Coaches Corner: Mental Game

Coaches Corner: Mental Game (1/7/19)
By: Brendan Dougherty

In today’s game the best players are always looking for an advantage. We have so much information at our hands and it really comes down to how we use the information and apply it to our own game. Something that may work for one player may not always work for another. We are always trying to find what works best. Baseball is the only game in the world that you fail more than you succeed. The best players in the game at any level are the ones who have a short memory and can move on to the “Next Pitch”. Any camp, clinic, or speaking engagement that I am working I always ask this question: How much of baseball do you think is Mental? The answers are always the same anywhere from 65% to 95%. I like to follow that up by asking how much they work on the mental side of the game. Most of the time the answer is a very small amount. Baseball requires a lot of reps so most players at all levels work on the physical side of the game. That is a huge part I get that!

How can we say that the mental game is so important but we work on it so little? Every player feels like he is mentally tough and can handle any type of situation that comes about. I have watched a lot of talented mentally tough guys have the game of baseball tear them apart. They could handle the failure and they did not have a plan in place to be able to say “So What Next Pitch”. MLB, college, and some high school teams have a true focus on working the mental game every day in practice and on game days. They have hired mental game coaches or they have brought them in to work with their teams. I hear this term used a lot: “Slow the game down” many times the players hear that but they do not understand it. Each week I am going give you some things that you can use to help with being able to slow the game down.

About ten years ago I had the opportunity to work with Brian Cain. Brian is one of the top Peak Performance coaches in the World. I learned how to slow the game down and how to really focus on being in the present moment. Like I said in the beginning of this article not everything works the same for every player. If you really want to attack the mental game then you have to buy into things that will be successful for you as a person. I am hoping to give you some guidelines and things that may help. This first week we will introduce the concentration grid. It is something that I still do to this day and it is something that can be used to work to help with your focus when things are out of control. I am also going to add a few books and websites that may be helpful as you begin to attack the mental game of baseball.

Books

Heads-Up Baseball- Tom Hanson/Ken Ravizza

Heads-Up Baseball 2.0- Ken Ravizza

Toilets, Bricks, Fish Hooks and Pride- Brian Cain

Website

www.briancain.com

CONCENTRATION GRID

46	03	16	34	31	29	61	69	81	76
32	12	63	98	39	94	54	36	52	82
24	70	72	07	89	21	15	08	40	65
28	14	09	73	02	38	44	37	33	60
10	23	48	30	51	68	35	66	53	25
93	84	90	99	87	88	43	74	67	06
41	20	05	55	83	57	96	77	92	62
71	42	50	17	13	00	97	78	01	49
80	85	91	22	58	95	79	64	27	47
86	45	75	18	19	04	56	59	11	26

 

*Objective is to start at 00 and then find each number after that up to 99

*Cross off the Number the same way

*This should be a timed event

*Start off in a quiet controlled environment and as you get better you should build stress in as you are doing it. (Example- Loud Music, Talking, Banging, ETC.)

*This is a timed event. You should work to lower your time each grid you do.