The Psychological Phenom: Babe Ruth

Does this man look like the best athlete of his generation? (source)

Physically, Babe Ruth was not the most impressive athlete. To put it lightly, he had a bulky frame and would be considered over-weight by today's standards. Click this link to watch him run and you'll see what I mean. So how could this man be the greatest baseball player of all time? The greatest athlete of his generation? 

Luckily for us, Hugh Fullerton wondered the same question in 1921 and decided to commit Babe to a litany of tests. The results of the study, conducted by Albert Johanson, M.A., and Joseph Holmes, M.A., of the research laboratory of Columbia University's psychological department, were released in Popular Science Monthly (Issue 99, 1921) under the name, "Why Babe Ruth is the Greatest Home-Run Hitter."

Wasn't his lifestyle that led to his success (source)

The scientists knew before they started that Babe Ruth must have some special mental abilities, I mean, you must have some secret if you can react and swing accurately threw a baseball traveling 90 mph. However, nobody could have expected just how spectacular Babe Ruth's mental capacities were. 


The scientists discovered that the secret to Babe Ruth's batting abilities, reduced to non-scientific terms, is that his eyes and ears function more rapidly than those of other players; that his brain records sensations more quickly and transmits its orders to the muscles much faster than does the average man's. The tests proved that the coordination of his eye, brain, nerve system, and muscles was practically perfect and far better than the average person. 


For instance, Babe Ruth's eyes and ears were about 12% and 11% faster than the average person's, respectively. His nerves were steadier than those of 499 out of 500 people.
He rated one and a half times above the human average in attention and quickness of perception.
Finally, in intelligence, as demonstrated by the quickness and accuracy of understanding, he was approximately 10% above normal.


The Columbia University researchers were shocked. Not only did Babe Ruth have above average hand-eye coordination, but his brain was freakishly efficient at processing data and sending orders to the rest of his body. Ruth would have been phenomenal at nearly anything that he committed himself to because his brain functioned so abnormally well.

Babe in front of thousands of his fans (source)

That he choose to entertain hundreds of thousands of people and dominate America's pastime is a testament to his intelligence, skill, and abilities. Of all of the potential career paths in which he would have excelled, I can't think of any as fun, prestigious, and rewarding as that of a professional baseball player in the 1920s. Babe Ruth was an extraordinary baseball player, as well as a remarkable man, and thanks to this research, we now know why.


To see the full study, click on this link.

Adriana and I

You may not believe the results of this study, but it's okay, I didn't believe them the first time I read it either. In any case, the show must go on.

Daydreaming with a purpose? (source)

Dr. Blaslotto of the University of Chicago orchestrated a study testing the effectiveness of visualization techniques on free-throw shooting. He split his participants into three groups and tested each group on how many free throws they could make in thirty minutes. He then had one group practice free throws every day for an hour. The second group spent an hour every day visualizing themselves making free throws - they were told to visualize themselves from the first-person, to feel the ball as it left their fingertips, to hear the noise of the crowd, and to watch the ball go through the hoop. The final group was told to continue on with their daily lives and not to play basketball.

After thirty days, Dr. Blaslotto tested his participants' free-throw shooting again. The third group who changed nothing, shockingly, did not improve at all. The first group, who spent an hour each day shooting free throws, improved by a respectable 24%. Practice obviously helps you improve your skills. However, how much does practicing in your head help?

Yup. That. Just. Happened. (source)

Well, the second group, who hadn't physically touched a basketball in thirty days, improved by a remarkable 23%! Just 1 measly percent less than those who got out and practiced on the court.

Practice makes perfect, but now we know that you don't need to physically do so as mental practice is nearly as effective! Visualizing may not be as fun as going out and shooting a basketball, but if I'm feeling lethargic and still want to accomplish something, I just may consider grabbing a beer, jumping on the ole hammock, and closing my eyes to visualize.

This study is the first of its kind, and obviously may have been a fluke, but its implications are vast. Imagine if this were the case for golf, if visualizing your swing could improve your score. Do you have any idea of how many rounds would be played at the office? in class? or even on dates? The possibilities are endless. What if it were true for dating? If visualizing yourself with a Victoria Secret model would help you land one. Heck, not such a bad thing to think about. One can only hope that further studies duplicate these results and prove them to be accurate. So badly do I want to be the next Marko Jaric.

B- NBA Player, Marko Jaric, and his wife, Adriana Lima. (source)