Category: Baseball (Page 2 of 16)

How To Re-Focus In Competition After A Mistake

February 18, 2023 / Tom Bonetto

Every athlete makes mistakes; however, not all athletes rebound from them.

How do you deal with mistakes during a competition? Do you quickly refocus on your game, or do you dwell on mistakes for too long?

As I’ve mentioned previously, one of my favorite athletic mental coaches is Dr. Patrick Cohn of Peak Sports Performance. Dr. Cohn is a sports psychologist out of Orlando Florida.

Dr. Cohn has written an article recently on how to overcome mistakes in your mental game. I’ve posted it here…

Why focusing on mistakes interferes with athletic performance:

1. Fearful of making mistakes can paralyze athletes or cause athletes to be hesitant in competitions and lead to the same mistake you seek to avoid.

2. Ruminating about mistakes fosters negative emotions, lowers confidence, and interferes with decision making.

3. Dwelling on one mistake mentally takes you out of the game. You are no longer fully immersed in the present moment.

When you fail to refocus after a mistake, you give your opponents a significant mental edge.

How to counter mistakes:

1. Understand mistakes are a part of the game – Every athlete makes mistakes from time to time. There is no perfect performance or perfect athlete.

When you accept this fact, you will not be so hard on yourself after making a mistake in a competition. In addition, you will be more willing to take risks during a competition.

2. Let go – When you focus forward, you lessen the impact of mistakes. Letting go of mistakes keeps your confidence intact and prevents negative emotions from taking over your game.

3. Refocus on the next play – The goal is to minimize the amount of time between making a mistake and immersing yourself back in the game. The mental skill of refocusing is the hallmark of elite athletes.

In the AFC Championship Game, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes fumbled the ball in the third quarter, giving the Cincinnati Bengals the ball on their 45-yard line. The winner of this game would advance to the Super Bowl.

Instead of panicking, Mahomes remained poised and finished the game with 326 passing yards and two touchdowns, leading his team to a 23-20 victory.

After the victory, Mahomes talked about his mindset after the fumble.

MAHOMES: “I think when you’ve been in some big games now a couple of years in a row, you’ve learned from your mistakes, and I felt like the year before, I let one mistake kind of compound into two, three, or whatever it was. Whereas this game, this last one, instead of worrying about, ‘Man, I made a huge mistake when we probably could’ve had a good chance of giving ourselves a big lead,’ (the mindset was) let’s not magnify it. Let’s move on to the next play.”

The mistake itself is not the problem. The issue lies in the inability to react with composure after the mistake.

Since focusing is a skill, you can learn to become proficient in your ability to refocus. When you learn to refocus quickly, you will feel confident you can rebound after a mistake in stressful circumstances.

Acknowledge the mistake without self-judgment. “Instead of saying, “I’m so stupid for throwing an interception” tell yourself, “Look for the open receiver or scan the field for receivers in single coverage.”

Remind yourself that the mistake is in the past and you can’t change it or get it back–you can only move on to the next play.

How To Mentally Recover In The Middle Of A Game

November 9, 2022 / Tom Bonetto

man with white t shirt running to baseball home

As I’ve mentioned previously, one of my favorite athletic mental coaches is Dr. Patrick Cohn of Peak Sports Performance. Dr. Cohn is a sports psychologist out of Orlando Florida.

He’s always teaching on mental toughness – as well as the techniques athletes can use to grasp it.

What improves a baseball player’s ability to turn his performance around in the middle of a game? This is the topic that Dr. Cohn addresses in this article.

Some excerpts…

Memories

Multiple mental factors affect an athlete’s ability to turn around a game, such as perspective, emotions, focus, and thoughts…

One mental factor often overlooked is the role of memories. Memories can be your friend or foe and shape how you respond in the middle of a game.

Memories flow in and out of your mind throughout a game. Sometimes, you are aware of those memories, while other times, those memories are just below our conscious awareness.

The memories we grab on set into motion a series of mental and physical reactions that affect how you perform during a game.

A Real World Example

Let’s set the stage… Your team is down two runs in the ninth inning. Earlier in the game, you were fooled on several off-speed pitches and struck out twice. Now you are at the plate with the game on the line, bases loaded, and two outs.

At this point, thoughts and images fill your head. Memories of striking out preoccupy your mind. You remember how embarrassed you were chasing balls out of the strike zone.

You are afraid of “failing” again. You think, “I’m going to be the reason we lose.” You feel so much pressure that you are a bundle of nerves at the plate. You have difficulty getting a good read on the ball and can’t focus on the pitch.

man sitting on bench near track field while sun is setting

This is a similar experience of a player who responded to our Softball and Baseball Mental Toughness Survey:

“How can I continue to stay focused after a bad at-bat or several errors that could cause my team to lose? I feel I am unable to keep composure and confidence in these situations.”

Do you see how memories affect confidence and composure? You are thinking about striking out. You remember past errors. If you grab onto different memories, you will perform better.

How about thinking about the time you made the clutch hit in a game and drove in a couple of runs? Or the game you bounced back after an error to make a tremendous play on the field.

For More

I’d invite you to read the entire piece here…

Four Mental Training Tips for Baseball Players

July 13, 2022 / Tom Bonetto

I’m linking to a fantastic article from Dan Blewett’s blog over at Elite Baseball Performance entitled “Four Mental Training Tips for Baseball Players”.

The mental game in baseball is often overlooked and definitely under trained. Here are four tips that will assist the player improve on-field performance and handle pressure situations.

Blewett is a former pro pitcher, baseball academy owner and author of two baseball books. A professional pitcher of six seasons, Dan specializes in pitching and strength and conditioning for baseball and softball players.

You can find the entire article here… and I highly suggest that you check it out! Below are excerpts from his post:

Start a Simple Meditation Practice

The word meditation sounds weird and scary, right? Many players think that only monks, hippies or yoga enthusiasts take time out of their days to meditate. But meditation doesn’t have to be a big scary thing. Rather, athletes should just think of it as quiet time to sit, reflect, and let their minds get a break from everyday life.

Here’s how easy a meditation practice can be:

Step 1: Find a quiet place where you can sit where you won’t feel self-conscious or nervous. A place out of the public eye is ideal.

Step 2: Find a comfortable cushion to sit on or lay flat on your back. Propping up the back by sitting against a wall can be good, but I don’t lay down in a bed or another place where falling asleep is likely.

man wearing black cap with eyes closed under cloudy sky

Step 3: Set a timer for 10, 15 or 20 minutes. Start shorter—10 minutes is a good starting place where you can get your feet wet.

Step 4: Sit still, relax, close your eyes, and let your mind wander wherever it wants to go.

Step 5: Breathe in and out through the belly—pushing it out and in—and consider counting each breath. Counting belly breaths helps keep your mind present, where you’ll feel less distracted by things from the past and future that you’re concerned about

That’s it! Keeping it simple will help you get started, and the quiet meditation time will help reduce the anxiety and stress we athletes feel in pressure situations on the mound or at the plate.

Visualize Yourself Succeeding

crop woman holding trial frame against white background

Visualizing success is an important part of an athlete’s mental skills routine. If we don’t deeply believe that we can accomplish goals, become who we dream of, or execute on a very specific task…we never will. The self-fulfilling prophecy is a concept in which when we believe something will happen, it becomes more likely to actually happen. Thus, if we believe we’re destined to fail or choke under pressure, we increase the likelihood that we’re correct.

Expect and visualize yourself succeeding—the positivity will carry you through hard times and tough situations. Visualize the good swing you’ll put on the ball, the flight of the pitch you’re about to make and yourself competing in the Major Leagues in front of thousands of fans. If you do that, it becomes more likely that it will actually happen.

Have Confidence and Create a Fight Mentality

When under pressure, it’s easy to want to pull back and be passive, hoping you can get the outcome you want. Rather, we have to get even more aggressive when we get nervous in games, reminding ourselves that we CAN do it, and that we’re going to pull through no matter what.

As athletes, we need to truly believe we can succeed. By both imagining it and reminding ourselves that we’re capable of anything we put our minds to, we can maximize our chance at success.

A lot of times in a game, it comes down to the fight or flight dilemma: when we’re scared of giving up the game-losing hit or we’re nervous about not getting the game-winning hit as a hitter, we pull back and play the game scared. Athletes play their best when confident and aggressive – trying to take the fight to the other team, forcing them to play scared. When times get tough, show those teeth like a wolf and fight for yourself and your team.

Use Positive Comparison

Find players in the Major Leagues who you look up to, who possess similar qualities or characteristics. How would your heroes respond if placed in the situation you’re in? Would they come through and get out of a bases-loaded jam? Would they have a good at-bat when the team needs a big hit? Would they feel nervous or afraid?

Find a player or players who share similar qualities and ask yourself if he wouldn’t be afraid, why should I? If so-and-so would confidently walk to the plate with the game on the line and have a great at-bat, why can’t I? If he could beat this team, I can too because I’m a lot like him.

Use positive comparison as a tool to remind yourself of the special skills you do have, that you might forget when you’re nervous or lacking confidence.

In Conclusion

Nothing happens overnight, so get started today with building new, positive mental habits. Mental skills training is very overlooked despite the fact that most players will report that they feel themselves struggle with doubt, anxiety and low confidence on the field. Make a change today and start seeing how good you could be if you played with confidence and a clear mind every single day on the diamond.

Next Level Athletic Performance – Dr. Patrick Cohn

June 6, 2022 / Tom Bonetto

As you probably know, one of my favorite athletic mental coaches is Dr. Patrick Cohn of Peak Sports Performance. Dr. Cohn is a sports psychologist out of Orlando Florida.

He’s always preaching about mental toughness – as well as the techniques athletes can use to grasp it.

He sent out an e-mail blast recently that I’ve posted below regarding achieving next-level performance…

How do you go from good to great as a ballplayer? Many players “want” to be better, but their “want” doesn’t lead to action.

You could have the best coach in the world, surrounded by talented teammates, work out with the latest equipment, and dream big dreams, but mere desire never yields positive results alone.

You, of course, need some level of ability. Desire is also important; you need to be passionate about lifting your game. However, raising your game requires instruction, direction, action, and evaluation.

Unfortunately, many players stop at the “desire” stage. Words without actions keep you stuck in a rut.

The 6 Stages of Next Level Performance

1. Passion – When you are passionate about becoming a better pitcher, making a college team, breaking into the starting lineup, or raising your batting average, you can stay motivated to see yourself through the ups and downs.

2. Goal – Passion is desire. However, a goal is a target, something specific you want to achieve. When your goal is clear and specific, you can determine if your plan or actions are on track for achieving your objective.

two female in baseball gears in stadium ready to catch and swing baseball

3. Instruction – You should have someone knowledgeable you can rely on for teaching, coaching, or advising you, such as a coach, elite player, or mental game coach.

4. Direction – You need a plan, plain and simple. A plan is a roadmap that directs you towards your goal.

5. Action – You must act on your plan, not just once in a while or when you feel like working. You must put into action your plan each day.

6. Evaluation – This step is often neglected. Some players give up before evaluating or adjusting their plans when necessary. When you objectively assess your progress, you are more apt to push through the struggle during the season.

When you put into play these six steps, you will accomplish more as an athlete.

You can find out more about Dr. Cohn here – and his blog is here. I’d encourage you to visit his site and read more!

A Must Read for Pitchers – The ABC’s of Pitching

March 18, 2022 / Tom Bonetto

Harvey Dorfman’s book – The Mental ABCs of Pitching: A Handbook for Performance Enhancement – is a “must read” for pitchers. It’s simply a classic.

My friend Jordan Zimmerman (ZB Velocity) turned me on to Dorfman’s book, as he said it helped him become a mentally strong pitcher and was crucial to his success as a professional pitcher.

Zimmerman still uses it today in his teaching…he told me he keeps going back to his highlighted and dog-eared copy.

Here’s the Amazon link, and I highly recommend that pitchers pick up a copy!

Harvey Dorfman – a Brief Biography

Dorfman was best known as an mental skills/sports psychology coach who worked in education and psychology as a teacher, counselor, coach, and consultant. Prior to starting a business as a mental skills coach. he also wrote for a local paper, taught English, and coached basketball at Burr and Burton Academy in Vermont.

He earned World Series Championship rings by serving as a mental skills coach for the 1989 Oakland A’s and the 1997 Florida Marlins. In 1999, Dorfman became a full-time consultant teaching the skills of sport psychology and staff development for the Scott Boras Corporation, an agency that represents professional baseball players.

Through his books and his teaching experience, he helped thousands of people get more of what they wanted from life through his tough love and clear insight. Some baseball greats give him credit for their success in life as well as in baseball.

Editorial Reviews

When Harvey left our organization to go work for Florida, we didn’t even try to replace him because, quite frankly, his legacy was already throughout our system. All of the players and coaches and staff he touched over the years… had become imbued with his philosophy and approach to the game. They have become Harvey’s disciples.

-SANDY ANDERSON, former President and General Manager, Oakland Athletics, former Executive Vice President, Office of Major League Baseball, currently General Manager, New York Mets.

When you talk to Harv, you get the truth from him, whether you like it or not. He always says, ‘I don’t care about your feelings. I care about your actions.’

-TIM BELCHER, former Major League Pitcher and Pitching Coach.

He’s truly amazing. It’s clear most people don’t want to hear the truth about themselves, but Harv gets in your face, uses a few choice words to get your attention, and he’s got you.

-AL LEITER, former Major League Pitcher, currently Studio Analyst and Commentator.

Harv is absolutely unique. He’s for real – a straight shooter. He gives it to you right on the line, whether you like it or not. Not many people can – or will – do that.

-WALT WEISS, former Major League All-Star Shortstop, currently manager of the Colorado Rockies.