Today I'll dip into the mail bag. Here's one from NewJersey:
--------------
Tom,
I have always been a good hitter. I hit .456 as a freshman, .357 as a sophmore (with a broken finger....long story), and I didn't play my junioryear because of injury. My summer team made it to the WorldSeries in New Mexico after winning States and sweepingregionals. The problem is all of my coaches tell me that Ihave to relax, that I have a huge mental problem.
WheneverI am in the field with 2 outs and a close game, I neverwant the ball hit to me, although I know I am a greatfielder. With less then 2 outs, I am excited when a ball ishit to me. When I'm batting, I never want to be up with 2outs because I always make the last out. I would tell myteammates, 'You better hope I'm not up with 2 outs, becauseI always make the last out.' Then I would go out andproceed to make the last out of 3 innings. Going into mysenior year I really want to fix this problem because I amplanning on trying to walk on to a D-1 school (was not ableto play in front of coaches b/c injury).
Chris, NJ
----------
Two-outophobia. That's the technical term for this.
It's an inner dragon that must be slain.
The whole thing is made worse if your coach is telling youto 'relax,' and telling you you have a huge problem.
The short answer is two fold: you need to focus on what youDO want, and you need to condition your mind differently.'Install' a new belief system in a way comparable toinstalling a new software on a computer.
Let's back up a bit.
One thing you need to realize is that what you focus on youattract. If you fear making the last out or making an errorthe Baseball Gods will do everything they can to make sureyou do.
Your mind becomes a magnet for whatever you focus on. It'sas if you are sending out a request to the Baseball Godsthat you WANT the ball hit to you.
Our minds don't do 'Don't,' 'Not,' or 'No' very wellbecause our mind works in pictures. In order to picture'Don't hit it to me' it has to picture the ball being hitto you in order to put a red line through it.
Don't think of a pink elephant.
SO when you are thinking 'don't hit it to me' you are ineffect sending out the message: 'hit it to me.'
Ironically, that's exactly what I do want fielders thinking.
However, you're imagining yourself blowing the play. Yourmind is a great servant -- it takes what you imagine as arequest, just like a genie from a bottle.
If you imagine yourself making an error it is as if you aretelling your mind/genie: 'This is what I want you to do.'
'Yes, Master!' your mind says, and it follows your command.
It not only does everything it can to attract the ballbeing hit to you, it will do everything it can to make sureyou make an error!
So you tell me, what could you do that would be a betteruse of your Genie?
Then the issue becomes conditioning your mind so that youhabitually think effectively, powerfully, positively.
That's done over time.
You've thought these negative thoughts so much now thatyou've grooved them into your physiology. They are a habit.We have habits of thought just as we have habits ofbehavior.
Essentially, you need to imagine over and over what you DOwant to have happen.
Repetition is the mother of skill. It is the creator ofhabit.
When the pressure is on in a game your habits take over.Your conscious mind usually checks out and habits run yourbehavior.
How do you create a new habit?
I think you know.
I hope this helps, Chris. I hope you take action on thesethoughts. I can tell you love the game and it would be atoo bad if you didn't slay this two out dragon you've gotgoing on.
Moral: Use your Genie wisely.
-------------------
Only time for one more letter:
'Confidence Conditioning has allowed our players to putpractical concepts on mental discipline into theirroutines. It has given us coaches a tool to keep our ourplayers more focused and our concentration levels at a peaklevel. All of our players have gained a new insight to howthey respond to different adversities and what they need toto do internally to overcome such adversities. TheConfidence Conditioning program is a great supplement tocoaching our players and a positive resource in getting ourplayers to reach their maximum potential! Our baseballprogram has made some great strides over the years buttying in some mental and confidence training has allowedour team and individuals to raise their level of playbeyond the physical aspects of the game. Thanks Tom!
Doug Wollenburg
Head Baseball Coach Savannah College of Art and Design
--------------------------
No comment on this one other than 'way to go, Doug.'
If you take this stuff and run with it terrific things can happen.
In confidence,
Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson
p.s. You can get Confidence Conditioning free when you trythe Baseball Confidence Gym for just one month. Most peopleare signing up for the full year, but you don't have to.Check it out at www.BaseballConfidence.com
--------------
Tom,
I have always been a good hitter. I hit .456 as a freshman, .357 as a sophmore (with a broken finger....long story), and I didn't play my junioryear because of injury. My summer team made it to the WorldSeries in New Mexico after winning States and sweepingregionals. The problem is all of my coaches tell me that Ihave to relax, that I have a huge mental problem.
WheneverI am in the field with 2 outs and a close game, I neverwant the ball hit to me, although I know I am a greatfielder. With less then 2 outs, I am excited when a ball ishit to me. When I'm batting, I never want to be up with 2outs because I always make the last out. I would tell myteammates, 'You better hope I'm not up with 2 outs, becauseI always make the last out.' Then I would go out andproceed to make the last out of 3 innings. Going into mysenior year I really want to fix this problem because I amplanning on trying to walk on to a D-1 school (was not ableto play in front of coaches b/c injury).
Chris, NJ
----------
Two-outophobia. That's the technical term for this.
It's an inner dragon that must be slain.
The whole thing is made worse if your coach is telling youto 'relax,' and telling you you have a huge problem.
The short answer is two fold: you need to focus on what youDO want, and you need to condition your mind differently.'Install' a new belief system in a way comparable toinstalling a new software on a computer.
Let's back up a bit.
One thing you need to realize is that what you focus on youattract. If you fear making the last out or making an errorthe Baseball Gods will do everything they can to make sureyou do.
Your mind becomes a magnet for whatever you focus on. It'sas if you are sending out a request to the Baseball Godsthat you WANT the ball hit to you.
Our minds don't do 'Don't,' 'Not,' or 'No' very wellbecause our mind works in pictures. In order to picture'Don't hit it to me' it has to picture the ball being hitto you in order to put a red line through it.
Don't think of a pink elephant.
SO when you are thinking 'don't hit it to me' you are ineffect sending out the message: 'hit it to me.'
Ironically, that's exactly what I do want fielders thinking.
However, you're imagining yourself blowing the play. Yourmind is a great servant -- it takes what you imagine as arequest, just like a genie from a bottle.
If you imagine yourself making an error it is as if you aretelling your mind/genie: 'This is what I want you to do.'
'Yes, Master!' your mind says, and it follows your command.
It not only does everything it can to attract the ballbeing hit to you, it will do everything it can to make sureyou make an error!
So you tell me, what could you do that would be a betteruse of your Genie?
Then the issue becomes conditioning your mind so that youhabitually think effectively, powerfully, positively.
That's done over time.
You've thought these negative thoughts so much now thatyou've grooved them into your physiology. They are a habit.We have habits of thought just as we have habits ofbehavior.
Essentially, you need to imagine over and over what you DOwant to have happen.
Repetition is the mother of skill. It is the creator ofhabit.
When the pressure is on in a game your habits take over.Your conscious mind usually checks out and habits run yourbehavior.
How do you create a new habit?
I think you know.
I hope this helps, Chris. I hope you take action on thesethoughts. I can tell you love the game and it would be atoo bad if you didn't slay this two out dragon you've gotgoing on.
Moral: Use your Genie wisely.
-------------------
Only time for one more letter:
'Confidence Conditioning has allowed our players to putpractical concepts on mental discipline into theirroutines. It has given us coaches a tool to keep our ourplayers more focused and our concentration levels at a peaklevel. All of our players have gained a new insight to howthey respond to different adversities and what they need toto do internally to overcome such adversities. TheConfidence Conditioning program is a great supplement tocoaching our players and a positive resource in getting ourplayers to reach their maximum potential! Our baseballprogram has made some great strides over the years buttying in some mental and confidence training has allowedour team and individuals to raise their level of playbeyond the physical aspects of the game. Thanks Tom!
Doug Wollenburg
Head Baseball Coach Savannah College of Art and Design
--------------------------
No comment on this one other than 'way to go, Doug.'
If you take this stuff and run with it terrific things can happen.
In confidence,
Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson
p.s. You can get Confidence Conditioning free when you trythe Baseball Confidence Gym for just one month. Most peopleare signing up for the full year, but you don't have to.Check it out at www.BaseballConfidence.com
posted by Tom Hanson at
9:25 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home