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Tag: mental toughness (Page 1 of 2)

From Fragile to Fearless: How to Build Unbreakable Toughness

Baseballs and a Player in the Background

As parents and coaches, we have a unique opportunity to help our athletes develop skills and traits, both on and off the field.

And mental toughness is one of the key characteristics that should be on everyone’s focus list.

Nitty Gritty Baseball Logo

“Building toughness and focus in youth athletes requires a multi-faceted approach that includes physical conditioning, mental training, teamwork, and selflessness.” Brad Myott, Nitty-Gritty Baseball

I’m linking to a great article for coaches and parents from Brad Myott at Nitty-Gritty Baseball and I’d invite you to check it out here

A few excerpts:

Model a Growth Mindset

A growth mindset is the belief that one’s abilities and intelligence can be developed through hard work, practice, and perseverance. In contrast, a fixed mindset is the belief that one’s abilities and intelligence are fixed traits that cannot be changed. In order for our player’s to develop a growth mindset, we must model it for them on a consistent basis.

Set Challenging Goals

Setting challenging but achievable goals can help build toughness in young athletes by providing them with a sense of purpose and direction. Encourage your players to set goals that are specific, measurable, and challenging, and help them create a plan to achieve those goals. Celebrate their progress along the way and help them stay motivated and focused on their goals.

Practice Mental Toughness Through Mindfulness

In recent years, mindfulness has gained popularity as a tool for promoting mental health and well-being. However, its benefits extend beyond stress reduction and relaxation; mindfulness can also help youth athletes build mental toughness. By learning to focus their attention and regulate their emotions, athletes can develop greater resilience, confidence, and perseverance on the field.

Again, I highly recommend that you view the entire article here…

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How To Re-Focus In Competition After A Mistake

Human Head Made of Puzzle Pieces

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?

Picture of Dr. Patrick Cohn

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

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.

Picture of Dr Patrick Cohn

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.

old photos in a brown box

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…

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Stay Positive On The Field – Don’t Re-Visit Negatives

pitcher throwing ball with sunset

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

Dr Patrick Cohn

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 eliminating negative thoughts regarding past performance – and how to best get past it.

For instance, you whiffed the last two at-bats swinging at balls in the dirt and now you are facing the same pitcher with a runner in scoring position, “Here we go AGAIN!”

Or you walked the bases loaded and are having difficulty with your control and are now facing a hitter that has torched you in the past, “Here we go AGAIN!”

pitcher throwing ball

Or your team has blown the lead in the ninth inning the last two games and now you are clinging to a one-run lead in the bottom on the ninth, “Here we go AGAIN!”

This is a common problem among baseball players, but this mindset is based on a misconception. This misconception happened in the past will continue to happen in the present.”

It is an over generalization to believe the past will repeat itself but many baseball players, in the moment, buy into the “here we go again…” mindset.

When you allow past outcomes to influence your mindset in the present, the pressure heightens, which creates anxiety and tension.

Playing anxious and tight ball is a recipe for athletic disaster and under-performance.

In Action

The San Francisco Giants could have easily defaulted to the “here we go again” mentality after a breakdown against the Texas Rangers.

The Giants started out the first game of a three-game series against the Rangers with a tough game, blowing a six-run lead to lose in extra-innings at home.

To add to the potential pressure, the Giants had lost 10 of the previous 13 at their ballpark.

The San Francisco Giants had to quickly re-focus in Game 2 of their series.

The Giants quickly jumped out to a 5-0 lead but gave up three runs in the eighth inning.

Despite similar circumstances, the Giants fought forward and San Francisco relief pitcher Mark Melancon closed out the game with the bases loaded to secure a 5-3 win over Rangers.

Hunter Pence, who had a pinch-hit home run in the seventh, talked about their “keep attacking” mindset rather than succumbing to the “here we go again” mindset.

Ben margot
AP Photo/Ben Margot)

PENCE: “It’s very important to continue to send that message of relentless attack. Even where we are and as clouded as it may seem, you still never know. When there’s still a chance in this game of baseball, things can get hot in an instant.”

Knowing there is a chance is a great strategy to keep your head in the game and avoid the pitfall of “here we go again.”

Keeping Your Head in the Game

Knowing you have a chance comes in many forms:

outfielder jumping for ball

*Knowing there is a chance to still win.

*Knowing there is still a chance to bounce back the next game.

*Knowing there is still a chance to hone your skills and improve your game.

*Knowing you can learn from the past and adjust.

If you can adopt the “there’s still a chance” mindset, you can focus on making things happen in the moment.

Let go of what’s already happened, look for signs to build momentum, and get things moving in a positive direction. Instead, take a trip down memory lane to when you did drive in that run!

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Building Mental Toughness in Baseball

I’m linking to a very important article from Dr. Gene Coleman on building mental toughness in baseball. Dr. Coleman is a strength and conditioning consultant in the MLB and has written numerous articles on the mental and physical sides of the game.

This article comes from the Professional Baseball Strength and Conditioning Coaches Society and I invite you to read the entire piece here…

I’ve highlighted and quoted some of the key passages that I believe would be most useful for players:

What is mental toughness?

Webster’s dictionary defines, mental toughness as “the ability to consistently perform toward the upper range of your talent and skill regardless of competitive circumstances.”

That’s actually a pretty good definition.

“Coaches say that mental toughness is resilience; the capacity to recover quickly from difficulty, failure, and defeat. Many sports scientists say that mental toughness is an acquired positive mindset.”

What are the characteristics of mentally tough athletes?

“Mentally tough athletes have clarity of mind and firmness of purpose. They desire to be great, and settling for good is never an option. They know how to win and stand tall in the face of adversity.

They make fewer mistakes and possess a work ethic, winning mentality and self-confidence. Mentally tough performers refuse to be intimated. They are able to stay focused and manage pressure. They hate to lose, but don’t dwell on defeat.

They accept losing as an inevitable consequence of meeting someone better on a given day. They are gracious in defeat and positive about the future. They believe in themselves and are positive about the future.”

How do you become mentally tough or tougher?

“This is the million or sometimes the multi-million-dollar question. There are a number of effective approaches that baseball players can take to help develop and improve mental toughness.

There are number of excellent sports psychologists that can help as well as reputable self-help books, articles and internet websites. There are also a few basic things that all players can do that have been shown to be effective first-steps to include the following:

Control what you can control

Nolan Ryan says that you should never lose because the other team was better prepared than you.

The only thing that you can control is how you prepare for the game. That includes how much sleep you get, timing, frequency, size and quality of meals, emotions, body language, mental state, work ethic (consistency of skill work, physical conditioning and recovery techniques), body language and response to success and failure.

Randy Johnson said that he went from being a good pitcher to a great pitcher when Nolan Ryan helped him control his emotions and body language both on the mound and in the dugout.

Nolan explained how his body language and emotional response to failure could have a positive effect on the opposition and negative effect on his teammates.

Once he understood this and was able to control his negative thoughts, poor body language and emotional outbursts, his mental attitude, confidence and performance improved significantly.

Are you the guy who shrugs his shoulders and puts his head down when you give up a run or a teammate makes an error? Do you sit in the corner of the dugout after you make an error or strikeout with the bases loaded, or are you the guy who says “my bad – get him next time,” stands up and supports your teammates? Your actions and reactions can affect not only your performance, but that of your teammates and opponents.

Controlling what you can control is an effective first step to improved mental toughness and performance. You can help your team by being a good teammate, getting on base, making a play in the field, expanding the opposing pitcher’s pitch count, advancing on a passed ball, etc.

Help comes in many forms. At the MLB level, most managers ask their players to do three things to help the team win: 1) be on time; 2) be a good teammate; and 3) respect the game. They don’t ask for shutouts, game winning hits, hi-lite plays or home runs.

A good teammate has a good work ethic, takes care of his body, shows up early, stays late, has a team-first attitude, doesn’t sulk when he fails or gloat when he succeeds, doesn’t point fingers, picks his teammates up, accepts blame and gives credit.  If you are on time, a good teammate and respect the game, the other things will take care of themselves.”

Have a Positive Attitude

“Your attitude and emotions can affect how you and your teammates perform both on and off the field. Don’t let your performance affect your attitude and emotions.

Coaches, teammates, parents and fans should not be able to tell what kind of game you had after a win or loss. Remain even keeled after both wins and losses. Be happy after a win and determined after a loss, but don’t get too high or too low after either.

Be disappointed and determined after a loss even if you had a great day. Good teammates are able to control their emotions and have a positive attitude even under unpleasant circumstances.”

Dictate your attitude

“Don’t let your personal or team performance dictate your attitude. Having a positive attitude makes you look good in the eyes of your coaches, fans, parents and teammates.

Be in control of your attitude when you show up to the field, during the game, after the game and on the ride home. Leave what you did yesterday in the past. You can’t change it. Don’t worry about the future. You can’t control it.

Control what you can control. Stay in the present, trust your preparation and make the most out of the game in front of you.”

Do the Hard Things First

“Determine your weakest skill and work on it first both at home and during practice.

If you are having trouble with backhand plays, work on them first when your body, mind and reactions are fresh. Don’t save them for last when you are fatigued.

Fatigue inhibits performance. Avoid doing the most important thing when you are tired. If you are having trouble with your breaking ball, work on the spin first at a shorter distance, say 20-feet.

A sprinter who is having trouble with his start, doesn’t run 100-yards every rep. He shortens up and works on getting out of the blocks and his first 3-4 steps. If you can’t control the spin at 20-feet, throwing 60-feet won’t make it better.

The same goes for hitting, catching balls in the outfield, blocking balls behind the plate and running the bases. Work on what you are having trouble with first. You going to be only as good as your weakest link.

Working on your strengths will not improve your weaknesses. Identify your weakest links and address them head on the first thing every day. Work smart. Have a plan, execute the plan, reevaluate the plan and make adjustments when and where needed.

If you are a catcher and having trouble blocking balls, determine if it’s your lack of skill or lack of strength and mobility. Your body is a 3-link chain – 1) your hips and legs, 2) core and 3) upper body, arms and hands. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. You initiate force in the lower body and transfer it through the core to the chest, shoulders, arms and hands.

You can have the fastest hands in the league, but if your legs or core are weak, you will not have the strength, mobility and speed to get your body in the right position for your hands to do their job. Conditioning enables an you to put your body in the proper position to effectively perform the drills enough times (reps) to improve performance.

If you are not in shape to do the drills properly and repeat them enough times to enhance performance, you are wasting valuable time. Get in shape to do the work and then work on the things that you can’t and don’t like to do first.

If you are lifting weights, do the exercise you like least first when you are fresh. If you wait, chances are you won’t want to work on your weakness or you will not give it your best effort. When you choose to do the hard things first, you develop mental toughness and the game and life become easier.

When you choose the easiest first, you get mentally weaker and the game and life become harder.

Developing and improving mental toughness and effective performance is not a quick fix. You can’t microwave toughness or skill. You can, however, focus on what you can do on a daily basis to make yourself and the team better. The goal should be to make your team more successful, and this starts by making yourself better.”

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