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