These players were taken to a course where there was a bowling pin every 10 feet and every pin was placed at a ninety-degree right angle. The players having trouble were always behind in reacting to any situation and made at least twice the number of mental errors as the other newcomers. After watching incoming freshman and walk-ons settle in for a week, a number of players stood out as having potential but were having difficulty with drills, directions, or any type of execution. Great quarterback play is often attested to superior vision, but the reality is that many quarterbacks have a high level of field independence.I will insert a personal example here that became shockingly accurate during my coaching. Someone who can dissect the entire environment almost immediately and make a great decision is field independent. Someone who gets lost in a phone booth is severely field dependent. Field independent people tend to succeed more than field dependent people.

Research indicates these controls are located in the prefrontal area and are clearly related to academic, athletic, and job successOne such cognitive function, linked to athletic success, is field independence. Executive functions are brain processes that guide decisions, find patterns, make sense of physical surroundings, make order and analysis of a situation, and provide the thought processes needed to reach a systematic goal. In college, huge changes in competition, intensity, and expectations, combined with a greater equality of physical talent across the player spectrum, make for a quick and brutal shock for some student athletes.Cognitive functions are typically termed executive functions or cognitive controls. Some players display little success or improvement and are sent to the scrapheap.In high school, skilled athletes do not need the other 90% to beat players of average skill, so they achieve.

After a year or two some players blossom, due to the extra work of coaches and often just having mental skills further develop because of normal maturation late bloomers). Some of their work is rewarded, but players who keep on demonstrating the same mistakes are labeled as projects. Coaches will lend support and attempt to muster maximum confidence. Coaches typically will individualize instruction and attempt to add extra repetitions.