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...]

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...]

Your Mental Game and Letting Go of Errors

Mistakes or errors occur every day in baseball, but many players don’t have the mental game that allows them to let go of errors and this hurts their chances for success. 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... [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...]