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Lee Silen became a nationally-known figure in the field of sports motivational hypnosis because of his work with professional baseball players Mark "The Bird" Fydrich of the Detroit Tigers and Bob Molinaro of the Chicago White Sox. Both players had struggled for years before working with Lee, but saw big improvements after working with him.
The Evansville Press' Dave Johnson wrote,
- Silen has been instrumental in helping Fidrych bounce back from the arm and shoulder problems which have plagued him during the past three seasons. After a shaky start, the former American League Rookie of the Year has been impressive in his relief pitching role with the Evansville Triplets.
The Detroit News' Joe Falls also recognized the impact Lee's work had on "The Bird":
- ...in an abrupt change, Fidrych asked to pitch Thursday night and he was The Bird of old ...The Bird of '76.
He was popping the ball, keeping it low and talking to it. 'I couldn't believe it,' Evansville Manager Jim Leyland said. 'He came in there with all of his old confidence and he threw it like he used to throw it in the past. He was the original Mark Fidrych, believe me.'
Fidrych has been visiting Lee Silen, a motivational hypnotist, for the past month. The 44-year old Silen has worked with other athletes in Evansville, notably Bob Molinaro, a former Tiger farmhand now with the Chicago White Sox, and, currently, with the University of Evansville swimming team.
Bob Molinaro also credited Lee Silen with his sucess in the majors after a long struggle in the minor leagues. Chicago sportswriter Bob Verdi put it this way:
- HE IS HITTING a hundred or so points above terrific,
but that doesn't prevent Bob Molinaro from seeking. help, anyway. If Molinaro has the
dime, his hypnotist has the time.
- "The man's name is Lee Silen", the American
League's leading hitter was saying. "I met him when I was in the minors at
Evansville. Mark Fidrych is with the Tigers' club there now, and this same guy is talking
to The Bird.
- "The guy taught me the ability to relax, to let my
mind eliminate a lot of negative thoughts. I saw him in 1977 there. and wound up having a
great year. He's still there... I'm in Chicago, but I still converse with him. I call him,
lie down with the phone in my ear, and listen."
Admittedly, such pillow talk is scarce now, because Molinaro had his cake and ate it, too, on Wednesday. On his 30th birthday, he brought a grandiose .372 average to Comiskey Park. Just desserts for a man nobody wanted, including the White Sox. ...
Former University of Evansville tennis coach Douglas Cash
understands how important mental preparation is to tennis - and to life!
- In the game of tennis, there is a lot of pressure and
stress on a player due to the fact that the game is an individual sport and everything
that you do is by yourself.
He has worked on confidence, relaxation, belief in oneself, getting rid of external pressures (parents and coaches), playing all the points the same--regardless of importance, and relaxation techniques.
I believe that the progress our juniors have made is excellent and that Mr. Silen is responsible for part of that success. This seems to be true on both the junior team and the college team. Our success and records have increased ten fold over the last three years. This is due to hard work, training, and mental preparation.
In tennis, if the ability of opponents are somewhat equal, then the game is 80% mental. But, how often do we practice mental preparation--not enough. Mr. Silen helps us do that.
Football 
Former University of Evansville football coach Randy Rogers recognized
the benefits of motivational hypnosis for both individual players and the entire team. In
a letter to broadcaster Paul Harvey, he wrote:
- ...here at the University of Evansville, we have been enlisting the aid of a local motivational hypnotist [Lee Silen] for two seasons. Last year he worked with several of our players on an individual basis and all three had an excellent season while being seen.
- As a coaching staff, we work a lot on positive attitude during the off-season, and decided to have the hypnotist speak to our entire team this fall on a pre-determined regular basis. Whether hypnosis, better players, and/or better coaching is involved, the University of Evansville is having its best football season in eight years. Three of our four losses have been by less than a touchdown, and our record following hypnosis sessions has been 3-1.
- Our sessions have blended wall with our staff's approach to
coaching, and we are obviously happy with the results.
When Lee first worked with the Evansville Aces, they had lost 28
road games in a row, and had not won a seasons opener in 9 years.
After Silen's initial sessions with the Aces, the Aces not only won their season
opener, but it was also on the road, so they overcame both hurdles and in the process,
they broke 17 longstanding school records.
Under coach Jim Stahl, the University of Evansville swim team set eight varsity records, six conference records, and had 17 swimmers and divers receive All-Conference honors in a single season. According to Coach Stahl, Lee Silen made the difference:
- After your sessions with the swimmers, there was a notable improvement in many aspects of their overall performances. Perhaps the biggest change that I perceived was in their attitude. They really began to believe that they could be as successful as they wanted to be.
- Lee, I think your ideas, time and energy greatly contributed to our efforts at the winning championships where we outscored all of the other teams combined...Remember: Positive visualization can be the key to everything we want to accomplish.
Tri-State Aquatic Club coach Robbin White also recognized the difference that Silen's motivational methods made to his swimmers:
- Janie is ranked 14th in the world in the 1500 meter freestyle, Rene just missed a top 25 ranking by .10 second, and Stacy finished fourth in the 200 fly in the World University Games and is estimated to be in the top 30 in the world. All three specifically stated that they felt that your sessions with them contributed to their success...Their enthusiam and positive attitude carried over to all our swimmers.
Quotations from letters appear with the permission of the writers. Quotations from sportswriters from their published newspaper articles and columns.
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