CHARLIE MANUEL,SPORT PSYCHOLOGIST

The job of a sport psychologist is to help athletes manage the overwhelming emotion evoked by any competitive situation. Doubt, loss of confidence, trying too hard, choking, etc are all examples of the impact of anxiety on performance. Emotions come from three sources; the situation, relationships, and the athlete's history logged in their memories. Teaching athletes to manage these three sources of emotion is what I believe sport psychology is all about.

Charlie Manuel, manager of the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team, is one of the best unlicensed psychologists that I have ever seen. His training is based on some "down home" wisdom of the ages coupled with years of experience being around players and the game as a player and manager. Let me make my point about his skill by describing how he advises his players to handle each of those three sources of emotion.

Regarding the management of the situations that develop each game, here is what he says: "We're creatures of habit and routines play a big part." He advises his players to have a normal routine to set their expectations and remind them of their history of success. A practical example of how this idea is put into practice involves the decision Charlie made to restore the original batting order for Game 6 of the NLCS against the Giants. In the prior games, he had flip flopped his number 2 and 3 hitters, Chase Utley and Placido Polanco. For this last game, he is going back to the usual routine. Familiarity and routine is calming to a player, as it is to any human being. The ability to predict an outcome reduces the anxiety of change. That is true for baseball players and people in general. Charlie's life experience has taught him this little fact about people.

Another one of Charlie's truisms is his emphasis on "playing in the moment." Fear drives players to predict outcomes of their actions, like "what if I boot the next grounder!" or "what if they score another run!". The "oh-no, here we go again" reaction reflects the fear of losing the game. Staying in the moment means that the player focuses on doing their job the way that they do it best. Roy Oswalt, reflecting Charlie's approach, said: "You always have adrenaline when you go out there, especially in games like this....Sometimes I think guys get caught up and try to do too much and get out of their game. I think the biggest thing is to stay within your game and pitch like you normally do."
Charlie sends his pitchers this message by the way he manages them. He rarely makes decisions without consulting them first, including leaving a pitcher in to finish a game that he has earned the right to finish. This decision often puts him at odds with common baseball wisdom that dictates that the closer of a game gives you the best chance at winning a game. As a sport psychologist, Charlie knows better.

Charlie also knows about managing the emotion from relationships. Human emotion is contagious. So is hitting in baseball for the same reason. When one guy gets a hit, the other players relax and expect to do the same thing. Ryan Howard's hitting in the NCLS series with the Giants is one example. Despite batting .294 up to the 6th game, Howard has yet to hit a home run or drive in a run. Charlie explains it as the effect of the team on his player:" I think he's definitely trying too hard....I think that he wants to feel like he's part of something." So what is Charlie's advice? "He needs to slow down and just hit a couple of balls good and things will happen for him." In short, Charlie says that he needs to focus on the mechanics of his swing rather than worry about hitting a home run. Focus on making good contact and good things will happen. Don't predict what will happen. Just hit the ball hard and trust that the right outcome will happen from a good process. Sounds like the advice of a good sport psychologist.

As to the last source of emotion, the player's history of emotional reactions, Charlie doesn't have much to say about that one. I guess that one is best left to the doctors with real training and licenses. As to Charlie' rating as a psychologist, I will defer to some of his down-home wisdom and say: "Two out of three ain't bad."