The F Word

"Focus!"  It's another one of the coaching commands we say or hear all the time like, "Relax!" or "Throw strikes!"  Like both of the other commands, we demand this of our players but rarely address how or what to focus on.  I've never heard of a player who did not want to focus.  Telling them to do so is meaningless without them knowing how and what to focus on.  That being said, focus is a weakness of many young players.  This is something that has probably become more and more of a concern as our society has changed into such a fast-paced, technology-centered way of life.  I do not say that to complain.  The fact of the matter is it just makes educating players about proper focus all that much more important.

So, how do we go about teaching focus?  The topic itself is so broad that making it manageable is a challenge.  For me, it starts with understanding how players best perform.  In speaking with and reading about athletes and their best games, the common answer when questioned about what they were thinking is "Nothing."  Although I have my questions about whether this is revisionist history on the part of the athletes, best performances are rooted in a free flowing state we call "the zone" in which there is tremendous clarity of the mind.  "Nothing" is very much a possibility within the actual pitch or play, and reacting is what occurs.  Klay Thompson's 38 point quarter Friday night is a great example of "the zone."  What stands out to me in watching the clips is how loose he is and how much he is truly enjoying the moment.  

I digress though.  "The zone" is an awesome place to be, but the fact of the matter is we will not be there too often.  Trusting preparation and playing freely will increase our chances, among other things, but let's talk about focus during the other ninety percent of the time or so that we play.  The first piece of information to consider is that the brain can only focus on one thing at a time.  But you're a multitasker who can focus on five things at once?  No, you're not.  What is really going on is your brain is bouncing around constantly among those five things.  The visual I get in my head is a personified version of the brain standing in the middle of a circle of people.  Those people represent the five things being thought about.  The brain is shuttling back and forth rapidly, maybe in fast-forward mode with the orchestra playing in the background, trying to hold those five conversations all at once.  What is undoubtedly happening is the brain is missing bits and pieces of the conversations and is really absent in all instead of being present in one.

So, we can only focus on one thing at a time.  Where should my focus be then?  Here are some tips for where to have focus before going into specific examples:

1. Stay in the PRESENT moment.  Focus on what you need to do on this pitch or this play.  Thinking about past results or future consequences gets us out of the moment and away from our present focus.

2. Focus on what you want to do.  Be POSITIVE in your plan.  A great takeaway from a presentation I saw Geoff Miller give recently that may help a lot of players out there is that negative self-talk, although not ideal, is okay.  G's point was that accepting negative thoughts is much better than not doing so.  It's unrealistic to expect players to have 100% positive thoughts.  Perfectionists, if that is what they are demanded of, will take that to heart and beat themselves up over a negative thought.  This ultimately will lead to more and more and more instead of a simple acceptance and moving on.  That being said, you want to be positive in your plan of focus.

3. Focus on what you can CONTROL.  This is simple but incredibly important.  "See the baseball" instead of "get a hit."  "Hit a spot" instead of "Strike this mother guy out" (edited Major League reference).  Urgency creates tension.  When we get result-oriented within the moment, tension often occurs.

4. KNOW what to do in the situation.  Many of us have been there before.  We are unsure of the signs, of a pick play, or of where to go to the ball if it is hit to me right here.  All of those go into proper preparation.  Neglect can lead to the brain bouncing around and taking away from our focus.  Know what to do, and then let it happen.

5. Stay EXTERNAL.  This is getting away from thoughts on mechanics, thoughts about how you feel in the moment, or thinking about how you look.  It's staying task-oriented on this pitch.  "See the ball" again instead of "I've got to keep my shoulders level and my eye on the ball."  Again, trusting the preparation you have put in is vital to this ability.  

5. COMMIT to your plan, and expect success.  One of my favorite concepts I've heard talked about by pitching guys goes something like, "The wrong pitch, thrown with conviction, is better than the right pitch thrown without it."  Commit to your plan for that pitch.  I feel like a broken record, but this is where trust is again so vital to performance.

So, what are some examples of what to focus on?  As a hitter, it may be as simple as "See the baseball," or "See the spin."  "Hit the ball hard."  "Make solid contact."  "Just react right here."  All are simple and meet the characteristics we are looking for.  As a pitcher, "Hit a spot" or "To the mitt" are again about as simple as it gets and as much as you need.  It's away from mechanics and results.  It's present and under our control.  As a base stealer, "Read the foot," "Read the feet," or whatever else you may teach as a coach.  The thought is away from not getting picked off or even steal the base.  You're seeing and reacting.  Ultimately, most of the different choices of what to focus on as a player all come down to what terminology you find best resonates with you.  The tips will help you find that.

Now, what can I do if I find my mind wandering or racing, and my focus is fleeting from the moment?  Some of your choices are to resort to focal points (go to 7:18 for more), breathing, and stepping out of the box or off the mound to recommit to your plan.  Whatever ultimately works for you is great.  Acceptance of the situation and allowing it to be okay that your mind is racing is probably the most effective.  It allows you to move on instead of getting stuck or the racing to continue.

In conclusion, focus is a skill just like many of the other concepts I've discussed on the blog.  You can work on it.  The more you are able to control your focus as a player the more likely it will help you when you need it.  Consistency is also much more attainable with being able to do so.  Challenge yourself to work on your focus.  As you are sitting in class, try locking in on something using the characteristics discussed within the blog.  A lot of people like the use of concentration grids.  The concept behind them is going through and marking out the numbers in order.  Variations like timing the activity and adding distractions like loud music can help as well.  Work on focus in practice.  As you are doing defensive BP, truly treat it gamelike in your way of thinking as a player with working your focus from pitch to pitch.  With a little bit of purposeful work, you can turn focus into a weapon you use instead of an excuse.

An Invitation to Compete

One of the topics we've been talking a lot about lately on the baseball staff I am a part of is being competitive.  Is it something that can be instilled in players or not?  Is it competitive nature or competitive nurture?  One of these conversations took place the day after the Baseball Hall of Fame inductees were announced.  When I got home from school I saw an interview with John Smoltz on Intentional Talk.  If you heard an interview with Smoltzie last week, you undoubtedly listened to people ask him to discuss  how competitive he was.  Smoltz has a reputation as someone who wanted to win whether he was on the mound, the basketball court, or the golf course.  Many say this characteristic helped him be as successful as he was in baseball.  What Smoltz said about his competitive ways was that his dad instilled lessons in him while growing up that stuck with him throughout his baseball career.  This would lead me to think it was more of a case of competitive nurture rather than nature.  In other words, baby John Smoltz didn't pop out dicing hitters up with 87 MPH sliders and fist pumping.  He learned to be competitive along the way.

So what can we do as coaches to try to aid in the development of a competitive spirit in our players?  Well, for one we can compete.  I am a big fan of competition in practice.   You hear many times about the importance of making practice as game-like as possible on a consistent basis.  The idea is that making practice as much like the game as we can will help players to have a feeling of "been there, done that" in the game and just react.  While there is a lot to be said for repetition and building the muscle memory of taking a lot of reps, there is something to being gamelike in practice.  If  you practice at a slow speed and all is always loosey goosey, then come game time things may just be a little too quick for players.  Another reason competition is great in practice is it can work to make players compete (no kidding, right?).  But seriously, the more players compete the more likely they are learning those lessons that John Smoltz took advantage of as he grew up.  There are scoreboards in sport and in life.  You may even find that your players are actually more competitive than you thought.  Pete Carroll has a mantra of "always compete," and he lives and coaches by that mantra.  The Seahawks have Turnover Thursday in which the defense fights to get the ball away from the offense.  Richard Sherman says Turnover Thursday embodies what the Seahawks are all about as a team.  So elite football players aren't too cool to be competitive during practice?  It is tough to argue with the results Pete has gotten in Seattle.

What can I do as a player?  One of my favorite pieces of advice about competition is from Gary Mack.  He said, "A person who is mentally tough looks at competition as a challenge to rise up rather than a threat to back down ."  A simple Google search yielded a definition of challenge that I love:  "a call to take place in a contest or competition."  Wow!  A challenge is calling you on the phone and asking you to participate.  It's sending you an invitation that it would really appreciate if you accept.  A threat, on the other hand, is defined as "a statement of an intention to inflict pain, injury, or damage."  Some athletes see competition this way far too often.  The competition may cause damage to how I feel about myself.  I don't want to be injured or damaged so I am going to shy away from this competition thing you speak of.  It's a version of a flight response in a fight or flight situation.  If this is a variation of what you find yourself thinking, it may be time to check your perspective.  What is the worst thing that happens if you lose?  What is the worst thing that will happen if someone beats you out at the position you play?  Is it really a life or death type of situation?  Are you really holding all of your value as a person based on a win or a position?  Simple answers to simple questions, but it can be easier said than done at times.  Taking another angle, what about seeing competition as an opportunity to be the threat towards your opponent?  The aggressor in sports is usually the one who is rewarded with victory.  Why not trust your preparation and talent to impose your will on the opponent?  One thing we can do as coaches to foster a healthy perspective among players is to truly show how we value each member on a team regardless of role.  This is something I think I did a poor job of early in my coaching career.  I think I have improved, but I can always get better.  My guess is you can as well.

In conclusion, I do think we can become more competitive.  Coaches can assist players in becoming more competitive.  There is no cookie-cutter approach, but creating competition in preparation is certainly a start.  Players, see competition as a challenge instead of a threat.  Accept the invitation today to compete in whatever it is that you are doing.  Chances are you will enjoy the experience, and no damage will occur.

Side Note:  Another great message from the Smoltz interview was he said something about how he was taught to compete and try to win but never at the expense of the integrity of the game or your opponent.  This cannot be overstated.  Compete your butt off, but be willing to accept that your best effort may not always be good enough on the scoreboard.  That is okay and part of what make sports great.

Here is a link to Pete Carroll's "Always Compete" Mantra

It's all about The U...Inverted

What is the correct level of arousal for me to perform my best?  After you snicker like a 7th grader in Sex Ed class, that is what the concept of the Inverted U looks to answer.  Here is a graph displaying the concept of the Inverted U before we discuss it further:

As you can see, the concept of the Inverted U is shown through the use of a parabola (that's the curvy line).  On the X-Axis is arousal level or excitement level.  Its scale works from 0 to 10.  This scale can mean different things for different people.  For me, I think of 0 as being asleep.  A 10 for me is flipping out where you have completely lost control of yourself and what you are doing.  On the Y-Axis is your performance.  A 0 is as bad as it gets, and a 10 is your peak performance.  The parabola illustrates, in a nutshell, that there is an ideal level of arousal for you to perform your best.  If your level is too low or too high, you will not achieve your peak performance.  The parabola above is just to illustrate the general concept of the Inverted-U.  The chart could be different for a variety of reasons.  Sport being played, actual role in sport, and personality of the individual, among other factors, can influence how the an athlete's parabola would be drawn.  For example, a golfer trying to sink a putt would probably have a different ideal level of arousal than a defensive lineman trying to rush the passer.  Within baseball, a starting pitcher looking to throw 7 quality innings may not find it effective to play at a "10."  A closer, on the other hand, may want to be at a "10" to air it out for twenty pitches for the final three outs of a game.

While there are mixed opinions about the concept of the Inverted U in sport psychology, I really like the concept of self-awareness it addresses.  Knowing how you feel and act when you are performing your best is something anyone can benefit from who is looking to achieve that peak performance on a more regular basis.  Gary Mack, in his book Mind Gym, discusses how he wanted athletes to "know their numbers."  The idea is for you to reflect on how you feel during your best performances so that you are better able to be in control of yourself before and during competition.  Are you a 5?  Are you a 7?  Are you a 10?  What does that feel like?  What are you doing?  Then, reflect on what happens when you are too low or too high?  When you are low, do you find yourself drifting off?  Are you lackadaisical?  When you are too high, does your mind start to race?  Do you lose control of your breathing?  All of these are questions to consider if you want to play your best on a consistent level.  Being aware of physical behaviors and how you feel are both important.

What I would challenge you to do is reflect to "Know your numbers."  If you are a 5, then this may have an effect on what you do before games.  You probably shouldn't be listening to scream metal that makes you want to run through a wall.  If you are an 8 or 9, a nap during the other team's BP may not be ideal for you.  If you like to be at a 7 and are a pinch-hitter, you may want to do something in between innings to keep yourself moving and the blood flowing.  Otherwise, you may find yourself trying to go from a 2 to a 7 within a minute or two as the coach calls on you to hit.  If you are a 6 and find your mind racing while on the mound, it may be a good time for a deep breath or the use of a focal point to refocus and get back to the present moment.

In closing, this is extremely beneficial for coaches to know about players as well.  Understanding that everyone is different may involve being okay with guys preparing in their own ways for competition.  This is tough for us baseball guys.  We are so regimented by nature in how we think as coaches.  Is "our way" more important than the most effective way is something to consider?  Also, knowing a player's number can help us with finding warning signs during a game if we see them slipping too low or going to high.  Knowing your number as a coach can be very helpful as well.  Understand what happens when you are too high or too low and how that may affect your team's performance.  The Inverted U is ultimately another great tool for self-reflection and understanding who you are as a competitor.  The more consistent our behavior, the more consistent our performance.  Controlling what we can is essential for both.  As always, please let me know any questions or feedback you may have at all!