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.

Soon with a lot of practice, your swing becomes instinctive, natural, and feels effortless to do (you reach a state of over-learning). An effortless reactive swing is essential for superior performance for all skill levels. Most players don’t allow their swing to be reflexive. They focus too much on technique or controlling the path of the bat instead of reacting to the ball.

It gets even worse for many players in big games. Their tendency is to tighten up and not trust the swing in pressure situations. When you focus too much on how to make a good swing, you guide the bat and consciously try to force a hit. Over control causes poor timing and throws off your natural rhythm. The purpose of practice is to build motor memory–that you can rely on in games. When you play, let your instincts take over.

Some baseball players can trust their hitting better than others. When you trust in your swing, you forget about the mechanics of the swing. Let your creative mind take over during competition. Once at the plate, you should react to the pitch. If you think too much about how to make a good swing, the ball will pass you before you had a chance to even make a cut at the ball. Less thinking is better. React to the ball and let your body do what it knows how to do. I call this reacting to what you see and skipping the mental gymnastics.

I know from my experience as a mental coach that athletes tighten up because they worry too much about the outcome, which leads to trying too hard or playing with a tentative mindset. When you’re tense about outcomes and not focused on the current play, pitch, or shot, you can’t step up your performance in big games…

Playing in a big game or the playoffs should be the most fun for athletes. It’s your season-end reward. It’s the fruit of all your hard work during the season. However, in order to enjoy the big game, you must have faith or trust in what you have practiced all season. Justin Verlander, Detroit Tigers pitcher, is a good example of this…

Read how Justin Verlander steps up in big games…