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!

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.