February 5, 2012

Use Warm-ups to Focus Your Mind

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All good athletes use a warm-up routine one hour before they play. Besides helping you get loose and limber, a warm-up routine has several psychological advantages. The first is that it helps you get focused to play. A warm-up routine helps click in your concentration and put on your game face. It … [Read more...]

Winning is a Team Effort

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On August 10, 2010 the Seattle Mariners displayed incredible teamwork by turning a 5-4-3 triple play in a 3-1 win over the Oakland Athletes. “Great things happen when a team comes together on a play like that,” said Manager Daren Brown. “This is what it’s all about, winning is a team … [Read more...]

The Mental Battle: Get Out of Your Own Way

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Your mindset can be an asset or a determent to your performance. If you doubt yourself, lose composure after mistakes or over analyze your performance, your mindset can hurt your performance. You can be your own worst enemy. In these situations, it's hard to bounce back with confidence and composure … [Read more...]

Joe Saunders Stays Positive After Loss

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You can react to losses positively or negatively. You can beat yourself up, become frustrated with your performance and lose confidence, taking a negative approach to your game. You can also take a more positive look at your performance learning from your losses. The Los Angeles Angels fell 0-6 … [Read more...]

The Mental Game of Pitching and Trust

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Are you able to perform freely and let your performance happen in games? This is a common challenge among all baseball players, including pitchers. You may try to “fix” your pitching technique after a wild pitch. Some players become too mechanical and over think their pitching motion. When … [Read more...]

Mental Toughness Helps Tigers’ Hang Onto Lead

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Does your seem to relax when they have a big lead? For many teams, maintaining the lead and finishing off the game is hard to do. Finishing a game strongly is primarily mental, not physical. Physical skills can only carry your team so far. A team also needs a strong mental game to allow them to … [Read more...]

Dotel’s Composure Helps Pirates Win

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A baseball player’s ability to stay composed is critical to success. When you’re composed, you can play up to your physical ability. You don’t get rattled by a couple of bad calls. You’re able to stay relaxed after mistakes. You can let go of mistakes or mishaps quickly. Pirates’ relief … [Read more...]

Focusing on the Process Key to Winning

“What was I thinking?” you mutter in frustration after you struck out at bat. You lost your focus temporarily and it cost you the at-bat. Most players at times, lose focus, blank-out, get distracted, or are too stressed to concentrate. Even the greatest players in the world have trouble … [Read more...]

Mental Keys to Staying in the Moment

The ability to concentrate is critical to successful performance in all sports, especially in baseball. Each game requires you to turn your concentration on and off several times. When it is time to go to the plate, you have to turn on the concentration. When you’re in the dugout, you can relax … [Read more...]

The Power of Choice in Hitting

The power of choice is one of the most important mental game abilities that ball players possess. Much of my work with athletes involves teaching players that they have the ability to make good choices with their mental game. In fact, everything I do in sport psychology revolves around showing … [Read more...]