How Vince Young's rise and fall Illustrate a growing problem in professional sports

With training camps set to open next month, Vince Young enters Titans camp as the definitive number one quarterback after leading the Titans to the brink of the playoffs after a dismal 0-6 start, capped by a 59-0 throttling at the hands of New England. In only 10 starts after taking over for Kerry Collins, Young threw for 1,879 yards and 10 touchdowns and lead the Titans to an 8-2 record, making them a trendy pick among NFL insiders to make the playoffs in 2010. Looking back, it’s hard to believe that not long before his resurrection, fans were wondering if Young would ever play again after it was reported that he was suicidal and hadn’t been in contact with his family or team.

When Young was found the next day, he stated that he simply needed to get away from the pressure of being a starting quarterback and the questions surrounding his poor start to the season. By this time, the groundwork had already been paved for the public to second guess him for not being tough enough to be a professional athlete. Nearly two years later in the May 31, 2010 issue of ESPN the Magazine, Carmen Renee Thompson continued to speak of his mental toughness by stating, “He says he was in no mood to talk after the game and got sick of friends and family clamoring to know he was okay.” She continued, “And ever since, he’s had to fight the perception that he was a headcase.”

If the public would have simply taken the Vince Young situation for what it was—a young professional struggling with adjustment disorder, likely a result of the growing changes and mounting pressure in his life—his abilities as a professional wouldn’t have been questioned as ruthlessly as they were. The sad part about the sports world is that most athletes are expected to be gladiators—robots who are immune to the pressures of performing at a high level without any sort of mental lapses, in the game or in life. Athletes simply aren’t allowed to struggle with mental illness and are stigmatized negatively by the public if they dare take any time off for something intangible that the fans can’t see. The fact is that mental illness is readily treatable today with positive prognoses that rivals most physical injuries in terms of time lost and recovery to full strength.

Delonte West of the Cleveland Cavaliers has struggled with Bipolar disorder and has been scrutinized by the Cavaliers organization for off the court incidents which were likely a result of the manic episodes he was experiencing as a result of his disorder. Instead of talking publicly about possible disciplinary actions for West, the Cavaliers would have been much better off treating West as if he had an injury and given him time to learn how to deal with the symptoms of his disorder.

Speaking on West, Kenneth Robbins, M.D., a professor of psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison stated, “If people don’t know what he’s going through, it runs the risk of further stigmatizing mental illness and looking like he’s taking advantage of the system,” he said. “But it’s also an opportunity to educate people and help them understand what he’s struggling with and how, with treatment, he’s likely to respond and these events will hopefully not continue to take place.”

With the lifetime prevalence rate of mental disorders at nearly 50%, it’s time that front offices and the general public gain an understanding that professional athletes are not immune to psychological and emotional crises and that they need treatment, not criticism.

Ichiro's Performance Secret

Even though the Mariners are suffering through a season in the cellar of the American League west, they still have a bright spot at the top of their lineup. This season, Ichiro continues to be a magician at the plate, batting .304 and ranking third in the AL in runs scored despite playing for the Mariners who haven’t exactly been an offensive juggernaut this season. In only six plus seasons, Ichiro has racked up an incredible 1,715 hits. Add that to his 1,278 hits in six Japanese League seasons and Ichiro is nearing 3,000 hits for his major league career.
What makes Ichiro so incredible is his ability to use his hands to serve the pitch to all fields on a consistent basis. Even when Ichiro is fooled by a pitch, he maintains the ability to put the pitch in play with his quick hands. This allows him to see the pitch longer which is part of the explanation for his .346 batting average against lefties over the past three years.
The amazing thing about the hands is that the cerebral cortex in the brain devotes much more space to the hands, meaning that they are more sensitive to brain commands than any other part of the body. Using electroencephalography, or EEG techniques, neurologists have found that the part of the brain that controls the hands is as big as the arm and chest combined. This means that by learning to utilize the hands to work the way in which they are capable could be extremely advantageous, especially in a sport like baseball and golf.
While many athletes work at adding speed and strength, the key to mastering sports may lie in the only thing that makes contact with the ball. Yet it is rare to hear about people doing exercises to develop their hand coordination. Everything the body does is a natural reaction to how the hands are behaving.
The next time you watch the Mariners notice the way Ichiro’s hands handle the bat through the strike zone. His hands lead the way and his coordination allows him to make adjustments while the pitch is in his wheelhouse. His hands respond to the pitch in the same way Tiger Woods’ hands handle the downswing. Since the hands are so sensitive to triggers from the brain, it doesn’t take much for the hands to be manipulated during the swing.
If athletes learn to train their hands in ways that respond to the brain, they could quickly become better at whatever they are playing. As Ichiro has proven, training the hands to respond the way you want will lead to performance that is much higher than the average athlete.

Why Doc Rivers Outcoached Phil Jackson

After the Celtics wrapped up their 17th title last week, many people were left wondering what happened to the Lakers. Specifically, how did Phil Jackson get outcoached so badly by Doc Rivers? After nine titles with the Bulls and the Lakers, most basketball experts believed Phil Jackson would walk all over Doc Rivers, leaving little chance for the Celtics to overcome the coaching difference. During all six games, Rivers significantly outcoached Jackson for 48 minutes, from motivating his players to exploiting favorable matchups. Has Phil Jackson’s time passed as a great coach and motivator or was something more at work during the NBA Finals?
Despite their obvious struggles throughout the series, Phil Jackson continued to ride Vladimir Radmanovic and Sasha Vujacic despite terrible shooting and nonexistent defense throughout the series. When Ray Allen continued to make corner threes with no sign of Vujacic within ten feet, the viewer began to wonder why Phil Jackson sat there as if he had a dinner date that was more important than the matchups on the floor. Meanwhile, Doc Rivers continued to exploit favorable matchups throughout every game, which inevitably won the title for Boston. Not only that, Rivers kept Boston playing at a level much higher than the Lakers, keeping them motivated throughout the entire series. However, most NBA experts would agree that Phil Jackson is a better coach then Doc Rivers, making it seem as though Phil Jackson simply folded under the pressure of the most watched NBA Finals since Jordan broke Utah’s heart.
When faced with pressure situations, the human body focuses most of its energies on specific things, which can be both a blessing and a curse. Pressure can make people hyperfocused on one event but the stress makes them lose consciousness with other aspects of their life. This is why people in high stress jobs often lose touch with their significant other; the pressure of one aspect of their life drains all of their motivation for other aspects. With the pressure and speed of sports, it is very easy to succumb to the pressure and not make the correct decisions. Although the basketball world could see Phil Jackson making poor decisions, it is much more difficult for the person involved when so much pressure is going on around them.
As pressure continues to grow within a person’s mind, their cognitive abilities often tend to shut down through a process known as cognitive overload. When conflicting stimuli are presented within the mind, the brain subconsciously must choose which stimuli to focus on. With so many different stimuli being presented in something as large as the NBA Finals, from the media commitments to the travel situations to the enormous pressure of each game, coaches must create a balance between everything to be at the top of their game. Even the best coaches in the world tend to make mistakes under enormous pressure. Bill Belichick admitted to several mistakes during the Super Bowl that may have cost his hugely-favored Patriots to lose to the Giants.
Although Phil Jackson could arguably be the best coach in NBA history, he didn’t balance his emotions and was outcoached in every game. Although it could have been his own cockiness and stubbornness that lead to being outcoached, it is likely that Jackson succumbed to the pressure of facing a team that wanted it more than his team. It is well-known that Phil Jackson is set in his ways but that doesn’t mean that he is unaffected by pressure that everyone feels. In this year’s NBA Finals, Doc Rivers looked much more like the coach who had won nine titles, not Phil Jackson.