The Enemy Gets a Vote in the Outcome, Dr. Doug Chadwick, Mental Skills Coordinator, Colorado Rockies

By Cindra Kamphoff | December 20, 2018

Dr. Doug Chadwick serves as the mental skills coordinator for the Colorado Rockies Baseball Club.  He designs the curriculum, facilitates the mental skills education, and teaches the Rockies major league and minor league players and staff about the mental skills necessary for optimal performance under pressure.  Chadwick’s responsibilities cover hundreds of professional athletes and include seven professional teams in the United States and two in Latin America.

Chadwick earned his BS in management and systems engineering from the United States Military Academy (West Point) where he was also a multi-year letterman and starter on a nationally ranked Army football team.  He was commissioned as a field artillery officer and served in the Army for over 20 years before retiring as a faculty member at West Point.  While serving in the Army, Chadwick earned his MA in applied economics from the University of Oklahoma as well as an MSc degree in kinesiology and sport psychology from Cal State Fullerton.

After completing his PhD, Doug returned to West Point as the director of the Center for Enhanced Performance, a comprehensive student services center.

In this interview, Doug and Cindra talk about:

  • His unique journey to the field of sport psychology
  • What the best do differently
  • How various “Army slogans” are incorporated into this work in the MLB
  • Ways to get back in the moment and why that’s important
  • The importance of recovery in high performance
  • How the best learn from failure

 

 

“What you see the world’s best do is, you see them bring the best that they have CONSISTENTLY.” – Dr. Doug Chadwick 
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“When you think of someone who is clutch, you’re really not seeing them excel to a certain extent more than they would normally, you’re just seeing them do what they do under pressure.” – Dr. Doug Chadwick 
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“Train the Trust. Train as you Fight. You can spend time giving them the mechanical tips and making sure they are mechanically correct. But then we need to spend some time in our bull pen, maybe the last ten pitches, in a mindset that’s more focused on competing and getting to the next pitch.” – Dr. Doug Chadwick
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“I tell them they can have any crazy routine that they want, as long as they own it and put purpose to those things, but there is one thing I am very very prescriptive about… the breath. If you’re focused on taking a good breath in, and exhaling a good breath out… that’s in the moment.” – Dr. Doug Chadwick
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“THE ENEMY GETS A VOTE IN THE OUTCOME… When you can acknowledge that the outcome is not completely in your hands, it allows you to focus on the process.” – Dr. Doug Chadwick 
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