To Thine Own Self Be YOU

You are the best in the world.  Yes, I am talking to you.  You're better than over 7 billion people at something no matter who you are.  You are the best in the world at being you.  Have you ever stopped to really think about that?  It's pretty cool.  On your best days, you're the best at being you.  On your worst days, you're still the best at being you.  Of course, this comes with a price.  On the flip side, no matter how hard you try to be like someone else you will never be as good at being that person.  So why do we spend so much time trying to be other people?  In the sporting and non-sporting world, people are constantly making comparisons.  These comparisons can come externally with comments from a coach or parent like, "Why can't you be more like "So and So?"  A much more effective method would be to focus on a specific behavior.  "I'd like you to be more focused on your swing when you are taking batting practice."  The comparisons can come internally too with thoughts like, "I can't believe he's playing over me.  I'm better than he is."  A more effective way of thinking would be, "What can I do to get better?"  Both examples can be toxic to our ways of thinking.

A lesson I have learned over the last few years as I have dived into sport psychology and psychology in general is that self-awareness is one of the best gifts we can give ourselves.  True understanding of our strengths and weaknesses, as an athlete, coach, or person, is a challenge that can be as rewarding as we make it.  Knowing who we are and why can help spark us to even greater growth and ultimately work towards fulfilling our "potential" as athletes or people.  Of course, knowing is only a start to the equation.  It is what we do with that knowledge that is ultimately what is important in our growth.

Let's start small though.  I'd like to challenge you to focus on being the best "You" possible as a player.  Understand your strengths and weaknesses.  How can you use the characteristics that make you a good player to maximize your performance?  If you are a speed guy without a lot of power, maximize that instead of making wholesale changes to try to hit bombs all the time.  If you're a soft tossing lefty who hits his spots, you may work to be able to throw any pitch with conviction regardless of count.  This isn't to say that you should not work to develop power too or increase velocity.  To just say, "I am who I am, and I always will be this way," as a high school baseball player would be to devalue any work you put into the game.  Who you are, especially at that age, is not constant.  It's ever-changing.

Last year we grouped hitters by hitter type to help them understand who they are and what they needed to be successful.  What group a hitter was in dictated what his rounds of BP would be like.  The groups looked like this:

1. Piranhas (handle the bat, bunt, can run, little power)
2. Buffalo (have power, want to drive the ball, most not fast)
3. Cobras (solid runner, can handle the bat, can bunt but can juice some gaps)

If we do the groups again this year, a couple of the piranhas would now be cobras because they have evolved as players.  They have gotten stronger and have a little more pop, but they haven't lost sight of what makes them successful as hitters.  The key is to keep in mind who you are right now so that you can best create your plan for success while also making expectations of growth manageable.  Then, continue to reset the perception you have for yourself to break through false ceilings as a player.

Sometimes in coaching I think we can be guilty of spending so much time focusing on team this or team that that we forget to appreciate the different "You's" that create the team.  In doing so, we are actually missing out on a golden opportunity to make the team we are preaching so much better.  Gregg Popovich took time before prepping for the NBA Finals last year to celebrate a day significant to Patty Mills as an indigenous Australian.   Think about that for a second.  Before starting with any X's and O's, Gregg Popovich, at the highest level of competition possible, took time to celebrate the culture of an individual and make Mills feel valued.  This feeling of value is something that makes the Spurs very special as an organization.   This isn't to say that I do not believe in the concept of "we over me," but I think to expect every player to be the same and treat them as players only is not the most effective coaching method.  Understanding the uniqueness of people is, at the very least, as important as understanding x's and o's.

So, as we celebrate the holiday season and you start making your New Year's Resolutions, challenge yourself to congratulate yourself on being the best in the world at being you.  When you make resolutions, make them about being the best you instead of being more like someone else.  I'll be doing the same from the sunny Dominican Republic!

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Great Resources: The Second Installation

Hello readers.  First, let me apologize for it being so long in between posts.  I have been extremely busy with teaching, coaching, conducting our offseason mental conditioning program, and doing lots of forced writing for a couple of classes I was taking.  I hope to dive back into the blog over the next couple of weeks.

A while back I wrote about the importance of being a lifelong learner and gave you two of the books that have had a great impact on my views in sport psychology.  With this being a time where all players and coaches have at least a couple of weeks off, I thought it would be the perfect time to give you a couple of last minute stocking stuffers to ask Santa for.  If you label yourself as "not a reader," I'd like to challenge yourself to not see that label as permanent.  I was "not a reader" for quite a while but have changed my perspective completely by finding what I really like to read...and reading.

Here are three more books I would like to recommend as you challenge yourself to grow either as a player or as a coach.  The list is by no means exhaustive in nature, but I have chosen to write about books that I have a strong connection to for different reasons:

1. Baseball's 6th Tool:  The Inner Game by Dr. Jack Curtis:  Dr. Curtis is one of the trailblazers in the field of sport psychology within baseball.  He has been working with various teams and players for about 25 years and shares a great deal of his knowledge in this book.  Dr. Curtis is big on explaining how the brain works as he shares some tips and activities that will help you as a player.  Some of the topics addressed include mindset, being positive, goal-setting, and multiple types of imagery.  As I have explained in other posts, I believe very strongly about the importance of answering the question "Why?"  Dr. Curtis does this really well in a way that is easy to read without sacrificing scientific accuracy.  Personally, I am a huge fan of his work with imagery.  Reading his book got me very interested in the topic in general and instilled many of my beliefs on the use of imagery.  Dr. Curtis has also given me great advice, and I actually had the privilege of watching a few innings of a game in Charlotte a little over a year ago with him.  It was awesome!
Baseball's 6th Tool

2. The Complete Mental Game of Baseball:  Taking Charge of the Process, On and Off the Field by Dr. Charlie Maher:  A couple of months ago someone I respect a lot talked with me about Dr. Maher and his thoughts.  Dr. Maher is the Director of Psychological Services for the Cleveland Indians.  I had seen his book in my Amazon browsing a while back but had decided not to pull the trigger on it.  I am very glad I had the conversation I did because it pushed me to give the book a shot.  I really liked it.  The book outlines some of Dr. Maher's core beliefs and the overall mental program he uses with the Cleveland Indians organization.  What I really like about the book is the interactive nature of it and the reflection it makes the reader do.  Anyone who knows me well is aware that I am extremely introspective (probably to a fault), but I really appreciate the guided help of players in understanding who they are.  For me, true understanding of one's self is probably the most valuable psychological tool a player or person can have.
The Complete Mental Game of Baseball

3. Freedom Flight:  The Origins of Mental Power by Lenny Bassham:  This is my outside the box pick for the blog.  The book has special value for me because a student recommended it to me.  The student gave me the book, said he read it in one night, and thought I would like it (he also stressed that he hardly ever reads at all).  Needless to say, I felt like I better read this book as soon as I can get to it.  The book itself reads very similarly to a Jon Gordon book.  There are lessons built into a story.  The story is about a plane ride to the Military World Championships to Egypt and a conversation between one of the shooters and a former prisoner of war in Vietnam.  The book teaches different lessons with each chapter and gives a great summary of the lessons at the end of the book in case you missed them.  It took me about an hour or so to read, and I would not say I am a fast reader at all.  The book works as a great perspective check, and the lessons are great for sport psychology.
Freedom Flight

Again, it's certainly been a while since I have written.  I have a couple of ideas for topics I want to discuss, but I am definitely open to any suggestions you may have.  The feedback I have gotten has really helped me out a lot and has hopefully made the blog more valuable for you.

Tweet/DM me @Coach_Ehrlich, or shoot me an email at ehrlichb1@gmail.com.

Thanks for reading!

One Word That Can Transform Your Career Part 2: The Player's View

In the last blog we discussed the importance of the word "Why?" from a coaching perspective.  A couple of suggestions were to welcome the question from players you coach and to force yourself to ask the question of your methods.  "Why?" from a player reveals a search for understanding.  "Why?" as a coach challenges you to move towards the most effective way of coaching you can supply.  Part two of the "Why?" series focuses on the player's perspective.

Why are you successful?  If you cannot answer this, you are probably not as consistent as you are capable of being.  You are probably a player who leaves performance up to chance instead of taking control of your performance  Maybe you have an uneasy feeling going into each game of not knowing if you are going to play well or not.  Playing may be like taking part in a suspenseful movie where you aren't sure what is going to happen next.  There are certain phenomenons in the world that cannot be explained, but your performance should not be one of them.  If your answer is something like, " Because I'm good," or, "I just sucked today," then that isn't good enough.  Challenge yourself to purposely reflect on your "Why."  For example, what do I specifically do when I am hitting really well?  Am I attacking first pitch fastballs?  Am I getting into good hitter's counts?  Am I focused on just seeing the baseball and reacting?  Notice the word "I" in each one of those questions.  Force yourself to move past the uncontrollables like "the pitching was horrible" or "that pitcher was really good."  While both may be true, the focus of your reflection should be on what you specifically did or did not do.  Otherwise, you may as well not go up to the plate when you face a good pitcher.  Why even take your at-bats against bad pitching if you are not going to give yourself credit when you do well?

What is great about the reflection process too is that it provides your road map for practice.  Have you been getting out a lot on pitches away?  Well, then you know what to work on.  Being reflective can help prevent that helpless, "I don't know what I am doing wrong," feeling we all have had as a player.  It also can help prevent that helpless feeling from turning into panic mode.  I don't know about you, but I'd much rather make an adjustment like taking first pitch breaking balls than trying to make wholesale, mechanical changes.  I'm not saying mechanical changes are never necessary, but being reflective can help avoid going there when you do not need to.

"I got three hits today because I had my pregame meal of grilled burgers from Mom."  Guilty!  Looking back at it, I wasted a lot of time attributing successes and failures to variables that should not have played into my reflection.  Prevent yourself from doing the same by being rational in your reflection.  The first couple of times you reflect on your performance you may find it difficult.  Small sample sizes may not be eye-opening.  Like anything else, you have to be willing to commit to reflection to see the impact of it.  What you will find is the more consistently you reflect you will find patterns in your performance.  This reflection will become part of your preparation.  The more prepared you feel, the more confident you feel.  When you are confident as a player, you perform better.  Understanding your "why" and figuring out a way to make it happen more and more often will help you create more control in what you do between the lines.

Here is an example of an at-bat reflection we did on a summer team I coached a year ago.  While it isn't perfect, I think there are some strengths.  1. It forces you to reflect.  2. It gets you to think about specifics of at-bats. 3. It gets you to think about your plan for practice.  4. It gets you to think about your plan as a hitter.  Sample Hitter's Reflection

Do you use reflection to help you as a player?  How about as a coach?  If so, I would love to hear why.  I know I have a baseballcentric view on topics, but the concept can easily be translated to other sports.  Do you think this is stupid?  As long as you can tell me WHY, I want to hear that too.  Tweet to me @Coach_Ehrlich or email me at ehrlichb1@gmail.com.

One Word That Can Transform Your Career Part 1: The Coach's View

             Maybe it is the annoying little kid in me.  Maybe it is the old soul in a body that I don't want to admit is not as young as it used to be.  I'm not sure what exactly triggered the change, but I have become very reflective since the beginning of my journey into sport psychology.  I find myself constantly relating what I learn to my experiences from both my playing and coaching career.  How could that have helped me as a player?  What can I do to transfer my knowledge into action with the players I coach?  Sometimes this can be a frustrating process because the answers do not come as easily as I would like.  The benefits have far outweighed the frustrations though.  I also have really grasped onto the concept of understanding what makes people successful.  What makes greatness?  Is it natural, or is it a product of work and having purpose?  In the coaching profession, my top three would probably be Pete Carroll, Gregg Popovich, and Joe Maddon.  I could write an entire blog post about what I admire in all three, but in summary it is their willingness to do things differently because of their belief that it can be done better than it has always been done.  In short, they have asked "Why?"  Why is it great to create a positive atmosphere with a DJ playing music during practice?  Why is it important to treat your superstars the same as the 12th man on your bench in the NBA?  Why are themed dress up road trips in MLB about much more than media attention?  These are all questions I am confident Carroll, Popovich, and Maddon have asked themselves, and I am equally confident they can give great answers.

           As a younger coach, I think it was only natural to be a little defensive.  I was confident in my knowledge of the game, but I found out that knowing the game and knowing coaching are two entirely different things.  One does not ensure the other, and communicating what you know about the game can be a challenge.  When a player would ask me "Why?" I saw the question as an attack on if I knew what I was doing or not.  "Who is this kid to question my methods?  Doesn't he know I played division 1 baseball?!?!"  What a short-sighted view on my part.  Maybe the player was not questioning me, but he was being inquisitive about the game.  Maybe he was wanting to understand the reasoning behind what would make him successful.  Now, my viewpoint has changed 180 degrees on the matter.  I want players to ask why, and I feel confident in the answer I can give them knowing there is purpose in what I do and say as a coach.  If players just blindly do what the coach says without understanding the why, then they are going to be coaching dependent instead of taking control of their success.  Coaching pointers shouldn't feel like a magic trick leaving players to think to themselves, "Wow.  I don't know how I did that!"  Don't get me wrong here.  There is a big difference in "Why?" meaning "Why the hell is coach making us do this?!" and  "Why?" meaning "Why will that make me a better player?"  Players should recognize this too, and be aware of the delivery of their message.

           Understanding the "why" is a must for you to have as great an impact on players as possible.  You need to have reasoning behind what you are doing.  Great coaches are constantly reflecting on what is working and what is not working.  If something is working, why is it working?  If something is not working, what is going on?  Where is the disconnect happening?  Assistant coaches who you trust are a great resource for answers.  You know who else is a great source for the answers?  Players!  Sometimes there is a stigma attached to asking players for their opinions.  I think that is the ego in us coaches.  If our goal is to help players as much as possible, shouldn't we ask them how they feel about different drills, practice methods, and game strategies?  It has been said that teaching is the highest level of understanding.  Instead of creating mindless robots, wouldn't you rather create players with the ability to think and reason about the game?  If nothing else, asking players can lead to a conversation that helps you better explain to the player your "why."  That may make the difference between them mindlessly going through the motions and purposeful practice.  It may make the difference in them having some doubt in a plan and them fully trusting it.  Which do you think leads to success more often?

          In summary, embrace the question "Why?"  Embrace it from your players.  Begin to love that they want to have a deeper understanding of the game.  Embrace it from yourself.  Reflect on what has made you successful and what hasn't.  Reflect on what you do well and what you could do better.  Ask yourself if you are doing something just because that is the way you were taught or if you are able to actually give reasons as to why that is the best way to do things?  If you are exploring the mental side of sports, PLEASE ask why.  Do not accept surface level strategies without any explanation of their purpose.  Telling you that Major Leaguers are taking a deep breath isn't good enough!  Don't be ashamed to admit having room to grow.  Just like we stress to our players that there is always room to improve, we have that same never-ending opportunity as coaches.  Take advantage, and ask "Why?" today.

Side Note:  This is the first in a two part series on "Why?"  In the next post, I will write more about the importance of the word from a player's perspective.



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Addendum on Confidence and Coaches

Regular readers of the blog may remember me discussing how lucky I am to be part of a great staff at the high school where I coach.  Well, yesterday was a great example of why.  I have gotten some really interesting feedback since posting the latest blog entry on Confidence and the Role of Coaches Sunday night.  While several comments have stood out, the blog led to a great conversation with the head coach and other members of the staff where I coach baseball.

Let me preface this with saying that our head coach is someone I have known since I was 12 years old.  I played for him in high school and then returned to the area to have an opportunity to coach with him.  He has been coaching for almost thirty years and is someone I have as much respect for in baseball as anyone in the sport at any level.  Although on the surface level we may seem very different to some people, our core values of how you are successful in baseball and interest in finding the best way to do things is something that makes us about as alike as you can get.

That may have seemed a little off topic, but I feel like it is necessary to the story.  Our head coach brought up the blog yesterday, and it led to a conversation with our staff about what I meant and how different people reading the entry may perceive what I wrote.  We talked about how a parent may read it and say, "Coach Ehrlich says you are supposed to give my son confidence.  You are why my kid isn't confident!"  This is definitely not what I meant for the message to be.  Confidence is something that has many sources, and I don't think any one source can take sole responsibility.  What I wanted to get across is that players do think coaches can help develop confidence.  Not attempting to do so, in a purposeful way, is a missed opportunity to help players develop.  How coaches are able to help can take a variety of forms, and I just gave three examples of ways to aid in the development of confidence.  When it comes down to it, we as coaches cannot go up and hit for a player or make a pitch for him.  Our job is to put players in the best position to be successful, but it is ultimately up to the player to execute.  

One of the great things about sport psychology is there are many possible perspectives to take.  Something that has always intrigued me about life is that different people can have the same experience and have completely different reactions.  I enjoy that and enjoy hearing from viewpoints different than my own.  What I think is important about this addendum is the conversation it led to on our coaching staff.  We may have never had that discussion if it were not for the blog, and I am glad we did.  While I think it would be naive to think that by reading a few hundred words that you are suddenly going to become a completely different player or coach, having conversation is a major part of development.  That is somewhere we see growth as players, coaches, and people.  

Keep the feedback coming please!

Confidence and the Role of Coaches in Its Development

So it has been a while since my last post.  I have decided to move away from the list of "What Mentally Tough Baseball Players Do" for now in lieu of a subject I think may be the most important in all of sport psychology- Confidence.  Confidence is so important, in my opinion, that I am dedicating a second post to it.  Regular readers of the blog may remember a post I wrote in mid-July on the importance of confidence and how players can work to create confidence on a more consistent basis.  I also wrote about how confidence is ultimately the athlete's responsibility.  Well, although I do think confidence is up to the athlete and most coaches agree, sometimes we need a reminder that our opinion does not always matter!

What I mean is if the athletes are the ones who are performing and good/bad games can be separated by how confident the athletes feel, then what they think about confidence is what really matters.  I read two different studies for a class I am taking that made me think.  Both studies were about the development of confidence in athletes and addressed where confidence comes from.  One of the studies was about an assortment of lower level, amateur athletes of different ages.  A major theme was these athletes thought coaches were largely responsible for the development of confidence.  What a bunch of weak minded individuals, right?  The second study was about elite level athletes.  Do you know who they accredited with the development of confidence?  COACHES!  So, what is the moral of these studies then?  Regardless of what level you coach, your athletes are looking to you for confidence.  Ignoring this is to ignore an opportunity to get better.  Would you accept that from your players?

To help drive home just how universal this is, I call on Jake Peavy.  Peavy has over eleven years of service time and139 Major League victories.  He started the season with the Red Sox and went 1-9 with a 4.72 ERA with them.  Then, Peavy was traded to the Giants and reunited with his old manager Bruce Bochy.  Peavy then went 6-4 with a 2.17 ERA.  What does Jake say is the difference?  Well, the three-time All Star pitcher and former Cy Young Award winner says his manager has a lot to do with his turnaround.  Peavy made a quote I heard on the radio about how Bochy instills a belief in his players that is unlike anyone else he has played for.  A Major League manager making his players more confident?  Well if they do then the least us amateur coaches can do is to try to do the same.  So what can we do?  Here are a couple of starting points:

1. Focus on what players do well.  I know you want them to be as good as possible, and I am all for working on weaknesses as a player.  If he has struggled for years with pitches on the outer half of the plate, however, he probably is not going to start magically mashing them ten minutes before a game.  Once competition is upon you, why not celebrate the strengths of the player?  Help him understand his strengths so he can better utilize them rather than creating doubt in everything he cannot do.

2. Create an environment where mistakes are okay.  For me, this means physical mistakes.  I have never been around a player who has said, "Man, I am going to try to go 0-4 today with 3 errors!" or "I hope I bounce all of my breaking balls today!"  Physical mistakes are going to happen.  If you demand perfection in physical execution, you are setting up your team to be a bunch of tense robots.  Tension does not feel good or translate well.  Understand that mistakes are going to happen, and stress that players learn from theirs (both physical and mental).

3. Prepare your players.  Create as many game-like situations as possible so they are ready.  People say there is no substitute for experience.  Everyone, at one point or another, has encountered a situation that was no big deal because they had been there before.  Well, what if we can help to create that feeling of being experienced?  You can with purposeful practice.

This list is by no means exhaustive.  Coaches, do you have something you do to purposely help players be confident?  Players, do you have a story or coach who has helped you feel more confident as a player?  I would love to hear about them.  Tweet them to me @Coach_Ehrlich, or email me at ehrlichb1@gmail.com.  If I like it, I will absolutely give you credit.  Thanks again for reading, and challenge yourself to help someone else be just a little more confident in themselves this week.

What Mentally Tough Baseball Players Do #9

#9 Mentally tough baseball players embrace the big moment.

Mentally tough baseball players embrace the big moment.  They want the ball in their hands, to be at the plate, or the ball to be hit to them with the game on the line.  Late in the summer I contacted approximately twenty well-respected coaches in both high school and college baseball to get their thoughts on mental toughness.  Although I am still working on how to incorporate the great insights I got from those coaches into something bigger, embracing the big moment was what came up the most.  Coaches want players who are able to perform in "clutch" situations.

This is certainly relevant with playoff baseball now in full swing.  There have been some great games already, and some very high pressure situations have presented themselves.  Last night, while many of you were watching college football, I stuck with the Nationals/Giants game for all eighteen innings.  What stood out to me was a lot of HUGE swings and overaggressive approaches in the extra inning frames.  I had the thought sometime around the eleventh inning that the only way someone was going to score was to run into a ball and hit a bomb.  The lack of offensive execution could be credited to a number of factors.  First, you have to give credit to pitchers.  There was some good stuff being thrown every inning.  Second, however, would be a lot of guys trying to do a little too much.  Anytime we try to do a little too much, instead of letting what we are able to do happen, we run into problems.  Our swing gets a little long, we expand the zone too much, we leave fastballs up, etc.

Mentally tough baseball players embrace the big moment and perform.  In my opinion, they do this by doing the same thing they always do.  We often throw around the phrase, "Who's going to step up?" when adversity or a big situation presents itself.  I don't like it because for me it implies elevating your game and going outside of what you are capable of.  I prefer "step forward" instead because of the imagery it creates of a player stepping into a situation and being himself.  Stepping forward into this high tension, big moment as YOU gives yourself the best shot of succeeding.  Being a little more than you are implies that "you" isn't good enough the other 99% of the time.

If you are someone who seems to perform better in the big moment than normal, however, my question for you would be "Why do you think that is?"  My next question would be, "Well how can we get you to do that all of the time?  Imagine how good you could be then."

In closing, take a closer look these next couple of days at who embraces the big moment.  Take note of the demeanor of the players who perform and those who do not.  Tweet who stands out to you, or send me an email!

Side Note: How about the Royals?  I've loved watching them play, and I've loved the analysis of how they have decided to play the same way they have played all year long.  It's working out just fine for them so far!

What Mentally Tough Baseball Players Do #8

#8 Mentally tough baseball players have a team first attitude.

Mentally tough baseball players have a team first attitude.  Some refer to it as a "we over me" attitude, but what this means is that mentally tough players truly put the team before themselves.  They care about winning as a group more than they care about individual accolades.  This is not to say that mentally tough players cannot care about individual accomplishments.  Many even say you have to be a little bit selfish to be good.  Mentally tough players never allow their individual goals to take precedence over the team though.  They're willing to push the goals aside to do what is best for the group.

I am currently reading a Derek Jeter biography called The Captain: The Journey of Derek Jeter.  The book itself is outstanding and gives tremendous insight into Jeter's career.  If I had to pick what stands out the most though it would be how genuinely Derek Jeter seems to care about being successful as a team.  Although he clearly takes pride in his individual accomplishments, there is a definite, honest view that the World Series rings are what truly matter to him.  Many of the Jeter haters always point to how some of his measurable abilities may not be off the charts.  For me, this makes me appreciate him even more as a player.  His drive to do whatever it takes for his team to win really does act like an uncharted 6th tool.  This play sums it up.

So what can you do to have a team first attitude?  You can have some perspective.  Baseball is a team sport, and you signed up to play it.  Yes.  It's a team sport comprised of a series of individual challenges, but those challenges are best confronted with the team in mind.  Understand that there really is something more special about accomplishing something as a group than as an individual.  In my opinion, that something special is knowing everything you did together to accomplish the goal.  It's the countless hours lifting and conditioning.  It's the weekends you give up and the football games and parties you say "No" to because of having a tournament.  It's the understanding of how incredible it is to take 20-35 unique individuals and find a common goal together.  That is what "we over me" is all about.

Do you have someone you've played with or coached who had an attitude of "we over me?"  Tweet me or email me about them.  I'd love to hear about it!

Just in case you haven't seen the Gatorade commercial yet...have a tissue locked and loaded!

Routine

Routine is something that has forever been a big part of sports and in particular baseball.  At the professional level, you're playing almost every day for 162 games.  Even at the amateur level, you're playing at least four games a weekend in tournaments, 3 a week in high school, or up to 5 in college.  We've got reporting times, stretching times, BP times, times to announce the lineups, and so on.  It's all part of creating an environment of routine.  Us normal people are the same way.  You probably have a certain time that you wake up in the morning for school/work and a routine you follow in the morning to get ready.

While I completely agree with the use of routine, I have my doubts about some of the teachings on the topic today and whether athletes are really getting it.  The place where the practice of routine is more evident than any other sporting setting I have seen is the College World Series.  If you watched this year, you no doubt saw the battle between the home plate umpire and hitters in between pitches to stay in the box and keep the game moving.  Some hitters made me feel like I was watching rhythmic gymnastics with the extensive nature of their pre-pitch routines.   That and EVERYBODY going deep breath and stare at the barrel of the bat is what stood out to me.

I'm not questioning the use of routine.  I am a huge advocate for it.  There are a couple of concepts I think have to be considered and ultimately questioned before you blankly say, "I'm big on the mental game.  I have routine."  The first is the routine has to be yours.  When I see a full lineup of hitters all have the same exact pre-pitch routine I can't help but wonder if the coach has forced them to do so because, "You have to have a routine."  For me, that is no different than making every hitter have the same exact swing.  It's ineffective coaching.  Second, understand the purpose behind what you are doing.  Why do you have this pre-pitch routine?  The routine is to create a feeling of comfort, control, and lock into the present moment.  One thing to ask yourself is, "Is my routine helping minimize thoughts, or is it clouding my head with even more?"  If the answer is the latter, it may be a good idea to reassess.

As a player, I was probably way too dependent on routines for the creation of comfort.  I had to eat the same pregame meal, listen to the same song driving down to the field and end it at the exact time (Clarence Carter- Strokin), take the same number of swings with the same drills, and so on.  While I do think some routine is great, I became a slave to my routine.  What I was unknowingly doing is taking the control of my performance and giving it to a song or a certain food (and not for nutritional purposes).  Think about how ridiculous that is for a moment!  That control was really given in my thought process more so than the actual routine.  I'd be anxious about completing my routine and then be anxious about my performance.

In closing, I implore you to understand a couple of things again.  Your routine is up to you as much as your swing is up to you.  Don't become a routine robot!  Also, understand the purpose of the routine instead of just saying, "Well, they do it so I guess I should."  Create the feeling of comfort, and lock into the present moment.  Routine should be a tool to for you to control and not vice versa.

What Mentally Tough Baseball Players Do #7

#7 Mentally tough baseball players approach every game the same way.

Mentally tough baseball players approach every game the same way.  It does not matter who the opponent is, the conditions of the game, or whether the game is at the beginning or end of the year.  Nothing like that matters because mentally tough players trust their preparation and ability.

Mentally tough players approach every game the same way because the game doesn't change.  All of the pressure of playing certain opponents or playoffs is completely fabricated by outside influences.  It's nothing more than a fugazi unless you allow it to become reality.  If you disagree and say that pressure is undoubtedly real, these players at the very least have the ability to accept pressure for what it is and not allow it to consume them.  This might be what stands out to me the most when I watch a big league game.  These guys are playing in front of tens of thousands of fans and for their livelihood, but they are unbelievably relaxed.  They trust their preparation and have perspective with playing what is ultimately a game no matter how we important we make it at times.  The game is the same regardless of the circumstances it's played under.  This may sound cliche, but the pitcher still is charged with throwing the ball across the plate and the hitter with hitting.  Mentally tough players understand this and are able to perform at their best level, whatever level that may be, regardless of circumstance.

Another way mentally tough baseball players are challenged to approach every game the same way is to not allow the opponent to dictate how they play.  It doesn't matter if they're playing the New York Yankees or the Sisters of the Poor (a favorite of my college coach).  Mentally tough players prepare and play with a consistent approach that leads to consistent results.  There are no let downs for mentally tough players.

Coaches can have a huge influence in how well or poorly players are able to keep a consistent approach to games.  I had an epiphany last season in our high school baseball playoffs.  We were about to get eliminated.  It was the end to what was a very challenging year, and I realized the way I approached the playoffs was contradictory to everything I had come to believe as a coach and aspiring mental coach.  One of our major themes as a team and as hitters was being prepared and trusting the preparation.  We wanted to put in the work and be purposeful hitters on a daily basis so that our at-bats at the end of the year were the same as our at-bats at the beginning of the year.  For whatever reason though, I gave into the hype of getting scouting reports for high school baseball games.  Although it's fun to talk to other coaches, the scouting reports completely changed the way we had done things all year.  Rather than trusting what we saw a pitcher doing, we were a little too overly reliant on a piece of paper based on someone who had seen a pitcher throw once or twice.  Regardless of the quality of the report, it said that we needed to change what had made us successful as an offensive team all year.  It sent the wrong message to our hitters about our preparation and everything we had worked so hard to build throughout the year. Needless to say, we had been eliminated and did not swing the bats the way we were capable of.  I'm convinced that a change in preparation created this feeling that the game was somehow different and contributed to our early exit.  This year I will challenge myself to trust the preparation and ability of the players on the team.

Know of a player who comes to mind as being really good at approaching every game the same way?  Let me know!  Tweet or email me your stories and examples.

What Mentally Tough Baseball Players Do #6

#6 Mentally tough baseball players embrace coaching without being dependent on coaching.

Mentally tough baseball players embrace coaching without being dependent on coaching.  There is a fine line here.  Players who want to be as good as they can be (mentally tough players) understand their game always has room for growth.  They also understand that coaches are there to help with that growth.  One thing mentally tough baseball players are really good at is focusing on the message in what a coach says instead of the delivery.  I'm reminded of what has probably become the most popular tirade in amateur baseball circles.  The speech I'm talking about is Augie Garrido after a loss at Texas.  I'm going to refrain from posting it on the blog because of the amount of profanity, but you can easily find it on YouTube.  The mentally weak player sees the speech as, "Oh, poor us.  I can't believe Coach Garrido is talking to us that way."  What the mentally tough player does, however, is find the message in all of the F Bombs and yelling.  Coach Garrido cares about us and has pride in the way we play.  He ultimately takes responsibility for what we do as baseball players, and we don't want to let him down.  The proof is in the pudding.  At the bottom of the screen the graphic says Texas won the next ten games and the Big 12 Championship after the speech.

Mentally tough baseball players are not dependent on coaching though.  They are confident enough in their abilities and have prepared enough that they know themselves as players.  As a hitting guy, this is huge.  Being dependent on others for approval of how your swing is can be a powerless way to approach hitting.  Trust me...I'd know!  As a college player in particular, I was constantly looking for others to say what I could feel already in my swing.  After every single round I would want to know how my swing looked.  I have no doubt this had a lot to do with my inconsistencies as a hitter.

You should be your best swing coach.  I absolutely think there should be one or two coaches who know your swing and can help you when you are in need, but once a base has been built you are the one who is ultimately responsible for what a "good" swing is.  I'm reminded of one of my high school teammates Justin Helfer.  Justin and I were pre-game hitting partners our last couple of years and were both meticulous about what we wanted to do.  I'll never forget, after hearing me obsessing for the upteenth time about how my swing looked, Justin said, "You know what swing looks good?  The one that gets hits!"  Now the mental coach in me would love to alter that to, "The one that hits line drives," but I think we get the point.  Trust what you feel and see.  The ball doesn't lie.

Challenge yourself to find the happy medium between embracing coaching without being too dependent on coaching for your performance.  I'd love to hear some more real-life examples.  Send away.

What Mentally Tough Baseball Players Do #5

#5 Mentally tough baseball players are in the right spot.

Mentally tough players are the guys who are always in the right spot.  This is something I can honestly say goes a long way with baseball coaches and our opinions about players.  We love to see an outfielder backing up a throw or a first baseman hustling to the area in front of the mound as a pitcher covers home on a wild pitch.  Even tougher is the pitcher who is getting banged around the yard but is putting on a clinic at backing up third base and home.

I'm reminded of a day last fall when I went to watch a few innings of a College of Charleston intrasquad.  I'm not sure the exact specifics, but CofC has some sort of point system to help motivate players with competition in the fall.  Players get points for the usual baseball metrics like hits, RBI's, stolen bases, etc., but they also get points for other things like making a great defensive play or reading a dirt ball.  There was some kind of wild rundown play where the left fielder ended up being an emergency guy in the play at second base.  After the play, the left fielder yelled up to the assistant coach who was in charge of the point system that he should get a point for being there.  The coach agreed, and the left fielder was as jacked up as most would be after hitting a bomb.  Rewarding players for being in the right spot like this is HUGE!  Other players see the outfielder getting praised, and the behavior becomes contagious.  This is how you increase mental toughness in your program.  You define a behavior that is mentally tough.  You reward it with praise or points or whatever else you want to reward it with.  You see the behavior spread and occur more often.  By your own standard, your team and players become mentally tougher.  Regardless of research, their confidence increases as they believe they are getting tougher.  Then you make it to a Super Regional right?  If only it were that simple!

Cal Ripken Jr. is someone who comes to mind for me as a player who was phenomenal at being in the right spot.  He studied hitters, knew his team's pitchers, and used his intel to work to position himself at shortstop.  Ripken was basically working with advanced metrics twenty-five years before they existed.  Thus, his perceived range far exceeded his physical abilities.

On the flip side, here is the Rockies giving up 3 runs on a wild pitch!  The pitch is wild because of the mental mistake of throwing the wrong pitch.  The second run can just be chalked up to a physical mistake on the poor throw.  The third run scores solely because of everyone falling asleep and the pitcher pouting mid-play.

So how do you make sure you're in the right spot as a player?  #1: Pay attention in practice.  Hopefully you're being put in as many game-like situations as possible.  Learn from those situations.  #2: Think ahead.  I can still remember my Dad telling me to think about where I'm going with the ball before it's hit to me when I was 9 or 10 years old.  This is an adage that doesn't change.  Mentally tough players do this, but they also think about where they're going to be when it isn't hit to them.  That is how you end up in the right spot.  #3: Watch baseball.  Watching baseball can be as much of a learning opportunity as you'd like it to be.  Really watching any level of play at all can provide the opportunity.  Watch the guy playing your position and see what he does on different plays.

Have a time where a player being in the right spot made the difference between winning and losing a big game?  I'd love to hear about it.  Hopefully you are enjoying the list!

What Mentally Tough Baseball Players Do #4

#4 Mentally tough baseball players communicate with teammates during games.

Mentally tough baseball players communicate.  The communication take a number of forms.  One way mentally tough baseball players communicate with teammates is by talking about what they see.  This could be what a pitcher is doing on the mound (what he's throwing, when he's throwing it, etc.).  Mentally tough players are disciplined enough to start this communication early and continue it often.  Talking about what you see could involve talking about pickoff moves, looks to second, and picking up signs on offense.  Talking about what you see on defense could be telling someone to watch for the bunt or a reminder that a hitter is a good runner.  It could be the center fielder noticing a right-handed hitter is extremely late on fastballs and telling the right fielder to shade the line.

Mentally tough baseball players encourage teammates.  Tough players are positive with all teammates regardless of role and help everyone feel valued during competition.  They encourage and keep things controllable.  "Hit it hard right here!" instead of "Get a hit right here!"  They pick up teammates who need it after a bad at-bat or an error in the field.  This does not mean the mentally tough baseball player cannot get on a teammate.  In fact, he will if the teammate is not doing things the right way!  Evan Longoria comes to mind here.  I can remember watching a game a few years ago where there was a ball hit into left-center that B.J. Upton dogged it after and played into a triple.  Longoria ripped into Upton afterwards in the dugout.  Two things stand out that make what Longoria did great.  #1: He did it in the dugout.  There is no need to show up a teammate on the field.  #2: He called Upton out for a lack of effort.  Mentally tough baseball players don't get on teammates for not getting a hit or making a play, but something controllable like effort is absolutely within the realm of duty.  Here is the video:

A couple keys to all of this.  If you're going to be a mentally tough baseball player, you have to be accountable.  This means you are communicating with teammates throughout the game regardless of your individual performance.  It also means you encourage teammates regardless of whether you are best friends off the field or not.  You understand team sports is about more than that.  Finally, it means you are doing things the right way.  It's okay for you to get on a teammate for lack of effort because the mentally tough player demands the same of yourself.

Can you think of a time when a teammate or player you have coached got in someone's grill appropriately?  I'd love to hear about it!  Tweet or email me, and I'd love to share your story with others.

What Mentally Tough Baseball Players Do #3

#3 Mentally tough baseball players carry themselves with confidence.

Mentally tough baseball players carry themselves with confidence.  There is a quote I've seen accredited to way too many coaches to say with any certainly who actually said it.  The quote is, "Body language screams.  It never whispers."  The body language of a mentally tough baseball player screams, "I'm good!"

True confidence in baseball body language isn't from shooting arrows in the sky or any other form of celebration.  True confidence in body language in baseball, in my opinion, is seen in the player who always appears to have a sense of calm.  It's almost like they have some sort of secret cheat code in a video game that nobody else around them has.  Derek Jeter has this look.  Although he is reaching the end of a great career, his calm demeanor with enormous stakes on the line has been a huge part of his legend as a player.  He's hit over .320 in seven World Series appearances.  We all know that dominant pitching is what wins in the Major League postseason.  That is what Jeter has done against dominant pitching!

So what can you do to improve your confidence as a player?  Try carrying yourself with confidence regardless of your performance.  A popular phrase is, "Fake it til you make it."  Act like you are confident, and your brain will start to believe it.  The brain will make you feel good, and this leads to more confidence.  One more quote to leave you with from one of the greatest two-sport athletes of all time.  Deion Sanders said,

"If you look good, you feel good.  If you feel good, you play good.  If you play good, they pay good."

Let's focus on the middle part of the quote.  "If you feel good, you play good."  Although Prime Time's credentials as a sport psychologist can certainly be thrown into question, he makes a great point here.  The greater your confidence, the greater your capacity to play well.

Who do you think of as a confident player?  Let me know!



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What Mentally Tough Baseball Players Do #2

#2: Mentally tough players give full effort all of the time.

Mentally tough players give full effort all of the time.  This holds true whether it is practice or the most important game of the year.  Full effort all of the time means when you are playing your best or your worst.  Mentally tough players do not allow something they can control like effort to get in the way of how they play.  I'm reminded of something Greg Maddux said in his Hall of Fame speech.  Maddux recalls a conversation he had with his pitching coach with the Cubs Bill Connors.  Here is the snippet I am talking about:

"Billy Connors asked me a question one day.  He asked, "Do you ever wonder how good you can be?"  Of course I said no.  And he said, "Why don't you go out there and try to find out."  I've been trying to find the answer to that question every day since."

For me, this sums up this behavior of mentally tough baseball players.  They are on a constant, never-ending quest to see how good they can get, and their effort reflects it.

Maybe the truest test, however, of this characteristic is not with the best players on the team who are always getting playing time.  How about the guy who is on the team and works his butt off every day without reaping the rewards of doing so in game competition?  These guys may be the mentally toughest of all.  How do you come to every workout, work extra on your swing, and compete to the best of your ability every single day when you know you are not going to get significant playing time?  Oh, and you do all of this and are still a team guy through it all!  Players who are able to do that, for me, are just as mentally tough as anybody else.


Got someone who comes to mind?  I'd love to hear about them.  Tweet or email their story to me.  I'm sure they would appreciate the shout out!














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My List of What Mentally Tough Baseball Players Do

If you have been a consistent reader of the blog so far, you are well aware of my interest in mental toughness.  We've talked about what mental toughness is to me, what mental toughness is in the general world of sport psychology, my thoughts on what mental toughness should be to your program, and an activity to help yourself, your team or your program create a plan to improve toughness.

Because I know many do not have the time to work through the activity, I decided to create a list for you of what I think mentally tough baseball players are able to do.  I'm going to roll them out in a series of mini-blog posts so I can talk about them in a little bit of detail.  The behaviors are not in any kind of ranking at all, but I will number them just for numbering sake.   Remember:  This list is just my opinion!  It's not any more valuable than yours, but I am excited about the list.

This is a great opportunity for us to interact.  Do you have a specific example of yourself, a player you know, or a player you have coached embodying the characteristic or behavior?  I want to know!  Tweet them to me, and I will retweet examples I like.  Hopefully this is something you all will enjoy as much as I have enjoyed working through the list.

#1: Mentally tough baseball players play every pitch independently.

Many of us have heard the saying, "Play one pitch at a time."  I feel like playing every pitch independently really drives home the message behind the saying.  If you are independent, it means you are on your own.  Independent baseball teams are not affiliated with any Major League organizations.  Politicians who are said to be independent do not belong to a political party.  The idea behind this is that the politician will not be influenced by a larger group of people above himself/herself.

The same holds true with playing each pitch independently.  Mentally tough baseball players do not allow the influence of past or future pitches to take away from the focus of THIS PITCH.  These players are able to shake off a terrible swing at a curveball in the dirt and understand they still have two strikes to work with.  They're able to refocus and trust their plan.  A mentally tough pitcher makes every pitch with a specific purpose regardless of score.  How many times have you seen this happen in baseball?  A starting pitcher gets off to a great start.  He is shoving and pitching with extreme focus.  The pitcher is throwing every pitch with conviction and forcing the other team to be reactive to his plan.  Then, his team puts up a big number or two and builds an 8-0 lead.  Maybe the pitcher starts joking around in the dugout, or the pitching coach says, "Alright now, we have a big lead, so we're just going to go out there, throw strikes, and let them hit it."  The pitcher then suddenly goes out and appears to nibble.  Maybe he walks the first hitter on four pitches, leaves a few out over the plate, and then before you know it the score is 8-4 or 8-5.  Rather than stick with the same approach that led to 0's on the scoreboard and pitching independently, the pitcher and coach allowed the score to dictate the approach.  Something that should be completely powerless took total control of the pitcher and coach.  A mentally tough pitcher approaches every pitch with a purpose regardless of the score.

In closing, playing every pitch independently is not something that is easy to do.  The ability to do so is earned through preparation and trust in both one's ability and plan.  To be as mentally tough as you can be, however, challenge yourself to play every pitch independently.  Start in practice.  When you take a "bad" swing, move on to the next swing instead of letting one swing turn into a bad round.  If you boot a ground ball, process what happened, see yourself doing what you want, and move on to the next rep.  Some recommend a clearing mechanism of some kind.  Wipe dirt with your cleats, unstrap and restrap your batting gloves, or simply take a nice, deep breath.  Like any other concept, working purposely on playing every pitch independently will result in improvement over time and will make you a mentally tougher player (at least in my eyes!).

Let's EAT! Controlling What You Can Control

"Controlling what you can control" is a very popular concept in sport psychology.  It is a concept with reach far beyond sports that can have a big impact on your daily life if you follow it.  As humans, we spend so much time worrying about things we don't have control over: the weather, traffic, many decisions made in politics, etc.  Something to consider is that for every minute we spend worrying about things we have no control over, we lose a minute to control what we can.

Early in the summer I talked to one of my friends, Banks Faulkner, who is the head baseball coach at Summerville High School about coming to speak at their baseball camp.  The camp is for a wide range of ages and ability levels so I felt like "controlling what you can control" would be a good topic for everyone.  As I thought through the message I wanted to get across, the three concepts that stood out to me were effort, attitude, and thought process.  All three are fairly simple yet are often not controlled by many of us.

Effort is pretty straight forward.  You have control over how much effort you give.  There is no valid excuse for not giving your best effort.  The shame is when you do not give your best effort you are actually losing more control of your performance.  Think about it.  The number one place where effort shows up when watching a baseball game is running to first base.  High school coaches everywhere simultaneously lose it, and Twitter blows up every time Robinson Cano goes for a stroll down the first base line.  Running hard to first base puts pressure on the defense to make mistakes.  That is something within your control.  When you don't run hard down the line, you are letting go of your power to pressure.  Notice I did not say you are a joke or think you're above the game or that you are lazy.  That would be a judgement (topic for another blog).  The fact that  you are not putting pressure on the defense when you don't run hard is an evaluation.  Effort is 100% in our control in whatever we do.  In relation to life, we have complete control of the effort we give to our relationships with others.  We choose whether we make the effort to support loved ones, to stay in touch with old friend, and to foster new relationship.  You either make the effort or not.

Attitude is the next concept.  I heard Joe Maddon on MLB Radio this summer put it perfectly when he said, "Attitude is a decision we make every day when we get up in the morning."  It really is that simple.  How you react to the events that make up your day define your attitude and is completely up to you.  When players pout about not being in the lineup, what happens?  They usually completely check out of the game mentally, aren't good teammates, and ultimately aren't ready when an opportunity comes later in the game.  How many times do you see hitters let one bad strike call ruin an entire at-bat?  How many times does that at-bat turn into four?  Even in the Major Leagues, pitchers will let one pitch call by an umpire dictate an entire inning or outing.  I am huge on having perspective and find this to be very helpful when controlling your attitude.  Remember why you do whatever it is you are doing, and don't allow yourself to overvalue the importance of any one pitch.  This will usually remind you that whatever you may be letting bother is isn't really as big a deal as you're making it and helps you gain back control.  Attitude is huge in a school setting.  One of the things that bothers me about mindset is when people answer the question, "How are you?" with the day.  "Oh its Monday," or "Hey, it's Friday!" are the two I hear most often.  To allow something as silly as what day it is dictate your attitude is to completely give up control again.  Why not approach every day with a "It's today" mentality instead and control what the day is made of?

The final concept of thought process is probably not as simple.  Many within sport psychology have differing views of thought process and thinking.  Some say you can control it, and some say you can't and actually hurt performance by trying to.  For me, it is as simple as asking athletes what they are thinking when they are performing at their best.  The answer, almost all of the time, is "Nothing."  They were in a flow state where the preparation and natural abilities just take over.  Although it is impossible to will yourself into this flow state (it just happens), I am a big proponent of Ken Ravizza's thought that the closest thing to nothing is one.  Keep your thoughts simple, and have some kind of reinforcement for the situation.  Keep your simple thought positive too.  Instead of "Don't swing at balls!" or "I can't underthrow my receiver here!" lets go with "Get a good pitch to hit." or "Hit him in the numbers!"  Simplicity and positive are key.  Again, there are parallels to everyday life.  Rather than telling yourself what you are not going to do today or focusing on who you don't want to be, make the decision to focus on what you do want to do and who you do want to be (This is a challenge for me at times, but I'm working on it!).

One of the things that bothers me about popular sport psychology is the amount of acronyms.  I've seen WIN, DTD, APE, PRIDE, SMART, and many others.  Although I am definitely a founding member of the SPEAOA (Sport pscy enthusiasts against over-acronymization), I have to admit that my mission to be in the sport psychology field without the use of any acronyms was crushed after thinking this topic through early in the summer.  As I was reviewing what I'd written so far, I accidentally saw that by putting the three concepts together they spell EAT.  With the concept of "eat" already being prevalent and another vague concept within sports, I thought this acronym could help provide meaning.

Telling yourself or teammate "Let's EAT today" could now mean that you're going to control your effort, attitude, and thinking.  Although there are certainly other things to be controlled, the goal of sport psychology is to keep things simple.  If you're able to control your effort, attitude, and thinking you will increase your chances of success and will have more fun doing so.  So challenge yourself and your teammates to EAT today whether it is in sports or in life.  Like anything else, understand you're not going to be perfect at controlling all three all of the time.  Focus on improvement rather than perfection, and you'll have a realistic measuring stick for yourself.  As always, please get in touch with me if you have any questions or feedback.  If there is anything I can do to help you at all, let me know.

Coach Ehrlich
@Coach_Ehrlich
ehrlichb1@gmail.com

Walkthrough of Mental Toughness Activity

Earlier in the week I told you some of my thoughts on mental toughness.  There were two major points.  The first is that mental toughness is learned, not inherited.  It can be taught and improved upon.  This isn't to say every athlete would be equal.  There are a lot of environmental factors to consider.  The second major point is that to improve mental toughness in yourself or on your team you need to define what it is to you and make it measurable.  For today's post, I want to walk you through an activity I've done with the high school baseball team I help coach and have given to a couple of other programs at the high school and college level.  Afterwards, I will tell you my rationale for how the activity is designed.  It's not perfect, but I do think it can be a valuable tool for you as an athlete or for your team if you are a coach.

1. Read the poem.

While not anything Maya Angelou would write, I do feel like the poem describes Mental Toughness.  My hope is that it gets athletes to think and that they each can relate to some aspect of the poem afterwards.  It is something to lead into the main activity.

I am something all coaches want their players to have,
I am something all players want,
People talk about me all the time,
You know me when you see me,
You know me when you don't,
I am not easily defined,
I am action, attitudes, inactions, and gratitude,
What am I?

2. Ask athletes what they think is being described in the poem.  If nobody gets it, tell them after a few guesses.

Self-explanatory here...They need to know the topic is Mental Toughness.

3. Introduce them to Mental Toughness, how it's hard to define, and why it's hard to define.  What do you do when a coach says you are physically weak, you need to get faster, or you need to work on a specific part of your game?  Follow lifting program, running program, or plan to work on skill.  What do you do if you are told you are not tough enough? No answers here probably.  The goal of the activity is to create the team's plan for getting Mentally Tougher by creating a list of behaviors/characteristics of Mentally Tough ________ (insert athlete type here).  MENTAL TOUGHNESS IS A SKILL NOT A TRAIT!  You can get better.

The whole point of this is to introduce the topic again and to discuss the purpose of the activity.  It give the direction of where we are going.

4. Talk about the Jay Bilas article as you hand it out.  While you could just hand out the list, I think there is a lot of value in the athletes being able to read the descriptions following each behavior or characteristic.  Have players look over the list silently and by themselves.  You can have them mark which behaviors relate to their sport or that could if adjusted.

This gives athletes specific examples of behaviors and/or characteristics of toughness.  It also gives athletes a chance to reflect individually before they may be influenced by a group.

5. Split the team into groups.  The job of the groups is to come up with a list of specific behaviors and characteristics they think Mentally Tough _______ (insert athlete type here) should have.  The goal is to come up with a list for OUR team.  Give them a larger sheet of paper to write the lists down on.  As they discuss, walk around and ask how it is going and what they are coming up with.  Ask questions like, "Why did you include this?" or "Is there a time when you reacted this way in a game (or the opposite)?"  I would strongly suggest not trying to influence the list.  The questions are designed to help understand your players better.

It is going to be hard not to give your opinion, but this is a great activity for players to have autonomy and ownership.  I would keep groups at no more than 5 and pick leaders of each group beforehand.  Talk with group leaders about what you are going to do and what you would like their roles to be as discussion leaders.  One idea I had the other day is to have a coaches group as well.  Treat them exactly the same as the other groups.  This would get the input of coaches and stress to the team that we are all together.  Just an idea!

6. As groups begin to wrap up their list, tell them to pick 2-3 they feel really strongly about.  They can have one backup if they want.  Then, have each group present their 2-3 to the team.  The teacher in me thinks it is important to make sure the team understands how presenting is difficult for some people, and this is not the time to joke around or make fun of people.  Remember the reason for the activity.  This is to create a list for our team to live by with Mental Toughness and to create a way to improve.  The team will vote on what makes the final list and what does not.  Have a group present and explain the items on the list.  Review the behaviors/characteristics, and have the team vote.  We did an approximate 2/3 vote was needed for the behavior to make it on the final list.

I like this part for a couple of reasons.  Many of the athletes will end up with jobs where they make presentations and talk in front of groups.  This is great practice in a safe, team environment.  It also helps work on leadership qualities.  The vote makes it a team process and again stresses ownership of the list.  YOU ARE GOING TO WANT TO GIVE YOUR OPINION HERE.  DON'T DO IT!  A player will say something like "swag" that will make you want to puke!  Let it go!  Understand that you get to have your input an overwhelming majority of the time with the team as a coach.  Give the players some autonomy, and trust them to come up with a solid list.  It does not matter if you don't like every single item on there!

7. Upon the completion of the presentations, I like the idea of anybody on the team having the opportunity to give a behavior/characteristic they feel was not addressed that needs to be on there.  Have them explain from their seat, and have a vote.  It was really cool to see a few guys I would not have thought would speak up do so when we did this as a team.

You want to make sure everyone has a chance to be heard.  Maybe 1-2 guys ended up dominating a small group discussion, but that fourth or fifth group member feels comfortable telling the team something now.  It is just one more opportunity for someone to speak up.

8. Wrap up the activity.  Discuss how this is only the start of the conversation.  The list is the workout program, the throwing program, etc.  It will only work if the athletes commit to the program.  Accountability among all is huge!

This includes coaches here.  Commit to what you are doing just like you expect your players to commit.  The more you do, the better the players will feel about what they created together as a team.

9. Continue to make the list a priority.  Point out examples of  athletes doing things on the list and getting a little bit tougher mentally.  Have athletes point out examples of teammates.  In addition, I would pick 1-2 behaviors a week to be a major point of emphasis.  Just like you may work on a specific defense in basketball for a couple of practices or first and third defenses in baseball, make the list part of the practice plan.  Example: This week we are going to work on "Picking up teammates when they make a mistake."  Look for examples of players picking up teammates.  Reward them with praise, and the behavior will increase!

Can I prove with large amounts of statistical data that this list and process will increase Mental Toughness?  No!  I think what the activity does is define Mental Toughness is to your program and ultimately makes a vague term measurable.  There are also the other benefits discussed within the steps above.  Would you like me to help you with the activity?  Get in touch.  I'd love to facilitate the activity for your team!  Have feedback?  Send that too.  If you try the activity, please send me the list your team creates.  I'd love to see it and possibly use it for something in the future.  Thanks again for reading.  

Mental Toughness is _______________

Mental toughness, as I mentioned in the Win Now post, is of great interest to me. Coaches are always talking about it.  "We've got to be tougher!"  "The other team was just tougher than us today," or "That kid is just tough.  You can't teach that," are a few of the ways I've heard toughness talked about by coaches.  Just the other day, a football coach I spoke with was talking about a player "who just isn't mentally tough."  As an athlete, you have probably been labeled as tough or not tough by coaches in the past.  Maybe it even happened to your face.  At the very least, you have gotten an unofficial rating from a coach.

Okay, so what is mental toughness then?  If you were to ask athletes if they have heard their coaches talk about mental toughness, an overwhelming majority would say they have.  Ask them to tell you what their coach thinks mental toughness is, however, and the same majority are unable to give a concrete answer.  I've given you what I think mental toughness is, and a search on Twitter or Google would yield an infinite number of "expert" opinions.  Even within sport psychology, there has been a lack of a widely accepted definition until fairly recently.  There is a study of elite athletes from 2002 that came up with the following definition:

"Mental toughness is having the natural or developed psychological edge that enables you to:
1. generally, cope better than your opponents with the many demands that sports places on a performer
2. be more consistent and better than your opponents in remaining determined, focused, confident and in control under pressure"

Simple enough?  Yeah right!  While the study is accepted by many in the sport psych community, it is created from interviews with athletes.  In other words, the definition and characteristics are created from opinions.

For me, there are two keys to mental toughness.  The first is to understand that mental toughness is learned, not inherited.  Therefore, you shouldn't write yourself or players you may coach off as "just not mentally tough."  If a baseball player has a weak arm, what does he do to get better?  He throws.  If a basketball player has a bad jump shot, he/she shoots.  There are specific things to do to improve.  How helpless is an athlete if a coach says they are not mentally tough and then does not give specific ways to improve?  That can be demoralizing for a kid!  That is like telling him he can't hit and just walking away.  In other words, you work with what you have and work to improve.

So if a study of opinions can create a definition of mental toughness, why can't you or your program do the same?  Which do you think would be more powerful to the athletes you coach?  Would it be reading the academic definition above or a definition they have created as a group?

Jay Bilas wrote an outstanding article on what makes mentally tough basketball players.  The article actually led to a book that is pretty good as well.  What I love about the article is Bilas gives a list of specific actions that mentally tough basketball players do and descriptions to go along with them.  The actions, for the most part, are concrete and measurable.  For example, one of the behaviors is "talk on defense."  If I were observing a basketball practice, I could track how many times a player or team talks to other players while they are playing defense.  Therefore, I can visibly see improvement as this number increases over time.

The Bilas article gave me the idea of creating a list with baseball players.  I've used the Bilas article twice with teams I've coached and had them work through the article to create a list for themselves.  What the activity did was get the players to think through what they picture mental toughness to be.  By giving specific behaviors or characteristics, athletes are then able to measurably become tougher.  I'll admit the activity was not perfect, but I have no doubt that our teams and players were a little bit tougher as a result of having the conversation and creating a list than they were prior to doing so.

So in summary, mental toughness can be whatever you, your team, or your program decides that it is.  The important points to consider are that you should make your definition measurable (be able to list examples, keep track), and everyone has the ability to improve!  Challenge yourself to become a little tougher today than you were yesterday.  Do this on a consistent basis, and you will become a mentally tougher player, coach, and/or person!

Later this week I will walk coaches through the activity so it becomes something that can benefit your program!  What do you think mental toughness is?  Let me know @Coach_Ehrlich or ehrlichb1@gmail.com

My Takeaways From the Kevin Slowey Interview

I wanted to try something different with the Kevin Slowey interview, and I hope it provided you with another point of view on the mental game.  The reaction from the people I've spoken with about the interview was pretty good, but I wanted to write about a few things that stood out to me as well.  Hopefully, this will enhance the great stuff Kevin had to say just a little bit.

Takeaway #1: Being Proactive vs Reactive- Kevin's Quote,"Early on, my mental plan was more reactive, but... my plan transformed to a proactive one, planning for situations rather than reacting once I found myself in the midst of them."

Sports are always going to favor proactive athletes and teams.  Teams and athletes who go out and play the way they want to play and force others to alter the way they do things are the ones who are tough to compete against.  The proactive athletes creates discomfort in the opponent.  This takes a lot of confidence in your abilities and preparation.

Also, Kevin's point of being proactive with mental plans is a HUGE message of the mental side of sports.  If you wait until you're really struggling to embrace concepts in sport psyc, you're really going against much of the purpose behind sport psyc.  The misconception is that sport psyc is designed to fix or change.  Although that can certainly be part of it, the real idea is enhancement.  It's taking what you have and making it even better.  It's improving performance and the sporting experience.  Be proactive with your mental game!

Takeaway #2: Sport Psyc or Mental Coach is a Tool- Kevin's Quote, "The goal should be for an athlete to see the sports psychologist as a useful tool that he/she can use to produce better and more consistent results."

This may be something I have to steal from Kevin in future presentations with teams.  We all want to do better, and the best are consistent.  Let's get rid of the idea that sport psych's  are only around for people who are having major problems.  They're there to help "produce better and more consistent results."

Takeaway #3: Maintain Perspective- Kevin's Quote, "Over the course of my career, the most impactful mental skill I have attempted to develop is the ability to maintain perspective.  With every pitch and every outing, cultivating the ability to be mindful of the situation, to keep perspective rather than let the moment overwhelm me."

Perspective is HUGE in sports and life.  It helps you from overvaluing any moment or performance.  What I mean is that pitches in the first inning or drives in the first quarter are really just as important as those that come in the ninth inning or fourth quarter.  A "good" or "bad" game is just that.  It's nothing more and nothing less.  The athletes who stand out as being called clutch, to me, all appear to have this perspective.  They're really clutch because they are good.  As everyone else feels the tension created by the moment, clutch athletes remain calm and confident in their abilities and preparation.  They're emotionally consistent.  Being mindful is about being present in that moment.  It's being absent of all of those annoying thoughts that have nothing to do with the performance right then and there.  It's much easier said than done, but it is is something we all can improve on.  It's "Win Now" in a nutshell.

*What I've discussed here is perspective within a specific game, but having a broader perspective on a career and life is probably even more important.  This is probably its own blog entry but is huge for creating a good environment for the sporting experience and for enjoying life.*

Takeaway #4: Routine- Kevin's Quote, "I think routine is necessary for any successful athlete.  That routine may be altered at times, but a true routine creates an atmosphere of comfort and preparation..."

I could not agree more with everything Kevin said about routine.  Successful athletes are consistent, and a major reason why is the confidence and comfort created through routine.  One of the goals we have for hitters at Blythewood is for every at-bat to be the same.  This mindset is created, in part, by making the at-bats the same through routine and preparation.  For me, creating "an atmosphere of comfort and preparation" for an individual cannot be forced.  It can be encouraged, and athletes can be assisted in creating routines.  Forcing every athlete to prepare exactly the same way or to have the same pre-pitch routine, to me, defeats this purpose and is empty sport psyc in my opinion.  Every person (and therefore every athlete) is different.  There is not a one size fits all approach to success so find what works for you in the days leading up to competition, the day of competition, and during competition.

Hopefully, my takeaways from the interview added a little bit for you.  For me, that is what any search for improvement is about.  It's not necessarily finding something that completely transforms your way of thinking.  It could be, but finding little concepts here and there, from different places and people, can be just as valuable and have just as big an impact through the creation of your own way of thinking.  Challenge yourself to look and grow.

As always, I appreciate any and all feedback you may have.  Please don't hesitate to get in touch with me @Coach_Ehrlich or ehrlichb1@gmail.com.  I did make the amateur mistake of putting my card as my Facebook picture and had to weather an attempted catfish attack last week so that lesson has been learned!

Interview with MLB's Kevin Slowey

For today's blog, I wanted to try something a little bit different.  I recently had the opportunity to speak with one of my good friends from college, Kevin Slowey, about the influence of the mental side of baseball on his career.  Kevin had one of the strongest work ethics I had ever been around in college and always impressed me with his discipline and commitment to improve as a player and person.  Kevin was extremely advanced mentally for a college baseball player and has continued to be so in his professional career.

Kevin went to Winthrop on an academic scholarship and developed into an All-American.  In only three years, Kevin set school records for wins and strikeouts.  Kevin was a second round draft pick of the Minnesota Twins in 2005 and has accumulated over five years of big league service time.  He has three seasons of 10+ wins and has pitched in various roles for the Minnesota Twins and Miami Marlins.  In addition, Kevin had the experience of representing the United States in 2006 Olympic qualifying.  More importantly, Kevin is a great person and one I am proud to call a friend.

I hope you enjoy the perspective he brings as someone who worked his way through the grind of the minor leagues and into a solid Major League career.  Have your dictionary handy!

Q: What does the mental part of the game include for you?  How has this evolved as you've moved up through different levels of baseball?
A: The mental aspect of baseball has always been a large part of the game for me; it includes pre-game work with visualizations as I review the opponent and formulate a game plan, in-game adjustments and the resolve to focus on only one pitch at a time, and post-game in assessing my performance in an honest way, recognizing adjustments and then packing the game away rather than letting it linger in my mind.

As I moved through different levels of baseball, I became more and more aware of the importance of having a thorough and complete mental plan that I could put to use everyday.  The more complete my mental plan was, the more successful my years were.  Early on, my mental plan was more reactive, but as I moved through the levels of the minor leagues, my plan transformed to a proactive one, planning for situations rather than reacting once I found myself in the midst of them.

Q: What did the different organizations you've played for do for players?  Were there major differences place to place or even year to year within the same organization?
A: The mental aspect of the game wasn't very prevalent in baseball when I was drafted in 2005; very few organizations had sports psych programs in place.  Now, almost every organization has multiple sports psychologists on staff, and I think the role of the mental coach is really starting to solidify within the sport, both at the minor and major league levels.

Q: What do you see the role of a sport psych or mental skills coach being in the ideal environment?
A: I think the ideal role that a sports psychologist fills is to be a dependable resource with a knowledge base that the athlete can go to whenever they might need to.  I think the mental skills coach should be comfortable with players in/around the clubhouse, and should be available to speak conversationally and also by appointment in private.  The goal should be for an athlete to see the sports psychologist as a useful tool that he/she can use to produce better and more consistent results.

Q: Has any one particular person had a great influence on you with regards to the mental side of the game? If so, how?
A: There hasn't really been one particular person who stands out, but playing with and against highly successful players early on in my career like Orlando Cabrera, Carl Pavano, and Greg Maddux, who spoke often about the mental aspect of the game helped to convince me that the mental side of the game was incredibly important, and worth developing.


Q: Have you done much on your own to enhance your mental skills? If so, what?
A: Over the course of my career, the most impactful mental skill I have attempted to develop is the ability to maintain perspective. With every pitch and every outing, cultivating the ability to be mindful of the situation, to keep perspective rather than let the moment overwhelm me


Q: How important has routine been to you? Here, I am talking about how you prepare to pitch both before games and during the game. Are you big on doing the exact same thing before every pitch? Do you have a particular thought process to get read to pitch and/or pitch to pitch?
A: I think routine is necessary for any successful athlete. That routine may be altered at times, but a true routine creates an atmosphere of comfort and preparation, similar to a flight checklist before a plane takes off. Before each game I review the opponents lineup and roster, watch video to search for tendencies and then write out my pitch plan (writing things down helps me to see pitches in my mind rather than just talking about them)


I try to do the same things, both physically and mentally before each pitch:
1. Assess the situation I'm in (anyone on base, outs, count)
2. Decide definitively which pitch to throw before stepping back on the rubber
3a. Step onto the rubber
3b. Acknowledge the catcher and wait for him to give me a target
4. Begin my motion and pitch


Q: How open are guys in professional baseball in general to working with sport psychologists and mental coaches in your opinion? Has this evolved as you've been in baseball over the years?
A: I think baseball players are very open to the idea of working with mental coaches and sports psychologists. The prevalence of sports psych in baseball has grown exponentially in the past 7 years. I think that in the end every athletes wants to succeed. As this aspect of coaching/preparation continues to get results, I imagine an even greater percentage of players will start seeking out and using these tools.


Q: If you were giving advice to young players today on what, if anything, to understand at an early age about the mental side of baseball, what would it be?
A: I would encourage them to examine the mental aspect of baseball for themselves; to ask coaches and mental coaches for advice and instruction. No player would turn down advice from a pitching or hitting coach, so why would he/she avoid the help that a mental coach might be able to offer?


A huge "Thank you," to Kevin for agreeing to give his insight on the mental side of baseball and its influence on him. I thought about giving some of the points that really stood out to me, but I would rather hear from you all first. What stood out? Tweet it to me @Coach_Ehrlich, or email me @ehrlichb1@gmail.com. Are interviews something you would like to see more of? Let me know that too.  Thanks again for reading.




"The most impactful mental skill I have developed is the ability to maintain perspective." - Kevin Slowey