Our national pastime is arguably the greatest sport ever invented. Managerial strategy, precise execution at the plate, defensive gems in the field, and coming through in the clutch with the game on the line are all aspects of baseball that have enthralled fans for well over a hundred years. For sport psychology professionals, it can be an incredibly valuable and rewarding experience to work with athletes, coaches, teams, and organizations to enhance baseball performance through Mental Skills Training.
The psychology of baseball is intertwined with the game itself. Like any sport, your mindset can help you to execute at a high level, but your mental approach can also negatively affect performance. Some ballplayers have developed their key mental toughness skills that give them the “mental edge” for their performances on the diamond. However, others experience lower levels of performance, especially under pressure, because they have not strengthened their mental game.
Through research-based education (Thought-Emotion-Physiology-Performance relationship) and applied training, Mental Performance Coaches are uniquely positioned to enhance ballplayers’ Mental Strength abilities to complement their technical and physical skills. These mental toughness skills include:
• Attention control for elite focus and concentration • Trust and confidence building to execute under pressure • Effective interpretation of errors and mistakes • Emotional energy management to maintain composure • Imagery/Visualization for optimal mental rehearsal • Mind-body coherence to enter “The Zone” with increased frequency
In my experience working with youth and collegiate ballplayers, mental barriers often hold them back from performing at their best during competition such as:
• Pre-game cognitive anxiety (mind) and somatic anxiety (body) • Fear of losing a spot in the starting lineup • Lack of confidence and trust in playing abilities post-injury • Negative performance expectations at the plate and in the field • Anger and frustration after perceived bad calls by umpires • Inability to stay calm and composed in tight situations
Elite Performance Coaching provides tools, techniques, and strategies so ballplayers can remove mental barriers and gain the “mental edge” for elite performance – in all baseball situations.
Psychological Momentum for Athletes and Teams
There are certain psychological factors relating to performance that are difficult to define such as “the zone” and “psychological momentum.” The former is considered to be the highest mental state for athletic performance. Elite athletes want to enter “the zone” as frequently as possible and to sustain peak performance when they are in “the zone.” Athletes know it feels great when they are in this elusive mental state, often resulting in supernatural performance levels. The latter, which is the focus of this article, is about “riding the wave” of positive performance in competition. It is often referred to as the “Big Mo.” It is neither concrete nor tangible, but numerous athletes report that “you know you have it when it is on your side.”
We have all seen the “Big Mo” in action either on television or in-person at athletic events. The New York Giants had it on the final drive to defeat the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl two years ago. Jimmy Connors had it when he came back from 5-1 down in the 5th set to defeat Aaron Krickstein in that incredible match at the US Open 18 years ago. At age 39 Jimbo needed that wave of momentum to carry him through!
When tennis players, from juniors to the pros, are “in the groove” and “everything is working” they are gaining confidence in their ability to dominate their opponents. They have a heightened sense of awareness that they have the momentum and cannot be stopped. Motivation and confidence are at elite levels as performance on the court increases. When in this momentum-riding flow state a player might win 4 or 5 games in a row, in an instant, capturing nearly every point. Much like a tornado spinning with force, a player feels an incredible sense of control when they have the “Big Mo.”
Positive psychological momentum usually comes in shifts. You will often see it go back and forth – from one athlete to his competitor and vice-versa. Often, players can become frustrated if they have momentum and an external event stops it. Recently, Roger Federer had the momentum in his match against Novak Djokovic in the semifinals of the Rome Masters. He was up 6-3, 3-1 when play was halted due to rain. In these circumstances it is important for players to affirm to themselves that they are in control, and can dictate play just as they did pre-rain delay. When they returned to the court Djokovic won 5 straight games to take the set, 6-3. He was riding the wave of momentum and went on to win the match rather handily.
Is momentum real or just an illusory perception of events? Do athletes and teams perform better when they perceive that they have the upper hand? Is it inevitable that momentum will shift over time? We know more about momentum than we did 10 years ago, but answers to these questions are a work in progress. Simply defining momentum is hard enough.
Managing Energy to Perform at Your Best
Achieving a good mind-body interaction for elite performance is known as developing “coherence.” An excellent way to enhance coherence is to strike a balance between stress and recovery. There are many mental, emotional, and physical stressors that can deplete our energy resources. For example, if something is “weighing on our minds” it can lead to cognitive anxiety and nervousness. When we are under emotional stress we can become angry and frustrated. Physical stress can lead to soreness and pain in the areas of the body where we carry the most physical stress: in the neck, shoulders, forehead, and jaw. If we are under chronic stress, in its many forms, and do not institute periods of recovery, we can experience a drop-off in performance – on the court, on the links, in business, and in the classroom. Therefore, it is imperative to employ various recovery techniques so we can bring our mind and body into balance and coherence.
The following are 5 tools, techniques, and strategies to reduce stress and recover energy so you have the energy resources to compete at the highest levels and perform at your best:
1. Exercise – Routine aerobic exercise reduces stress through the release of endorphins and improves overall conditioning. Use of weights can enhance power and speed. Fitting exercise into your day requires motivation to activate and good time management skills.
2. Nutrition – Eating small meals including healthy servings of fruits and vegetables is a great way to boost energy and improve wellness. Eating large, unhealthy meals can lead to sluggishness and procrastination. Both are certainly performance limiting factors. Staying hydrated throughout the day is also extremely important.
3. Relaxation Exercises – Utilizing rhythmic breathing helps to bring your mind and body into a homeostatic balance. Simple meditative techniques such as closing your eyes and going “blank in your mind” is also a great stress-reducer and replenishes energy into your system. Taking a ”mental vacation” through use of visualization is another technique to relax and gain coherence.
4. Micro-sleeps – These are periodic, 10-15 minute naps taken during the day. Performance psychology research shows that just a 6-minute “power-down” reduces stress, boosts energy, and improves learning and memory.
5. Sleep – Our mind and body performs at its best when we have 16 hours of wakefulness and 8 hours of sleep. Often, it is difficult to log 8 hours of sleep each night, but we perform at optimal levels when we can “recharge the batteries.” Developing a sleep routine, with the help of a sport and performance psychology professional, is an excellent way to achieve a solid night’s sleep so you can be productive and efficient during the day.
Excessive stress and inconsistent recovery creates an imbalance in our autonomic nervous system. This imbalance makes us feel “stressed out”; it saps our energy resources and inhibits cognitive functioning. Those factors all lead to negative performance outcomes. But if we maintain coherence, by managing stress and recovering energy, we are programming the mind and body to interact in optimal ways.
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One of the best motivating factors for athletes, as they strive for excellence in sport, is to set performance goals. Setting meaningful goals promotes effort and enhances energy by giving you “something to shoot for.” Thus, an internal challenge is established to see if you have what it takes to reach for greatness. Lou Holtz, former Notre Dame head football coach, was a firm believer in setting team goals. He found that pre-season goal setting created an atmosphere of excitement and possibility, and mobilized his team to reach for exceptional performance throughout the long season. If motivation was a bit low in week 8, he would remind his guys what they are playing for, and whether or not they had the fortitude to “aim high and hit the mark.”
When setting individual or team goals it is often helpful to use the S.M.A.R.T. acronym: Specific, Measurable, Action-based, Realistic, and Time oriented. For example, a goal for a talented collegiate tennis player might be to “Achieve the number 1 ranking on my team by the middle of your Junior season.” That would be an example of quality goal setting because it satisfies the five requirements of S.M.A.R.T. goals. Goals that are too vague, immeasurable, stagnant, unrealistic, and have no time limits are often difficult to formulate and execute.
Once you define your goal it is helpful to ask yourself these key questions:
1. Where am I now in relation to where I want to be? 2. What strengths do I have? 3. Where are there areas for improvement? 4. What obstacles could potentially get in my way? 5. Do I have a contingency plan to deal with potential setbacks?
As you pursue short-term and long-term goals (on an individual and/or team basis) it is important to commit yourself completely to the process. Sport psychology research in goal setting clearly shows that perseverance and resiliency are key mental skills associated with goal attainment. Monitoring your progress on paper, on a daily basis, in a systematic way, is also an integral element. This enables you to know what is working, what is not working, and what strategies need to be employed if setbacks occur. Adjusting your plan and re-formulating goals is often a necessary part of the goal-setting process.
In summary, setting goals can motivate you and your team to strive for athletic excellence, and can enhance personal development and team growth. So, set goals and challenge yourself to compete at the highest levels.
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The way athletes think and feel during competition largely influences the way they perform in athletic events. For example, tennis players may believe that they have all the tools to dictate play to their opponents (thoughts) which leads to high levels of confidence (feelings) on the court. This combination of positive thinking and heightened self-confidence often translates into positive performances (i.e. executing a passing shot with the expectation that you’ll hit a winner). Or, golfers may believe that they do not have the abilities to hit difficult bunker shots (thoughts) leading to self-doubt on the course. This combination of negative thinking and low self-belief often translates into negative performances (i.e. poorly executing the bunker shot with the expectation that it will end up back in the trap).
Developing a greater self-awareness of your thoughts and feelings during competition can give you the mental edge to perform at elite levels. One effective way to gain this awareness is to document (after the event) what you were thinking and feeling in certain situations during competition. This should be done soon after the event (if possible) to increase the probability of accurately recalling these thoughts and feeling in various situations. For example, during a tennis match a player may lose a crucial point because he/she played it safe (keeping the ball in play) rather than playing his/her usual aggressive game. This hesitancy to “go for their shot” during big points may have resulted from a belief that an error might be committed if they “play their normal game.” Equally important is to document and recall thoughts and feelings that influenced exceptional play - so players can replicate their mental and emotional states for future positive performances.
By writing down your mental and emotional states during competitive situations, you can gain greater insight into your thoughts and feelings on the court and see how these thoughts and feelings positively and negatively influence performance. Once this awareness is established mental skills and self-regulation strategies can be employed to give players the advantage to perform at high levels in key situations.
Certainly, athletes must be sound technically, tactically, and physically to be good players, but they can also use mental strategies to enhance their performances. Mental Performance Coaches/Sport Psychology Professionals are trained to help players to enhance self-awareness and develop these strategies by examining the though-feeling-performance relationship.
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Integrating visualization as part of your pre-performance routine can help you to perform at your very best. Visualization is a mental preparation technique in which you create positive performance images in your mind before practice and competition. The idea is to simulate images (such as hitting a crosscourt forehand winner or a crisp backhand volley) as vividly and accurately as possible to create a déjà vu effect when performing the task in real time. This sense of familiarity occurs because you’ve already executed the shot in your mind beforehand – in your mental preparation.
Systematic use of mental simulation programs the mind and body to perform automatically and without hesitation. This speeds up reaction time which can be the difference between executing at a high level and coming up just short. But to improve your psychomotor skills you have to consistently practice the visualization technique.
Two all-time sports greats who were pioneers in the use of visualization were Jim Brown, Hall of Fame running back, and Jack Nicklaus, arguably the greatest golfer ever. Brown used to sit by his locker before the game (with his eyes closed) and imagine all of the scenarios that could play out while he is on the field. He would “see in his mind’s eye” hitting the hole with speed and power, catching a pass out of the backfield, and stiff-arming a would-be tackler – breaking free for additional yardage.
Nicklaus once said, “I never hit a shot, in practice or competition, until I had a clear, in-focus picture of it in my head.” Now, the majority of elite golfers on the PGA Tour incorporate visualization into their performance routines.
As the field of sport psychology continues to grow, visualization is being used by more and more athletes, coaches, and teams in all sports at all levels. It’s all about leveraging your mind’s ability to think in pictures to give you the competitive advantage. By routinely visualizing (creating or re-creating successful images) you can do the following:
1. Improve technical, tactical, and physical skills 2. Enhance motivation and confidence 3. Solve problems and effectively deal with adversity 4. Control your emotions and physiological responses 5. Cope with pain and injury 6. Manage errors and mistakes 7. Improve resiliency and perseverance
You can improve all aspects of your performance by taking time out to visualize. I recommend 15-20 minutes of mental rehearsal per day. Take a few relaxing breaths before you begin visualizing to facilitate the start of your imagery exercise. You can visualize with your eyes open or closed depending on individual preference. In time your positive performance images will become more detailed and vivid with regular practice, and you’ll perform more instinctively and automatically during actual events.
The road to peak performance starts in your mind so envision successful experiences to take your game to the next level!
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To gain the mental edge for positive performance, athletes must have the ability to keep their composure in pressure situations. As pressure increases, the need for mental strength/mental toughness increases. For example, the ability to stay calm, composed, and focused in a 5th set tie-breaker - or in the 9th inning of a close baseball game – or hitting a free-throw to tie the game in the final seconds - can be the difference between winning and losing. Coping with pressure in those tight situations is difficult, but through mental skills training athletes can use pressure to their advantage and increase the probability of performing at a high level when the stakes are high.
The ability to rise to the occasion when it matters most is not esoteric to athletes. Business executives, performing artists, pilots, doctors, and firefighters also face pressure situations. These high-level performers understand how important it is to keep their emotions in check so they can execute at the highest level. You can be sure that Captain Chesley Sullenberger’s ability to remain calm and cool played a vital role in landing that plane in the middle of the Hudson River. With no engine power, little time remaining to stay in the air, and the lives of his passengers and crew hanging in the balance, Captain Sullenberger kept his composure under pressure which allowed him to make thoughtful, calculated decisions. If he had panicked or consciously thought about potential negative consequences, he likely would not have had a positive outcome.
Keeping one’s composure is a mental skill that should not be overlooked. Even if you have superior tactical, technical, and physical skills you can experience negative performance if you are anxious, nervous, and lack internal control in those pressure situations. There is a physiological component as well since performance is very much a mind-body connection. Nervousness leads to muscle tension and tightness which are certainly performance limiting factors.
The following are 3 tools and techniques to gain the mental edge in high-pressure situations:
1. Rhythmic Breathing: You will be amazed what 3-5 rhythmic inhalations and exhalations can do to bring your mind and body into balance and to regain control when under stress. This self-regulation technique helps to calm nerves, relieve anxiety, and focus on the task at hand. It is often useful to use a cue word as you exhale such as “calm.” This helps to get you centered (mentally and emotionally balanced).
2. Trusting Mindset: Having confidence in your abilities leads to trust. When you build confidence you are more likely to trust in your abilities to execute. So, adopt a trusting mindset when feeling the pressure. Trust in your training – that you are prepared and have all the skills to dictate to the event.
3. Cognitive Perception: We all have the power to perceive and interpret events in various ways. For example, it can often be quite difficult for a golfer to sink a 10-foot putt on the 18th hole to win in a big tournament, especially if everyone is watching and a lot of money is on the line. However, if he or she perceives the putt as no different from the putt he/she made on the 6th hole, it can be an effective way to avoid unnecessary tension that can take you out of your pre-putt routine, potentially resulting in a tight backswing while executing the shot.
In summary, the ability to keep one’s composure under pressure often separates good performers from great performers regardless of profession. So try out these 3 tools and techniques. There is no greater feeling than “coming through in the clutch” in pressure situations - for yourself and for your team!
Controlling one’s attention on the tennis court is the ability to Focus and Concentrate on developing strategies and executing shots. For example, if you are returning a player’s serve, you are intensely focused on trying to pick up the ball early to give you the best chance of hitting a good return. Rafael Nadal, who committed just 2 unforced errors in the 5th set against Roger Federer in the Australian Open Finals, has extraordinary focus and concentration which gives him the mental edge in his matches. You can see the intense focus on his face as he commits to hitting every shot with precision and accuracy.
The inability to focus and concentrate on executing tasks on the court often translates into low performance outcomes. One main reason why Svetlana Kuznetsova lost to Serena Williams in the Aussie Open quarterfinals is because she was negatively affected by external events that were outside of her control. After capturing the first set against Serena play was suspended at Rod Laver Arena due to extreme heat conditions and the roof was closed. The temperature hit 109 degrees with the roof open and the Arena policy is to close the roof to protect the players from potential heat stroke.
Rather than building on the positive momentum of the previous set, and mentally preparing to dictate play in the 2nd set, Kuznetsova became visibly angry and frustrated as she left the court, claiming that play should continue. Her attentional focus was misplaced and she never regained the level of play she exhibited in the first set, losing 6-1 in the final set to the eventual champion.
Players are well served if they know what they can and cannot control. It is called “controlling the controllables.” You cannot control if officials implement their extreme heat policy or if there is a downpour on the court that suspends play - which often happens at Wimbledon. But you can always control your perception and reaction to events. Kuznetsova’s feelings of anger and frustration stemmed from her perception that the match should not have been suspended. She became emotionally involved with events based on her belief that it was unfair to halt play when she had the upper hand. By misplacing her focus and concentration, and allowing herself to be negatively affected by events outside of her control, she no longer had the right mindset for positive performance. A more effective interpretation would have suited her better. For example, “This is beyond my control and is a great opportunity for me to do the following: get hydrated, visualize what I want to do in the 2nd set, and make any corrections that can give me the competitive advantage,”
*A tip for controlling attention: Use the acronym “WIN” during practice and match play. It stands for “What’s Important Now.” Repeat this to yourself to narrow your focus. It is especially useful when concentration is interrupted (by an internal thought or external distraction) and you want to re-focus for optimal performance. If Kuznetsova asked herself “What’s Important Now” when they suspended the match, she may not have put herself at a mental and emotional disadvantage. Not good when you are playing Serena.
