Posts Tagged ‘Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy’
PSYCHOTHERAPY AND VISUALIZATION
Posted on: December 21, 2016
- In: Baseball | Basketball | Football | Gymnastics | Health | Softball | Sport Psychology | Sports | Volleyball
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I just finished watching the movie “Concussion” about the work of Nigerian-born pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu and his theory of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. It was something new in the world of sports and met with an enormous amount of opposition, especially by the National Football League. For the past thirty years I’ve been attempting to convey a new idea regarding sports performance enhancement and have met with a great deal of opposition. Most people, when I tell them about my theory, just say they’ve never given the idea much thought but did see my point of view, although it’s almost impossible to prove. And therein lies the problem. The research is only anecdotal. Not scientific.
If you read any sports page in America you’ll find the focus on what the winning team did in order to win and the success they had in order to win the game. In other words, all the things they did that were right. The emphasis is always on the positive aspects of competition and very little attention is given the negative mainly because no one really knows what goes on behind the scenes in the personal lives of athletes.
For example, there’s not much you can say about why, in a basketball game, a three point shooter suddenly makes only 1 for 12 three point shots when he normally hits 5 for 12. Or why a football running back fumbles the ball twice in a game or a wide-receiver drops three passes that hit him right on the numbers. Or how a baseball team played poorly because there was some issue that created negativity in the locker room such as a fight between two players, resulting in poor team chemistry.
I’m a firm bIeliever that what goes on away from the field of competition affects what takes place on the field of competition. Compassionate coaches who are highly successful understand this but there are a lot of coaches out there who still don’t get it. They have their teams “visualize” success but don’t understand that in order for visualization to be effective there must be a fusing of psychotherapy with visualization.
ROGER GOODELL IS SPEAKING OUT OF BOTH SIDES OF HIS MOUTH WHEN CRITICIZING KAEPERNICK.
Posted on: September 8, 2016
- In: Football | Health | Sport Psychology | Sports
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When NFL Quarterback Colin Kaepernick made the choice to kneel during the national anthem, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said he disagreed with Kaepernick’s choice. “I support our players when they want to see change in society,” Goodell said, “On the other hand, we believe very strongly in patriotism in the NFL. I personally believe very strongly in that.” Unfortunately, Goodell didn’t believe strongly in the right of his NFL players to know the truth about the research conducted by Dr. Bennett Omalu, the Nigerian forensic pathologist who fought against Goodell and the NFL when they tried to repress his research on CTE – chronic traumatic encephalopathy, suffered by professional football players.
COULD FORMER NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS TIGHT END AARON HERNANDEZ BE SUFFERING FROM CTE (CHRONIC TRAUMATIC ENCEPHALOPATHY) AND NOT EVEN KNOW IT?
Posted on: July 12, 2013
- In: Football | Health | Sport Psychology | Sports
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I just finished reading an interesting article by sportswriter Patrick Hruby in which he makes an excellent case against the NFL applying the fairly new field of Brain Injury Science, saying that “football hits pull the brain like silly putty, stretching and shearing nerve cells.” He points out that currently more than 3,500 former players and surviving family members are suing the NFL, essentially attempting to hold the league liable. Some players have committed suicide and the clinical symptoms of CTE are: “Impulsivity. Disinhibition. Volatility. Problems with depression and emotional control.” I’m not saying the NFL is at fault, especially since some research shows that athletes are most susceptible to brain injury while playing high school football. Mr. Hruby points out that “Boys and young men – whose brains are still developing – are more vulnerable to football-induced head trauma.” So it’s possible that many injuries may have been present in some of the NFL players long before they became professionals. Or even before they entered college. I’m bringing all of this up since it’s also possible (and I’m only saying “possible”) that Aaron Hernandez may be suffering from CTE and not even realize it. Certainly it’s something to think about.
