How important do you think your mental approach is to your baseball performance? If you are a high-level player, you know it is very, very important.
Bill Cole, a leading authority on sports psychology, peak performance, mental toughness and coaching, is founder and CEO of William B. Cole Consultants, a consulting firm that helps sports teams and individuals achieve more success. He is also the Founder and President of the International Mental Game Coaching Association, an organization dedicated to advancing the research, development, professionalism and growth of mental game coaching worldwide.
You know mental toughness in baseball is huge. I don’t like to put percentages on it, but you would probably agree that it is critical to your sustainable success.
When I was the Sport Psychology Coach for the Stanford Baseball Team they were ranked number one in the United States. We worked on mental toughness every day. We also worked on focus, mental preparation and building and maintaining routines and mental recovery strategies.
This article gives you five mental game of baseball strategies I used with the Stanford Baseball Team that you can use right away in your own game.
1.Learn To Control Your Focus
The most important part of the mental game is attentional control. Where you place your focus, in what way, and for how long is key. You need to learn how to choose the appropriate attentional cues so you keep your mind tuned in, not out. The mental game of baseball helps you know what these cues are.
2. Keep Your Mind In The Here And Now
Good baseball is played one pitch at a time. Do that and your mind stays in the moment, the now. One way to facilitate that is to have breath focus. The mental game of baseball helps you learn how to find your breath, track it, and allow it to center and focus you.
3. Stay Poised And Patient
You want to play aggressive baseball, but you also need to remain self-aware, and tuned in to what is happening around you. This is vital to being a plugged in player who makes things happen. The mental game of baseball helps you develop this fine-tuned personal awareness.
4. Develop Confidence And Self-Belief
If you don’t believe in yourself, who will? Everyone around you can tell you how good you are, but if you discount this encouragement, it will never enter your head and heart. The mental game of baseball helps you build an inside-out foundation of self-approval so your confidence flows.
5. Use Mental Rehearsal
Get a competitive advantage with your mind by playing the game in advance, using visualization. Go to the movies in your mind and mentally rehearse what you will be doing in competition. You can plan for contingencies, problems, or map out your strategy and see yourself winning before you actually do it. The mental game of baseball helps you use your imagination to great effect.
When I was at Stanford University we had a belief in our power, and in our destiny. The head coach would get up before a game and ask everyone, “You are about to go out and play in a major college baseball competition. Is there any other place you would rather be? Does it get any better than this?” The guys would then realize that it doesn’t get any better than playing the game you love. The mental game of baseball helps you realize this fundamental, game-altering truth.
I want you to succeed mightily in your baseball career. I want you to reach all of your baseball potential. The mental game of baseball can help you do that in a big way.
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