Joe Saunders Stays Positive After Loss
You can react to losses positively or negatively. You can beat yourself up, become frustrated with your performance and lose confidence, taking a negative approach to your game. You can also take a more positive look at your performance learning from your losses. The Los Angeles Angels fell 0-6 to the Toronto Blue Jays Monday night. Angels pitcher, Joe Saunders, didn’t perform his best allowing three runs, four hits and five walks over 6 1-3 innings. “It’s... [Read More...]
Do You Ride The Confidence Rollercoaster?
Doubt is the number one killer of your baseball confidence. You might think, “Can I get a hit off this pitcher?” or “Don’t walk this batter!” Your doubts cause you to lose confidence, question your ability and get down on yourself. Without confidence and a strong mental game, you crumble under pressure, play tentatively and under-perform in games. Doubt isn’t the only challenge for baseball players though. Many players have fragile self-confidence.... [Read More...]
Stop the Mind Games and Play Ball!
Some baseball players worry too much about what others think about their game. For example, do you worry too much about what your coach thinks about your batting technique or about performing well to gain respect from teammates. Many baseball players don’t want to let teammates, parents or coaches down. When you make assumptions about what others might be thinking about your game, you engage in “mind reading.” You don’t really know... [Read More...]
Focusing on the Process Key to Winning
“What was I thinking?” you mutter in frustration after you struck out at bat. You lost your focus temporarily and it cost you the at-bat. Most players at times, lose focus, blank-out, get distracted, or are too stressed to concentrate. Even the greatest players in the world have trouble concentrating under pressure. Outcomes and winning are stressed in a result oriented society, making it difficult to focus on what really matters—sticking to... [Read More...]
Refocus When You Get Too Far Ahead
Do distractions cause you to become sidetracked during baseball or softball games? Are you anxious about what the outcome of the game might be? Do you tense up and put more pressure yourself to win? If you said yes, then you focus too much on results and not enough on the process. You should learn when and how to refocus your mind on what’s important. Many baseball and softball players forget that winning comes from taking care of... [Read More...]
How to Keep Practice Exciting
Keeping practice interesting is a big challenge for professional players that spend as much as eight hours a day practicing and playing ball. It’s also a challenge for amateur players who practice more than two hours at a time. When you are bored with practice, you don’t feel challenged enough. This can lead to less than optimal concentration, which can cause ineffective practice. If you become bored during practice take a 15-minute break to relax... [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...]
How to Avoiding Choking in Baseball
All baseball and softball players feel the pressure of competition at some point in their career. The word “choke” for baseball players can stop them in their tracks. Players never want to admit to others that they choked. PGA Tour player Bob Tway said, “It’s how you handle it. Some people handle it better. Everyone is choking, if they don’t say they are choking they are lying.” What does it mean to choke? Choking is a response... [Read More...]
Do You Step Up in Big Games?
Most athletes train hard all year long to make it to the playoffs or a state level competition. It’s clear to me that “the cream always rises to the top” during big games–the top athletes raise the level of their performance when they need it the most. I’m sure you’re also aware that some athletes mentally crumble in big games–they allow the pressure to cause them to tighten up. They are overcome by a tsunami... [Read More...]
Baseball Mental Game and Overcoming Intimidation
A common challenge in the mental game of baseball is self-intimidation. Self-intimidation happens when you compare yourself to your teammates or opponents prior to the game and feel less worthy than others. You essentially psych yourself out before the competition begins becasue your think you don’t stack up. You might worry about their team’s record against another team or feel that you aren’t as good as your teammates. This can cause you... [Read More...]
