OMAHA WORLD HERALD
October 3, 2004

Doctor deals with "inner opponent"

Dr. Richard Crowley says almost every player has experienced, to a degree, the same problem that had Creighton's Matt Buckingham wondering last spring if he would ever pitch again.

"Know anyone that hasn't had the flu or a cold?" Crowley said by phone from Burbank, Calif. "A lot of people look at this as some kind of a random thing. I believe it's rampant."

For many, the problem is no more than a tiny bump in the road that lasts an inning or a game or a week or two. It's easily fixed by the player himself or by advice from a coach or manager.

But for some players, such as former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Steve Blass, the problem can end a career. Buckingham feared that his once promising collegiate career was on the skids after he found himself unable to find the strike zone when he returned last spring from elbow surgery.

"One of the things we have to work with," Crowley said, "is that most players feel like they're the only ones in the world who have ever experienced this difficulty."

Crowley holds a doctorate in clinical psychology from the United States International University in San Diego and has worked in the field of human behavior for more than 30 years. He does not consider himself a sports psychologist.

But he began working with baseball players in 1983 when he assisted former Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Steve Sax with a throwing problem.

Crowley promotes an approach called Mental Mechanics. He tries to remove what he calls mental barriers that interfere with an athlete's natural mechanics.

On his Web site (sportsmaker.com), Crowley has a list of 67 problems that range from anxiety to "forgetting how to throw."

He tries to steer an athlete away from thinking that he is the source of the problem.

"Most people are convinced 'It's me,' and that just adds insult to injury," he said. "We try to focus on the inner opponent or the invisible opponent. Athletes are used to having opponents. What I'm trying to do is to teach them to deal with that inner opponent."

Crowley does so by getting a player to tap into his imagination. He talks about symbolic imagery and parallel places within the imagination when trying to explain his approach.

"One of the things we have to overcome, especially with high-end players, is to get them to admit they have a problem," Crowley said. "The last thing they want to admit to is having any kind of weakness. There's a sense of denial that we have to get through."