5 Ways For Ballplayers To Improve Their Mental Approach

1. Watch- When attending higher level games (college, professional), watch the player at the position you play and observe his actions and demeanor on and off the field. Before and after each pitch, watch his preparation, what he does after each pitch, and how he communicates to his teammates.

2. Learn- Observation from players older than yourself is the best way to learn how to play the game, talk the game, and respect the game. No player is bigger than the game of baseball. It has been around way before you were here and it will be around long after you are gone.

3. Listen- Listen to baseball discussions amongst coaches, players, announcers, and even parents as experience is key to growing as a player on and off the diamond. Some of the best baseball experiences are sitting around and listening to experienced individuals and/or friends talk about the game and how they approached certain situations in their playing days.

4. Absorb- Be a sponge to all things related to the game as it will only make you a better player as your skills expand and you get stronger as an individual player. Not everything you hear will be correct as it relates to the game, but as you grow older you will be able to discern what is correct and what is not while making a decision for yourself based on what you believe in and have been taught.

5. Practice- Perform proper mechanics as often and intensely as you can for short durations of time. Long practices with poor mechanics will only hammer the bad tendencies into a player’s arsenal and that is detrimental to the development of you as a player. The phrase ‘Practice Makes Perfect’ is only true if the practice is with sound/solid/proper mechanics, otherwise practice with bad mechanics will only make perfect outcomes for the opposing teams as wins will be theirs and not yours.

Improve Your Hitting By Improving Your Trust

 April 2, 2014 by Patrick Cohn

 

Hitting in baseball requires a strong mental game. When you step into the batter’s box, you need to tune out your thoughts and rely more on your instincts. Many players over-think their performance at the plate. Thinking too much in the batter’s box will interfere with fluid mechanics and slow down your reaction time.

 

Many hitters focus on irrelevant stuff during hitting, such as slumps, poor umpiring, and dominating pitchers. These are just distractions and can hurt your hitting performance. Sometimes batters focus too much on their technique during the at-bat. Batters who are stuck in a practice mindset in games can’t perform as well as they do in the cage.

 

So what should a hitter be focusing on during an at-bat? Just hitting! That means your execution of the at-bat. Top hitters don’t think themselves into hitting. The best hitters rely on the instincts they have developed through repetition in practice, which frees up their mind to just react.

Second baseman Johnny Giavotella, 26, is battling for a spot on the Kansas City Royals’ big league roster and has a knack for hitting. Giavotella has batted .317 in his three years with Triple-A Omaha. When he’s confident in his mechanics, he free to see the ball well. Giavotella had a tremendous Spring Training for the Royals hitting .341 in 26 games, “I’m feeling good, I feel confident in my mechanics at the plate. I’m seeing the ball well and having good at-bats. Hitting is always something I take pride in, something that I feel is my strength and I enjoy getting in the box anytime.”

 

3 Benefits of Trusting Your Mechanics and Relying on Instincts:

1. Increased confidence – When you have sufficiently worked on your mechanics in practice, you will feel more confident during your plate appearances.
2. Seeing the ball better – When you are no longer over-thinking mechanics in the batter box, your attention can be directed towards picking up the ball more clearly.
3. Enjoying opportunities to hit – When not grinding on your mechanics in the batting cage, you can enjoy playing instead of dreading your next plate appearance.

 

It’s hard to trust your mechanics in games when you constantly make changes or are re-building your swing. You should develop solid mechanics through consistent repetition in practice focusing on one method. You also want to develop a consistent at-bat routine to mentally prepare yourself for the current pitch and enter your “concentration zone” where you only focus on the relevant stuff to execute.