Pitching in with the Orioles By David Driver
SETH KAPLAN was well into a decade-long career as a sports broadcaster in major American markets when he began to notice two trends among the athletes he covered. Those observations ultimately led him to a career change which included 18 months in a graduate program in athletic counseling at Springfield College. “He had a career vision of what he wanted to do and took advantage of his opportunities,” says Judy Van Raalte, an associate professor of psychology at Springfield College.
The trend first became evident to Kaplan in the many athletic events he covered. “I would see two athletes in the same sport who were carbon copies of each other. They would have the same technique and the same technical skills,” says Kaplan, who played tennis and soccer at his Long Island high school. “But under pressure I would see athlete A consis- tently outperform athlete B to the point it was predictable. That intrigued me. I just couldn’t get enough of it.”
Kaplan, based in North Carolina, is working with major and minor league pitchers in the Orioles’ system, as the organi- zation tries to turn around 14 consecutive years of losing records. “They want pitchers to develop this mental toughness in the farm system to help them get to the major league pipeline,” says Kaplan, who earned an under- graduate degree in broadcast journalism from James Madison University in 1992. Duquette told
MLB.com what Kaplan will bring to the team: “Mental toughness training. The idea is to help them prepare mentally to prepare physically. It’s a key component.”
Seth Kaplan
The second observation came in post-event interviews with world- class athletes such as baseball’s Derek Jeter (Yankees), hockey’s Mark Messier (Rangers), and golfer Tiger Woods. Kaplan noticed a common theme. “They had unshakable confidence in themselves,” notes Kaplan, who also interviewed Jack Nicklaus, Larry Bird, and Peyton Manning. Around the same time, Kaplan became frustrated with his profes- sion even though he had anchored sports at stations in New York and other major markets. “I never felt challenged in sports broadcasting. I was not helping anyone achieve their dreams,” he says. “I was not living up to my own potential.”
So Kaplan, at the age of 35, began a master’s program in athletic counseling at Springfield College in 2006. In the midst of a career change, he earned his degree and since then he has worked with world-class athletes and professional American soldiers. Kaplan founded Elite Performance Coaching in 2009 and earlier this year was hired as an independent contractor sports psychologist to provide mental health services to the Baltimore Orioles through Dan Duquette, the former Boston Red Sox executive who was named the Orioles’ general manager prior to the 2012 season. Kaplan had worked with Duquette’s sports academy in the summer of 2007 in western Massachusetts.
“My degree in athletic counseling at Springfield College helps me to do quality assessments with Orioles’ players [during individual sessions] so that I can ‘tailor-fit’ effective mental training plans for them to enhance mental toughness and emotional control. Building rapport and trust with players, active listening skills, asking insightful questions, and connecting themes during player sessions are essential counseling-based skills that help me to do a quality job with players,” according to Kaplan.
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While he has never worked with any pro sports team in North America, Kaplan said there are common themes when working with elite athletes, whether they are pro golfers trying to break par or hard-throwing right-handers trying to break off a curve ball. “I believe in routine. That guides us through
the process,” he says. “Whether you are a college ballplayer or a pro ballplayer, it is still the same mental and emotional skill building that I do. It is the same game. It is just at a different level. There is no learning curve here. I know the game quite well.” Kaplan said there are five elements to the performance of a high- level athlete: tactical, technical, physical, mental, and emotional. He notes that a pitching coach will handle the first two and a strength and conditioning coach or athletic trainer will deal with the physical. It is the mental and emotional side where Kaplan’s athletic counseling training comes in.
So what is the difference between athletic counseling (psychology) and sports psychology (exercise science)? “Athletic counseling is about learning basic counseling skills, listening to the athlete, identifying what the want is or what the need is,” he says. “It is building trust. Mental skills and sports psychology is more about tools and techniques to enhance athletic performance, such as breathing, visualization, and imagery.”
During his career in sports broadcasting, Kaplan covered the New York Mets, New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals, and Atlanta Braves. Now he is getting to work hands on with a North American pro team for the first time. “I stay in my lane of expertise,” he said. “I have no idea how to spin a curveball. No idea. There has to be a buy in at the highest level. I learned that when I did consulting with the Army. It is one thing to hear it from me. It is another to hear it from your superiors.”1
Editor’s note: David Driver is a Maryland freelance writer who has covered pro baseball and the Orioles for 20 years. He can be reached at
davidsdriver.com.
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