A pre-pitch or at-bat routine is designed to help you:

•  Focus on what’s important
• Prepare consistently for the pitch or at-bat
• Feel confident before execution
• Trust your swing or throwing action

Phillies pitcher, Roy Halladay, recently threw a perfect game to beat the Marlins 1-0. Before his perfect game, Halladay was coming off a poor start this season. He had given up seven runs to the Red Sox in 5 and 2/3 innings. How was Halladay was able to turn his poor start around to throw a perfect game? He attributes part of his success to having a pre-pitch routine.

“I think you pitch the same regardless, even whether you give up a hit or not. I think you try not to be concerned with the score, one way or the other. You’re just trying to make pitches. That’s your only job. So, whether you’re giving up hits or it’s 5-0, 0-0, you’re just trying to make pitches,” said Halladay.

A common mistake that ball players make is to think too much about the score. Batters are often over concerned with their performance at the plate; they pressure themseles to make up for an 0-4 performance in the last outing. Pitchers might be thinking about how many runs they have given up or the current score of the inning. By having a routine, you are less likely to think results and more likely to focus on the process and your exectuion, one pitch at a time. A routine occupies your mind with what’s important, such as what you need to do to execute successfully.

If you notice you’re starting to think about the score, take a moment to regroup. Step out of the batter’s box , clear your mind, and refocus on execution. Find a thought to help you regroup. You might tell yourself to “Stop,” and remind yourself that that’s not important. Then, tell yourself what to focus on for this pitch only. You can focus on your plan for the pitch or seeing a good pitch, for example. Remember to keep things simple. You should only focus on one thought at a time.

Your mental game of baseball tip for today is to use a routine and stick to it. If you find yourself wavering from your routine or are distracted, take a moment to regroup and restart your routine.

For more information on preshot and pregame routines, check out The Relaxed Athlete

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 you over think your pitching motion, your mind and body are at odds with one another. Your mind is sending verbal commands about “how to” pitch the ball. Your body, on the other hand, wants to perform the motion as you have practiced. You are sending mixed signals to your body, which causes you to tighten up and become tentative. Perfectionists are guilty of this expecting to perform perfectly.

Thursday night’s game with the Tampa Bay Rays and Seattle Mariners can offer a mental lesson on trust. The Rays handed the Mariners an 8-0 loss for their sixth loss of the season. Mariners pitcher Ryan Rowland-Smith and Rays pitcher Jeff Niemann commented on the importance of trust.

Ryan Rowland-Smith discussed his struggles of giving up six runs over 4-1/3 innings.

“It’s nothing mechanical, it’s all psychological. At this point of the year, it seems like the last nine years I’ve played professional baseball, I’ve gotten to this point. Where there are things you worry about that aren’t under your control. … I’ve just got to keep working at it, make the adjustments and I’ll be OK,” said Ryan Rowland-Smith.

Making adjustments is key to performing with trust. You will not always have perfect technique or throw a perfect game. You’ll want to make adjustments and use what’s working. If your curve ball isn’t working for you, try throwing a different pitch. The idea is to perform efficiently instead of perfectly.

Jeff Niemann, Rays pitcher, relies on his quiet mind to trust in his game.

“If you start thinking too much you start digging yourself a really deep hole. You try and address it the best way you can, but at the same time you still have to go out there and throw. It’s a fine line,” said Jeff Niemann.

You’ll want to shut off your analytical mind. Thinking too much can lead to throwing too tight. You’ll want to keep it simple. Think one thought before your pitch. Your thoughts shouldn’t be focused on technique (save those thoughts for practice). You might focus on feeling relaxed or hitting your target.

The bottom line: use your practice time to work on your technique. In games, let your performance shine just like you’ve practiced. Quiet your analytical mind, keeping it simple and using what’s working for you.

Recently, the Detroit Tigers blew a 6-1 lead game against the Texas Rangers. The Tigers were able to regroup and clenched an 8-6 win in the ninth inning. Brandon Inge played an important role in the Tigers’ victory with his second homer of the season.

“Sometimes you hit a spurt where no matter where you hit it, it ends up being an out. But that ends eventually. You try not to get too frustrated with things. I felt it was a matter of time. I needed to relax,” said Inge.

What can happen when a team lets the lead slip away? Below you’ll find the top mental challenges teams face that can cause them to blow a lead:

1. Thinking too far ahead. Some teams have thought they’ve won the game before it’s over. They lose focus in the present moment, such as the current pitch, at-bat, or game plan. Help your athletes think about what’s important to focus on in the moment, such as reading the pitch or focusing on the target. Remind athletes to refocus when they’re distracted.

2. Letting up because of a comfort zone. Some teams expect to win or lose against a certain team or by a certain score. Therefore, when teams are playing better than expected, they protect their score, sit on the lead and play tentatively. You’ll want your team to stay aggressive.

3. Lack of intensity or boredom. Related to the comfort zones, teams will lose intensity and feel that they are just going through the motions. They may have reached a state of boredom, not feeling challenged. Therefore, you’ll want to encourage your team to challenge themselves. You’ll want to set challenging goals such as varying your pitches or improving your fielding assists.

4. Trying too hard to keep a lead. Some teams will protect their lead and thus play more defensively. You think that you don’t have to score anymore runs and you can play good defense to win the game. This can be dangerous when your opponents win back momentum and make a run.

Total concentration is the ability to immerse yourself in a task without becoming distracted or pulled off task. Great players talk about concentration as being “in a bubble,” or “in a cocoon” during which nothing can penetrate their focus. Concentration involves several elements.

These include (1) knowing what cues to focus on; (2) staying focused on those relevant cues; (3) keeping a narrow and external focus; (4) the ability to shift attention when needed; (5) the ability to refocus when distracted; and (6) controlling your thought process. In this article, I discuss specific methods for sticking to the process and improving your focus.

(1) 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.

(2) Think One At-Bat at 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.

(3) Don’t Think Results. 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. In an earlier article, I discussed how 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.

(4) 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.

(5) 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 grind and 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.

(6) 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 your have already rehearsed your at-bat routine.

Missing a throw, botching a simple ground ball, striking out at the plate, or dropping a pop up will and do happen all the time in baseball. However, these errors become a huge mental game thorn in a player’s mind. And in many cases, especially with youth players, they shut down for the remainder of the game. Baseball parents contact me all the time complaining about their players’ who can’t stop dwelling on errors or missed chances.

I am sure you have made some mistakes in your baseball career, mistakes that you were unable to forget quickly. You might have carried a mistake with you for most the rest of the inning or even the rest of the game. Many ball players can’t enjoy the game or their day because they are too busy beating themselves up. Dwelling on mistakes does not help you get the error back and it doesn’t help out your team.

Dwelling on errors or missed chances during a game is the number one distraction for athletes today. You cannot play in the present moment, a quality of the zone, or enjoy the game when your mind is stuck on a missed opportunity or error you made on the last play.

Based on my experience working with 100s of athletes on their mental game, rarely do athletes use their frustration or anger to help them perform better. It’s rare when a player can use the anger to perform better, but it does happen. You can get angry only if you need a boost of intensity or you can channel your frustration to make it work for you instead of against you.

Why does your mind want to stay glued on the past and dwell on errors?

For many players, when you make errors this does not match what you expected of yourself (or what you think others expect of you). You set a standard for yourself (.500 at the plate) and think you should always perform up to that standard. I’ve noticed that some players will display their anger or disappointment to others who are watching because they want to show others they are better than their mistakes.

Once you start dwelling on an error, it is very hard to stop the cycle of negativity. Why? Based on my experience, you’ll try to avoid making errors again – not a great mindset for playing freely and focusing in the present play.

The best players in baseball have this mindset: They use mistakes to help them grow and become better ball players. If you can become more focused, more determined, and can let go of mistakes quickly so it does not snowball and affect the next play, you’ll be a better player overall.

OK, what are the mental game keys to letting go of errors? If you struggle with letting go of errors, I don’t want you to expert your mental game of baseball to change overnight. Therefore, you have to be patient with changes.

However, two important mental game strategies will help you let go of errors:

1. Prior to the game, you have to check your expectations in the locker room. Expectations are the root of your anger or frustration with errors because they set you up for feeling let down when you don’t play up to your ideals.
2. After an error, you have to let go quickly and focus on the next play. This means you have to interrupt the dwelling cycle. You interrupt the dwelling cycle by making the mistake OK in your mind so you can play on. I know it’s not OK for you when you make errors, but you have to think this way to move on to the next play!

Do you wonder if others are watching you and evaluating your game? Are you worried about what others might think if you make errors? Sports psychology and mental toughness expert, Dr. Patrick Cohn teaches you how to reduce pregame performance anxiety by not worrying about what others think about your game.

Watch Dr. Cohn’s video below:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNuzUkRVhXU

Does pregame anxiety cause you to under perform in games? Sports Psychology expert Dr. Patrick Cohn shares his insights into the majors stressors and anxiety for athlete prior to competition. Learn how you might limit your performance with pregame anxiety. Learn why not all pregame jitters are harmful to your game!

Watch Dr. Cohn’s video below:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMbdA_a3bXM

An at-bat routine has three overall objectives. The first is to instill confidence and help you focus on success – or what you want to accomplish. The second is to focus you on the task, not the results of your at-bat. The last is to help you trust in your skills during execution and not over-analyze or over-think your swing. A batting routine locks your focus into performance cues, such as seeing the ball well, so you can be task-focused for every at bat.

A routine also should be simple and tailored to a player’s preferences, but still achieve these three primary objectives. You don’t want a batting routine that is too complex. You don’t want to focus on too many details during your routine. You want to simplify your batting routine so it’s easy to practice and put into games. Here, I outline five important ingredients of a good preshot routine:

Mental Game Keys of a Positive At-Bat Routine:

1. Regroup and Get Control: Outside of the box, release the last pitch, it’s over, let it go. Take a slow, deep breath as you prepare to step into the batter’s box. When you step into the box, this says your mind is clear and you are focused on the next pitch.

2. Have a Plan: Get signal from coach. Make sure you have a plan and commit to it before your step in such as “see the ball and react.” Do not proceed unless you are committed to a plan.

3. See Your Plan: Rehearse your plan. You have a few options here. See it, “feel” it, hear the ball contacting the bat, or use a combination of all! Positive image here is necessary to feel confident and commit to plan.

4. Focus on the Ball: Narrow your focus on the release point of pitcher as you settle into the box. Here, you are setting the stage to see it and react.

5. React, Just do it: React to the ball freely. What’s important is to be free, natural, and loose. Don’t “guide” the swing—trust your mechanics. You may choose a cue word or phrase to help you “let it go,” such as “hit it hard.”

If your mind wanders for any reason (including negative results) stop and refocus your mental game. For example, if your mind wanders to the last pitch or worry about not getting a hit, stop, step out of the box, and restart your mental routine.