Dotel’s Composure Helps Pirates Win
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 pitcher Octavio Dotel knows a thing or two about staying composed in crunch-time. Dotel was sent in to keep a 3-3 tie with the L.A. Dodgers Wednesday night.... [Read More...]
Mariano Rivera and The Power of Self-Discipline
Coping with failure is very much a part of baseball. Hitters’ certainly don’t get a hit or succeed every time. The top hitters succeed three out of 10 times on average. Pitchers have had their taste of failure too. Pitchers succeed only half the time, even at the professional level. With all this failure, how can baseball players learn to bounce back? Mariano Rivera, relief pitcher for the Yankees says, “the secret is not so much confidence... [Read More...]
Matt Garza on Controlling Emotions
Baseball players can experience highs and lows during competition. Players can experience highs such as the joy of connecting with the ball at the plate, catching a fly out ball or sliding into home base. Players can also experience lows such as striking out, fumbling the ball or walking a batter. How you react to those lows can influence your performance. Do you get frustrated and upset with your performance? Or, are you able to bounce back from... [Read More...]
Professional Baseball Players and Frustration
I’m sure you’ve seen professional baseball players lose their cool during games. What causes players to lose their composure during competition? You can lose their composure for several reasons. You might lose your composure after making stupid errors, not meeting your expectations or feeling angry or frustrated with your performance. Milton Bradley of the Chicago Cubs shows his anger by throwing temper tantrums on the field. Recently, Bradley... [Read More...]
Two Confidence Killers Ball Players Must Avoid
Baseball players can undermine their confidence without even knowing it. One way is to set strict expectations. The other is to hold onto self-doubt. We’ll take a look at each of these mental game challenges to help you boost your self-confidence. Here is my conclusion after working with 1000’s of athletes: Strict or high expectations can undermine and suck the life out of confidence! Expectations can be tricky. You might think that setting high... [Read More...]
Mental Game and The Tale of Two Hitters
I once knew a hitter named Soft Hands. Soft Hands was a great hitter, who brimmed with confidence when the ball bounded squarely off the center of his bat. He had touch, confidence, and fed off momentum. When Soft Hands got his first hit of the day, he felt like he could not miss all day. He would hit great that day. If Soft Hands did not get a hit, he knew that the next at bat would be successful. He would say to himself: “It’s OK because I know... [Read More...]
Geting Up When the Wheels Fall Off
How do you react when the wheels fall off your game? Do you get upset, try harder, or give up? The frustration that a pro feels when he strikes out is similar to the anger you feel after striking out. Both cause frustration for a player, but it’s how you react to mistakes that determine if you can shake it off and play on with focus. Why do some athletes get down on themselves and play worse when the wheels fall off? They can’t let go of mistakes... [Read More...]
