Eric – An Athlete

When I met Eric, he was a twenty-one year old community college student and a baseball pitcher. He sought my help, after he had failed several courses.

Eric’s story is all too common with ADHD students. Academically successful in high school and a gifted athlete, he was overwhelmed by the rigors of college. He subsequently lost his ability to learn because of a fear of failure. He was equally afraid of losing his dream of being a major league ball player. To make matters worse, Eric, his parents and the whole town where he grew up, shared his dream.

I helped Eric embark on a course that first diagnosed his ADHD, and then certified his need for academic accommodations in college. He responded well to my academic coaching and completed this last year with a 3.0 GPA.

Of equal importance was Eric’s baseball career and how his ADHD was negatively affecting his performance. Commonly, ADHD athletes can get stuck on one detail and lose sight of the natural sequence of movements that lead to their success. They become easily distracted and are less efficient than they need to be. Some examples include: The ballet dancer who needs to think of a pirouette within a routine rather than a movement by itself, the downhill ski racer who needs to line up the poles while anticipating each turn and the Olympic rower who has to quiet the mind to concentrate on racing.

After Eric mastered the methods to make him successful as a college student, he was able to use the same techniques to improve his athletic performance. I worked with Eric to focus on his pitching form and resist the many distractions in his mind and on the field around him. As a result of our coaching work together, Eric became a designated pitcher on his way to major league baseball!

When I asked him to summarize this experience, Eric said: “Dr. Freed helped me break down the barrier of my mind that held me back in my baseball and my whole life! After a year of sessions where I learned techniques to keep my mind on track for my goals, I finally feel myself becoming the player I always knew I could be. I cannot thank Dr. Freed enough for all the help he has given me!”