Question: What training does Ben Simmons receive from his sports psychology coach?

Coleman Roberts Griffith (May 22, 1893 – February 1966) was an American sport psychologist.  Born in Iowa, he is considered the founder of American sport psychology.  Griffith studied at Greenville College until 1915, and then studied psychology at the University of Illinois.  While at the University of Illinois, Griffith established what he claimed to be the first sports psychology laboratory in the United States.  At this time Griffith worked closely with the University of Illinois football team, studying how factors such as psychomotor skills and personality variables related to performance and learning of athletic skills.  Due to financial reasons, the Research in Athletics Laboratory eventually was closed, which led to Griffith becoming a sport psychologist with the Chicago Cubs baseball team.  Throughout his time with the Chicago Cubs, Griffith examined the players and completed a series of reports for Philip K. Wrigley, the owner of the Chicago Cubs team, with the results eventually summarized in a large report.  His ideas were met with resistance, but he helped the Cubs to be successful while there.  Griffith ended his career in the department of education at the University of Illinois until his retirement in 1961.  Some of Griffith's main contributions to the field of sports psychology came from his publications "The Psychology of Coaching" (1926) and "The Psychology of Athletics" (1928).  These publications were written during Griffith’s time at the University of Illinois and covered topics such as how a coach must have knowledge in athletics, physiology, and psychology to be successful.  Much of Griffith's research and publications have become the foundation for the widely growing field of sports psychology and many of his ideas are still used today. <SEP> The 2017–18 Philadelphia 76ers season will be the 79th season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA).  The 2017–18 76ers season will likely be the first time where their franchise's young core would play together with players like Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Dario Saric, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, and newly drafted point guard, Markelle Fultz with leading the way moving forward.  Furthermore, during the 2016–17 season, the club was plagued with injury with Ben Simmons, Jahlil Okafor, Jerryd Bayless, Joel Embiid and Robert Covington.  All five of them missed significant time.  They would wind up acquiring the #1 pick again, this time being point guard Markelle Fultz from the Boston Celtics on June 19, four days before the 2017 NBA Draft began in exchange for their #3 pick this year (which was Jayson Tatum) and another first round pick moving forward.  During the 2017–18 campaign, the Sixers look to build young core and have more of a legitimate change to a playoff run since Sam Hinkie's infamous tanking method. <SEP>  He is known for the concept "Play Present," which teaches that an athlete needs to stay focused on the task at hand and immediately move on to the next play despite results or outcomes.  He is also noted for the "MVP" program (Mediate, Visualize, Positive affirmation), a sports psychology mental training tool, as well as "WIN" (What is Important Now), which asserts that a player can only control attitude, effort, and focus.  Notable athletes Betchart has coached include Andrew Wiggins, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Ben Simmons, the first overall picks for the 2014, 2015, and 2016 NBA drafts, respectively. Graham Betchart (born April 30, 1978) is a sports psychology mental skills coach and current director of mental training for Lucid Performance. <SEP>  A versatile forward from Melbourne, Simmons attended Box Hill Senior Secondary College before moving to the United States to attend Montverde Academy in Montverde, Florida. Benjamin David Simmons (born 20 July 1996) is an Australian professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA).  He played one season of college basketball for Louisiana State University (LSU), where he was named a consensus first-team All-American and the USBWA National Freshman of the Year.  Simmons was selected with the number one overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft by the 76ers, becoming the third Melbourne-born number one overall pick (following Andrew Bogut and Kyrie Irving) in 11 years.  He has also represented the Australian national team.