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.

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. The tie seemed to be slipping away when Dodgers’ Jamey Carroll hit a double. To make matters worse, Carroll ran to third on Dotel’s wild pitch. With a runner on third base and no outs, Dotel kept his composure.

He responded with three outs: a comebacker by Rafael Furcal, striking out Matt Kemp and a ground out to Manny Rameriez.

The Pittsburg Pirates went on to win the game 4-3. Pirates’ Ronny Cedeno sealed the win a single line-drive in the 10th inning.

“You can’t start thinking about it, like ‘Oh, my, they’ve got a guy on third, it’s the ninth inning. You’ve got to keep yourself relaxed as much as you can and go pitch by pitch, and that’s what I did,” said Octavio Dotel.

Many ball players can get rattled when things don’t go as planned. You might throw a wild pitch, walk a batter, or strike out. When things don’t go as planned, many players become frustrated, dwell on errors and then speed up their routine.

Playing angry or frustrated baseball can cause more errors, poor decisions and mental mistakes. You’ll want to maintain your focus on the task at hand. Focus on what you have to do to throw a good pitch or to make a successful hit. You can focus on seeing the ball well at-bat or focus on the catcher’s mitt if you’re a pitcher.

Another strategy: stay calm.

“If you watched that inning closely, he never panicked. He knows the game is on the line. He knows a runner is on third base. He knows he’s facing a great lineup. But you still make your pitches. That’s what a veteran guy does. He’s figured it out. He knows how to control himself. That was impressive,” said teammate Evan Meek of Dotel.

Your baseball psychology tip for today is to refocus the moment you find yourself losing composure or dwelling on the past. Remember that no one can make you feel frustrated but yourself.