Baseball The Mental Game

 "The more I lived, the more I realized that batting is a mental problem rather than a physical stunt. The ability to grasp the bat, swing at the proper time, take a proper stance, all these things are elemental. Batting, rather, is a study in psychology, a sizing up of a pitcher and catcher and observing little details that are of immense importance."  Ty Cobb, Hall of Fame .367 career batting average over 24 years.

Here are some top tips to succeeding in the mental game of baseball:

1. Set goals for yourself and write them down. What do you want your batting average or ERA to be at the end of the season? Mid-season?  Take a good look at what will be required of you to achieve that. What will your training regimen be? Are you willing to put in the mental and physical work.
2. Fire up that competitive drive. Remind yourself of WHY you want to succeed at this game.
3. Do everything with INTENTION and COMMITMENT. Half-way effort gets half the results. This applies to the mental game of baseball as well as the physical. So few players not yet in the majors work on their mental game. It's where you have the most to gain with the least effort.
4. Never look past the ball. See the ball, hit the ball, catch the ball. The game is not complicated. Direct that overpowering computer you have inside your skull to do some analyzing on how much you can learn from everything you do so that you can improve. Worry, doubt, fear are a tremendous waste of your mental energy.
5. Practice Concentration on AND OFF the field.  The more you concentrate at your job or your school or when you are with other people, the better you will do at the ballpark when you need it. Don't expect to just flip a switch 5 minutes before game time.
6. Develop your Confidence. By amplifying your successes and forgetting your mistakes.  Ask your coach and/or support system to give you positive feedback on what you do well.
7. Practice body awareness, relaxation, and conscious breathing techniques to be able to take your body down when tense and move it up when you need a boost.
8. Inject discipline into all areas of your life and then it will spill over to your game. That will pay off on the field by "training" your mind to stay on task and stick with fundamentals when the pressure is on. That discipline will also keep you working on your game in practice when you really don't "feel like it."
9. Practice like you play. Create some pressure in practice and drills so that your nervous system gets used to playing in that state. You will much more easily be able to bring your practice game to the real game.  Coaches have many ideas on how to do this in practice.
10. Change your language and self-talk and off the field.  Eliminate these words with regard to talking to yourself: Try, Hope, Can't, Hard, Struggle, Battle, etc.
11. Take responsibility for your game. Your performance has nothing to do with the field or your relationship with the other players or the coach. 
12. Use self-hypnosis to program into your unconscious mind all of these ideas so you don't have to think about them and they just happen. (or do it with me in my office)

How You Successfully Think and Visualize is How You Actually Play The Game