The best example I can give about this statement in an article by Dr. Tom Hansen, a specialist in sports psychology, is think back the last time you were in your car and the car in front of you was swaying all over the road. You decide to pass him and as you do so, you notice that the driver is talking on his cell phone. Now he thinks he is focused on his driving but reality is he’s into his phone conversation. This driver’s performance is following his focus.
Your success as a baseball player is determined by your ability to stay focused on the ‘task’ regardless of circumstances. For pitchers, it is the Catchers glove; for hitters and fielders, it’s seeing the ball. So, what should you focus on?
Dr. Tom Hansen asked a pitcher, who as a rookie succeeded over many other excellent pitchers in winning a starting position on a major league team, how he had done it. "I shrunk the game," he said, meaning instead of getting caught up in the many distractions that come with Major League baseball, including the media and playing with and against players he had grown up admiring, he chose to focus on a few simple things – things he could control.
What can you control?
Your playing time? The outcome of the game? Getting a base hit? Getting a batter out? Getting a college scholarship? Getting to the Major Leagues? No, you can't actually control any of these things. You may care deeply about them, and you can influence them, but you can't control them.
Don't waste your energy or base your confidence solely on any of them. Focus on your thinking, your attitude, your effort, the quality of your practice, and the quality of your preparation. Focus on the process of playing the game instead of being wrapped up in your results.
Former NCAA Division I Coach of the Year, Dave Snow says, Results thinking - the outcome of the game, getting a base hit, or getting a batter out – “is just a big trap. You've got to work on your physical and mental skills and then go out, trust what you've worked on and accept the results."
Perhaps your goal is to lead the team in hitting, set a League pitching record, make a fall travel team or get into college. Goals are good but don't lose site of why you play baseball in the first place.
Did you start playing as a kid so you could get a college scholarship or lead the team in hitting? No, you played because you loved it. Two answers I get when I ask High School players why they play baseball is ‘It’s fun’ or ‘I like the competition”. The most common is ; It’s fun”.
Players who are struggling with their performance have probably made the decision that the game is not fun. They forget that baseball is a game of failures. With failures comes experiencing humiliation. ‘Failure’ and humiliation leads to frustration. Mix in, what can be perceived as, the ‘boredom factor’ of the game - time between pitches / plays. Which becomes too much time to think about your failures. If you dwell on theses issues they will take the fun out of the game.
Don't fall into the trap of thinking every game you play now is about leading the team in some stat or getting to some level of play you want to get to in the future.
Play with the love of the game, the passion, the joy, and the fun that you had as a child – Don’t focus on the ‘failures’ or some other circumstances that are making that difficult. Play the game right now. Don't be focused on the past or the future. Play the pitch you're on right now. And find a way to keep it fun.
As Dr. Tom Hansen states; Players “need to learn to free themselves up, get out of their own way, and "just do it."