TPM #270: The Power Of The Mind
The greatest of all time think differently than most. Here’s what we can learn and apply for better hitting performance.
Hope your having a great Sunday!
This week we dive into the power of the mind, as it relates to hitting in baseball. Enjoy!
Runner on 3rd, down by one. All eyes are on you. 2 outs. Last chance. Pitcher has been strong but the team has scraped to stay in the game and you have a chance to even it up.
All eyes are on you. The other team. Your team. Their coaches and yours. The folks all around watching. Words of encouragement echo all around, for all concerned, coming from all directions.
This is nothing like batting practice where the ball floats down the middle looking as big as a beachball. No one cares there if you hit it or not, or how hard. They seem to care now.
Hands tighten. Thoughts start to come into your head.
“You can do this” . “Need to get a hit” and then , maybe “I cant mess up” slips into your thoughts.
The ball comes and this looks like a good pitch. Eyes get big. Hands tighten more.
What will happen next ?
Solid contact?
As soon as the eyes get big and anticipation grows, the body tends to tighten up.
Arguably the greatest basketball player of all time, Michael Jordan said:
"I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying."
"I've always believed that if you put in the work, the results will come."
As Carol Dweck, author of Mindset, would say, Jordan is a prime example of the growth mindset. It's the mindset that almost every successful athlete who has had long-term success has. It says genetics may determine the starting line, but hard work determines the finish line.
Failure isn't just accepted; it's expected. When you stretch yourself past your current limits, failure is inevitable. It spawns growth. You only reach the top and stay at the top by continually improving. Winning isn't everything. Growing is.
Being prepared to exceed the demands of the game are what practice is supposed to be about. In hitting, this preparation includes the mechanics of the swing, being on time with the swing and of course accepting that it may not go as planned.
How much do we practice the mental game?
“I can accept failure” is a key statement above. Understanding that pushing yourself will bring some failure or bumps in the road. The expectation that it won’t is where the real problems begin.
Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, one of the greatest hitters of all time said:
“If you’re hesitant to raise your hand that you’re a good hitter, than you’re not. The first part about being a good hitter, before you even get in the batter’s box, is number one, mentally, you gotta believe that ‘hey I can have success’.”
In baseball, recency bias plays with the mind. 0 for the last 5 or 4 for the last 4 can have equally damaging impact on the next at bat. The O for stretch will happen in hitting, but having it affect your confidence the next at bat is the most damage it can do. Being 4 for the last 4 can also be damaging, because now your brain thinks this is the norm. Perhaps the routine that got you there gets forgotten, especially for young hitters.
We can learn a lot from the great performers. Tony Gwynn has also been quoted as follows:
“…I wasn’t a guess hitter. I didn’t really anticipate a whole lot. I just kind of trusted my eyes and trusted if I got my hands in the right position that I could hit it.”
“My goal was to go up to the plate and put the bat on the ball — pure and simple. I had no preconceived notions of where I was going to hit it.”
“We can’t be so locked up on the result, you really have to focus on the process. And the process is if I can go up to the plate and do things right every time, my chances of success go way up.”
As a coach or athlete, you want to head into those pressure situations knowing you have done everything you can to be prepared for said situation.
The questions are:
a. Have we done the physical preparation ?
b. Have we done the mental preparation?
What the greats tell us that is the mental is just as if not more important than the physical. Otherwise, how can you explain that one person who outperforms more talented and skilled players?
Key takeaways on the power of the mind:
· Understanding that putting yourself in a position to hit a ball in a game is positioning yourself for success and failure. Either can happen. By putting yourself out there is a major win. Failure is a part of it. Trying and putting yourself out there is a win.
· Put in the work, both physically AND mentally. Coaches and parents this is part of your role to build some mental work into practice and preparation.
· Trust your eyes. Don’t anticipate where you think the ball is going as a hitter. Have your eyes follow the ball. Build drills and practice around vision and eye work.
· Control what can be controlled. Put the bat on the ball. Preferably a barrel on the ball. We should have no preconceived notions or expectations of where the ball should or will go. Don’t get locked into the result but the process of doing the right things every time.
· Believe. You need to believe that you can execute despite what recent history may tell you. Believing in oneself takes a lot of work. This is something coaches can help with.
The power of the mind and its importance in performance is reinforced over and over by tapping into the greats who have passed before us. Let’s keep learning.
Growth mindset!
Somehow when you hear it from the great ones …..