UNLV turns to psychologist

Most people who talk with Dr. Ed Klein do so with their eyes closed, but not because what he has to say is boring.

Klein is a sports psychologist who teaches visualization to enhance the performance of athletes. Over the past 30 years, he has worked with professional baseball, football and hockey players.

For the past two years, he has volunteered his services to the UNLV basketball team, and last summer he started regular sessions with senior forward Corey Bailey.

When the two sit down, Klein talks and Bailey closes his eyes.

“I will take the player into a very relaxed, meditative type of state. It’s at that state that we do our work, and it’s there that we get what I call mental imprinting,” Klein said. “I’ll take the player to that state by words, and then we’ll start with our visualization.”

Klein, who graduated from the University of Louisville School of Medicine, had a private practice in Tampa, Fla., in the late 1970s, when he got into sports by chance. His neighbor was the head physician for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and he asked Klein to work with a player.

Klein continued as a consultant to the Buccaneers into the early 1980s, then in other capacities for the NFL for about 20 years. In 2004, he was a consultant to the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning when the team won the Stanley Cup.

About two years ago, he ended his medical practice and moved to Las Vegas to be closer to family. He called Rebels coach Lon Kruger and volunteered his services.

“We hit it off,” Klein said.

“Not everybody who does this is going to automatically be a great athlete. What we’re trying to do is take a good athlete and take him to the next level. It really does work.”

Last season, Klein taught visualization concepts to former UNLV center Joel Anthony, who signed with the Miami Heat after graduation. Bailey said Kruger recommended he work with Klein.

Bailey and Klein meet two or three times a week, and they sit down for a session about an hour before each home game.

“He puts me in game-type situations and he wants me to see exactly what he’s talking about, and I’m doing it while my eyes are closed,” Bailey said. “It kind of eases my mind when I’m in the game because then I don’t have to think about what I’ve got to do out there. I’ve already done it and visualized it.

“It reinforces that I can believe in myself and go out and do just about anything.”

Kruger said Klein has been “really helpful” to Bailey, who claims he has become more assertive on the basketball court and in other areas of his life, such as in the classroom.

Bailey said he is not a strong public speaker, but — along with Kruger and a couple of other Rebels players — he recently recorded a “Stay in School” message for a DVD that is being provided to Clark County middle school students.