Read More at Peak Performance Sports…

Kershaw felt that because he is the pitcher that the team depended on him to win. This caused his to start worrying what his coaches, teammates and the fans were thinking about his performance rather than focusing on his performance. Worrying about what others are thinking or what will happen if you let down your team will not help you perform to your potential. Now with three seasons under his belt Kershaw is able to recognize the mental barrier he faced in his rookie year, “It was kind of a snowball effect once I started to make assumptions about what others were thinking I took my head out of the game,” said Kershaw.

When you make assumptions about what others might be thinking about your game, you engage in “mind reading.” You don’t really know what others are thinking about you. Mind reading is just a distraction to playing your best and it can cause you to play tentatively. “I needed to remind myself that even though pitcher is an important position, each player on the team plays an important role in your team’s success.”

You’ll have good days and bad days on the field, everybody does. The key is not to lose confidence after a poor outing. Find something positive from each game and move onto the next. “If you pitch good, you can soak it in that night. You pitch badly and it’s going to hurt that night. That’s the great thing about baseball: You play every day. Tomorrow is a new day,” said Kershaw. Don’t beat yourself up for poor pitching or a loss. A better option is to assess what needs to improve the next game and move forward with a healthy dose of confidence.

Read More at Peak Performance Sports…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HMB7ct2crU

Second, this is an excellent time to put the concerns of your life behind you and prepare for the game. A warm-up routine is a good transition between your everyday life and baseball. Many people play a sport to distract them from pressures in everyday life such as work or school. Use the warm-up to put these pressures behind you. Once you tie on your baseball shoes and put you cap on, it’s time to think baseball.

Most players start their warm-up by doing some simple stretches alone or in a team setting. During that time, you want to release the past and start to focus on baseball. You should be doing more than just going through the physical motions of the warm-up. You also want to do the warm up with intensity and focus—a mental routine of sorts.

Remember that the warm-up is just a warm-up and not a “practice session.” The major goal of warm-ups is to loosen-up your muscles and focus the mind. It’s too late to work on mechanics during the warm-up. Trying to “fix” errors before play can actually hurt your game. You won’t correct the problem in 20 minutes and you certainly won’t be able to ingrain the change in your memory.

The best you can do now is work on your at-bat routine just like it was the real thing during batting practice. The same goes for infield and outfield practice. Make it count, don’t just go through the motions.

Don’t be hard on yourself if you don’t perform well during your warm-up. Some athletes just don’t perform well in warm-ups. Have confidence that your game will be there in the first inning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tt6LIpRogu0

In my previous baseball and softball confidence video, I revealed how players earn confidence…

Today, I posted a new video on my blog for you. In this video, I discuss the top four ways ball players lose confidence.

If you are a coach (or player), you must be aware of what destroys confidence. Today you’ll learn about this one confidence killer that you might be guilty of:

Watch the new video below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HMB7ct2crU

Our new CD and workbook program for coaches tilted: “Instilling Confidence in Baseball and Softball Players: A 7-Day Play for Coaches“  is now available. Click the following link to find out more details at Peaksports.com:

Instilling Confidence in Baseball and Softball Players

Watch Video One in the Series: Sources of Confidence

But each player is different in how the become and stay confident. Some players gain confidence from practice. Other players gain confidence from past success. Many players gain confidence from other people such as coaches.

You want to understand how your players (or you) gain confidence individually and as a team… For this reason, I posted a new video below. I discuss to top sources of confidence for ball players.

Watch the new video below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tt6LIpRogu0

Our new CD and workbook program for coaches tilted: “Instilling Confidence in Baseball and Softball Players: A 7-Day Play for Coaches” is now available. Click the following link to find out more details:

Instilling Confidence in Baseball and Softball Players

The physical component of baseball is important, but it’s also highly overrated. Somewhere along the road players and fans forgot that baseball is a mental game. Hall of Famer, Jogi Berra once said “Baseball is ninety percent mental and the other half is physical,” and Phillies Manager Charlie Manuel states that, “succeeding in baseball is 90 percent mental.”

Baseball players should develop mental strength and mental toughness to gain a competitive edge, rather than cheat to improve their physical strength. Physical strength may help you hit a ball farther but it isn’t going to help you hit .330 or win a championship. Mental training is legal in baseball, and it helps athletes reach their peak level of performance. Mental training areas that help you perform to your potential include: confidence, composure, focus, trust, preparation, practice efficiency, and patience just to name a few.

In Major League Baseball mentally tough players are the cream of the crop. Chase Utley for example states, “I go through my pre-game routines and make sure my mind is right. The difference between a good game and a bad game is your head.” And Derrick Jeter says “Once you step into the on beck circle you have to get into a hitters mindset.”

Mental Training is legal, inexpensive, effective and highly recommended by professional athletes. To improve your performance in baseball use mental training to supplement your performance needs, such as the tips listed below:

• Stay present focused. You must keep your mind in the present moment on what’s important to play your best. This is easier said than done. It is easy to think about the last strike out you had or think ahead about the results of striking out. Know the task-specific cues you should focus on and be aware when you are not on task. Stop and refocus your mind on the task or on what you should think about to execute well.

•    Think one bat a time. Think about only the one pitch at a time to help you stay focused on execution. Separate each pitch from the rest and don’t think about the consequences of getting a hit. You don’t want to be thinking about the last inning when you are at the plate in the middle of the game.

•    Don’t thing about results or outcomes. If you think about what you don’t want to do, you’ll tighten up and make a controlled swing. When you think about results, you’ll create tension and indecision. Focusing on execution will help you get good results. Your at-bat routine should help you focus on specific cues to follow as you prepare for each at-bat. If you don’t have a routine, the mind is free to wander aimlessly as you prepare for each pitch.

•    Cue yourself to concentrate. Sometimes it’s hard to refocus when the last at-bat was 30 minutes ago. Lock in your concentration once it is your turn to at the plate. To help you click in, try using a physical trigger to focus your mind, such as tightening the Velcro on your glove before start. You want to turn your attention to preparation and execution for the first pitch, and if anything else enters your mind, let it pass through your mind.

•    Relax your focus while you wait. Not too many players can focus continuously for two to three hours. When you are up to bat it’s important to be ready, but you don’t want to overanalyze the entire game. After each inning, relax your focus and save your concentration for the next time at-bat. This will help you be “fresher” for the end of the game.

•    Rehearse while you wait. Rehearse your at-bat before you’re up to play if you have trouble focusing after a long delay. For example, while on deck, imagine that you are at the plate taking pitches. Time your swing with the pitcher and “see” yourself make solid contact. When it’s your turn, you will be prepared to click in the focus because you already rehearsed your at-bat routine.

Some teams struggle with closing out the game because of a comfort zone. A comfort zone is based on an expectation about how you think you should perform. You might expect to lose to a certain team or win by a lot of runs. When you are playing better than expected, you start to protect your lead and avoid making mistakes.

The Cincinnati Reds had trouble closing out their lead over the St. Louis Cardinals in a recent game. Joey Votto helped the Red’s close out the game after blowing a four-run lead. Votto homered and had four hits to contribute to the 9-8 win over the Cardinals.

“I wouldn’t use the word nerve-wracking, but I think this year we’ve proven to other people and proven to ourselves that no lead is safe. We have to respect the opposition and play hard all the way through nine innings,” said Votto.

When you have a lead, continue to play aggressively. Set a challenging goal to help you play more aggressively. You might focus on hitting your spots as a pitcher or swinging freely as a batter. The key is not to back up and try to avoid making mistakes. If you think too much about mistakes, you lose focus on what you want to do. Focus on execution rather than the results.

To avoid becoming complacent, go through your routine with full intensity and focus. A common mistake players make is they go through the motions without full focus. You want to keep your intensity and focus at a peak level when you perform. You can always restart your at-bat routine if you feel distracted or not fully engaged.

Your baseball psychology tip is to keep playing hard and playing aggressively. Abandon your expectations and focus on execution instead. Follow your pre-pitch routine with full intensity to avoid becoming complacent.