Sports Superstars & Sixth Sense by Chrisanne Gordon, MD

We all love our sports heroes! We marvel at their agility, stand in awe of their ability, and often stare in disbelief at the wonders of their moves, their neuromuscular genius, so to speak. Whenever I see Adrian Peterson break through the defensive line in a series of complex zigs and zags to the end zone, I ask, HOW did he know that path would open up? When LeBron James passes behind his back to a player who just "happens to land" exactly where and when the basketball arrives, I am puzzled. Did LeBron "sense" his teammate would be there? As I observed Misty May-Treanor and her beach volleyball teammate, Kerri Walsh, win the gold medal in the Beijing Olympics I kept wondering how they could not only "sense" each other's moves, but the moves of their opponents as well. Something strange, something intangible sets these superstars apart from the other super athletes in their respective sports. All elite athletes share a combination of superior peripheral vision, phenomenal hand-eye coordination, incredible reflexes, and super human stamina. But these TOP of the GAME athletes have something more.... something I call the "Sports Superstar Sixth Sense"; the inexplicable ability to "see" what will happen before it does; to see a play unfold or a teammate's move BEFORE it occurs. THAT ability, to see the future, perhaps by only a couple milliseconds before the rest, is what, I believe, allows us to have Super Stars among the elite athletes.

My theory began the first time I observed a TV commercial starring NBA basketball great, Bill Russell. What Bill Russell proclaimed remains with me to this day. The commercial aired a while back, and I may be paraphrasing him a bit. As I recall, Mr Russell explained how he became the World's GREATEST NBA Defensive player of all times

"I made the rebound before the ball ever left their hands."

THAT, Mr. Russell, I totally believe . I believe you possessed that "Sports Sixth Sense" and you were NOT afraid to use it. I believe, you actually revealed your secret weapon to us; you anticipated the future; you trusted your instincts.

Of course, I cannot argue with the nay sayers and skeptics. I have no charts, no measurements; no graphs to prove my theory. But please just do me this one favor.... The next time you see David Beckham totally out maneuver his opponents and sail the ball just outside of reach of the goalie who moves ever so slightly to the right as Beckham shoots to the left.... just STOP. Watch it again on instant replay if you must, and then tell me, What do YOU think just happened ?

Chrisanne Gordon, MD, specializes in Rehabilitation Medicine and lives in Ohio, though she is engaged her in work across the US. She has a particular interest in the current US wounded veterans who are returning from the battlefields with TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) and PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). Largely as an extension of her work with wounded brains, Dr. Gordon has developed a personal interest in the experiences of PreCognition which are sometimes reported by elite athletes of many sports. RRC is very pleased that she has chosen us as her partner to further explore this phenomenon among SuperStars, initially through a series of select interviews. We anticipate that extremely interesting and valuable stories will be told.