best pitch possible in his final start of the '84 season. He threw a perfect game on September 30th against Texas, only the twelfth perfect game pitched in major league history. The success Witt experienced while working with Misel, however, was such as could seemingly be perpetuated only by a constant renewal of the partnership. In 1985 Witt began the season by losing his first three games. Concerned over his poor start, he once again contacted Misel, as well as hypnotherapist Lee Fisher (who, we recall, worked with Andy Messersmith). Explained Witt: "I'll eventually be able to maintain my concentration on my own, but I'm not at that point yet, and I need the reinforcement that I get from Fisher and Misel." Witt's experience with Misel illustrates well the fact that hypnosis must generally be practiced regularly for it to provide the athlete on-going benefits. By knowing self-hypnosis, the athlete can easily practice the technique at any time. But, by having to contact a hypnotist, as in the case of Witt, the athlete must go to some trouble and expense; the extra effort involved often results in the athlete neglecting to use the technique, only for him to experience regrets later on.

Working with a top sports hypnotist does not necessarily guarantee the athlete success. Reggie Jackson, for instance, sought Misel's help in 1983. "Yeah," says Jackson, "and I hit .194."[17] As the L. A. Times reported, "not everybody is enraptured with Misel's talents."[18] We do not know how many times and under what conditions Misel worked with Jackson; so, it is hard to say what went wrong. It may have simply been a one-time session which did not produce the immediate results Jackson was looking for. Meanwhile, White Sox outfielder Ron Kittle quit going to Misel after only two hypnosis sessions. Again, the reasons for this are unclear.

Though Jackson and Kittle apparently did not get much out of working with Misel, many other professional baseball players have. In 1983 White Sox outfielder Tom Paciorek was batting .240 at mid-season. He then saw Misel. By season end Paciorek's average had climbed 67 points to .307, and he hit .438 over the final 25 games. This turnaround was aided by Paciorek practicing hypnosis with Misel on a regular basis. Said Paciorek at the time:

I've been hypnotized now about six times. I still have to go up there (the plate) alone, but it has definitely helped me deal with two important areas of hitting— confidence and concentration. I can concentrate on hitting the ball rather than worrying about external distractions.

What he's doing really is reinforcing positive thinking, telling you how good you are and can be rather than how bad you are or were.[19]

Other White Sox teammates of Paciorek used Misel's services. In fact, the L.A. Times reported that "Misel was put on retainer by the White Sox after successful work with several Cubs." This retaining of Misel's services began in late June of 1983, which is when Paciorek first saw the hypnotist. The decision to hire Misel proved, at least in the short run, to be a good move by the White Sox management. Over the final third of the season the team hammered out the best record in baseball, and won the American League Western Division by 20 games.[20] White Sox pitchers Floyd Bannister and Richard Dotson had losing records before they visited Misel, but finished the year with 16-10 and 22-7 records respectively.

Misel's "successful work with several Cubs" relates to his helping Bill Buckner, Larry Bowa, and seven other players on the team. During the first part of the '83 season, the Cubs were in last place in the National League East. Misel began working with some of the players, and the players started producing, with the result being that the Cubs jumped into fourth place. As the Cubs jumped in the standings, so did the hypnotist's reputation. Quipped Misel:

Business runs in streaks, depending on how the players are doing. After I helped Larry Bowa his average went up to .312, and he hit three homers, which he never does. I've been lucky with the Cubs, so now all of a sudden I've got the magic touch.[21]

As of 1983, Misel's "magic touch" had led some 200 professional baseball players to contact him, each one paying $100-$ 125 per session, a charge which is not out of line with what other hypnotists seek. Now, professional baseball players can afford to spend this kind of money; and, for them it is a good investment (with contracts being so lucrative nowadays). Most athletes, though, would be wise to first learn self-hypnosis, which costs nothing to use, is highly effective, and can be done at one's convenience. If the self-hypnosis does not produce the desired results, then one can always lighten up his pocketbook by visiting a hypnotist.

Misel directs the Institute of Hypnosis in St. Paul, and apparently now concentrates on helping clients who are not professional athletes. This change in emphasis is revealed in a 1986 report by L. A. Times staff writer Pete Thomas, who related that Misel has "settled into a more private practice and is currently not involved with sports figures."[22] Why this development has occurred is difficult to determine without talking to the principals, but unconfirmed hearsay has it that many ballplayers Misel worked with were unhappy with his approach, which they deemed too heavy-handed; if such feelings were, in fact, generated, one can see how the disenchantment and associated negative fallout might have contributed to Misel's ultimate withdrawal from the scene. Regardless of the reasons, Misel's success with some of his ballplayer clients cannot be denied.

While still working with ballplayers, Misel occasionally flew to a particular city to help a client-player in need; in doing this he charged $1000/day plus expenses, which made up for what he lost by leaving the Institute and his regular business. This high but understandable fee perhaps prevented ex-Dodger second baseman Steve Sax from hooking up with the hypnotist. Sax was committing lots of throwing errors to first base early on in the '84 season while playing for Los Angeles. He considered going to Misel to straighten out the problem, remarking, "I've talked to guys who have gone to him. Larry Bowa says he's great." But, the contemplated session evidently never came off. Misel partly blamed the Dodgers management for this; he felt they should have made sure Sax met with him, perhaps by even footing the bill. Said Misel:

What have they got to lose? If I had a piece of property worth a helluva lot of money that was doing nothing, if I had a chance to help it, without a downside risk, why shouldn't I do it? Hypnotism can only help him (Sax). It absolutely can't hurt him. There is no downside risk.

. . Hypnotism doesn't give you any abilities you don't have. It won't make you faster or stronger. We just get rid of the mental obstacles. [23]

Misel, as he himself noted, did help former Cubs shortstop Larry Bowa. It is quite interesting that Bowa gave hypnosis a try because when he was with the Phillies, he was an advocate of Transcendental Meditation, appearing in the film, "The TM Program in Baseball." This would seem to indicate that by the '83 season meditation was not providing Bowa the lift he needed. Meditation primarily calms a person down, physically and mentally; and, in fact, Bowa's complaint was that "I hadn't been aggressive enough the last few years."[24] So, Bowa took Bill Buckner's advice to see Misel. He summarizes his hypnosis session with Misel, and how it aided him:

No one can maintain total concentration every wakeful minute of his life, but this guy believes you should be able to concentrate eight-tenths or even nine-tenths of your time on the job. What he did was give me checkpoints to bring me back to concentration when I do start losing it. . .

I now feel I can get to balls I hadn't been getting to the last few years.[25]

It would be instructive to learn exactly what a ballplayer typically experiences in a hypnosis session with Misel. Correspondent Susan Fornoff of USA Today investigated this, and uncovered some good details. We note Fornoff s report:

Harvey Misel flips a switch on his sophisticated sound system and a strobe light starts flickering on the ceiling above his head.

"Relax, relax," he intones into a microphone, in his deep raspy voice. "Let yourself go down into a deep, calm, relaxed restful sleep. Every muscle in your body relaxes. Most of all the mind relaxes."

Two fluorescent lights give the darkened office an eerie glow. Misel slowly counts backward from 10, the sound system echoing every numeral. Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata begins to play.

And Harvey Misel has hypnotized another baseball player... Listen to Misel talking to the hypnotized player: ". . . See the ball... You coil, have your bat in a launch position and you see the ball three or four times its normal size. You see it so good, so clear. You hit aggressively, you are so strong, so confident, so competent and so able. Every time you step to home plate, a feeling of confidence surrounds your mind and your body and you know you're going to hit the ball hard. . ."[26]

In the Introduction we observed that the hypnotic state of mind occurs when three factors are present: 1) superconcentration of the mind, 2) relaxation of the body, and 3) increased susceptibility to suggestion. Misel's induction technique brings about these three factors. For example, the dark room and flickering strobe light focuses the person's attention (helping to create a superconcentration of the mind effect). Dr. Conn did something similar with Paul Blair; according to Marty Bell, Dr. Conn had Blair "concentrate on a light in the corner of his room," a light which "flickered faster and faster capturing Blair's attention." We can also single out Misel's use of pleasant music and soothing instructions to the person to relax as keys to producing the relaxation of the body factor usually required for one to attain the hypnotic state.

Misel's hypnosis induction technique is one you can easily duplicate on your own. You can make a cassette tape, with you telling yourself to relax; the relaxation part of your tape can last 5-10 minutes, or any length of time you desire. Then, after the relaxation part, you can tape whatever instructions, suggestions, and visual imagery you feel you need to help you in your sport. This section of the tape can last several minutes should you wish, and you erase it and retape over it as your needs change. Be sure at the end of the tape to "awaken" yourself, telling yourself to return to your normal wakeful condition.

Before playing the tape, you can dim or turn off the lights in your room. Then, lying on your bed or couch, you can stare at some point on the ceiling. If you have another source of sound, you can have it playing soft music. With all these elements in place, you have essentially duplicated what Misel's clients experience.

If you want to obtain hypnosis tapes specifically geared for baseball players, rather than make your own, there are some currently available. Bruce Bain, former Redmond High baseball coach (in Redmond, Washington), and Dr. Gary Gawain, a clinical psychologist, have produced and market baseball hypnosis tapes. While playing for the Dodgers, relief pitcher Tom Niedenfuer was given some of these by Bain, who happened to be Niedenfuer's coach in high school. The reliever used the tapes at the beginning of the '83 season, and found them beneficial, stating:

I used the pitching tape about two or three times a week to relax and get my confidence and visualize myself on the mound. It has worked fairly well. [27]

The tapes put out by Bain and Dr. Gawain, which I have obtained and listened to, follow the

usual pattern found in most hypnosis tapes: the player first is brought to a state of relaxation; then, he is presented suggestions and ways to visualize himself dealing with certain baseball situations. Says Niedenfuer:

(The tape) starts out and you get into a relaxed position. Then it talks to you and helps you to relax, visualize yourself... I just sit there and visualize myself on the mound in a tight situation—that specifically goes to relief for me—coming in and putting out a big rally, not trying to overthrow the ball, and not trying to strike people out, but more or less throwing to where I am trying.[28]

Each "Baseball Mental Conditioning Tape," as Bain and Dr. Gawain call it, covers a different skill in baseball. Niedenfuer, for example, gave teammate Steve Sax a tape on fielding. Another one on hitting is available. Also, the tapes, which run about 15 minutes, are general in nature, not tailored to the individual (unlike a tape you make for yourself).[29]

Customized baseball hypnosis tapes have been made for professional ballplayers by Bill Little, a St. Louis psychotherapist. Correspondent Jonathan Goodman of the L. A. Times relates that Little "prepares tapes for ballplayers at no charge," and he has worked with such pros as Ozzie Smith, Darrell Porter, Terry Kennedy, and George Frazier.[30] Little adopts the same format for his tapes that I suggested you follow in making your own. Reports Goodman: