Player Confidence

a.axum581 -
it's confidence and control...those 2 elements will set the path to a successful season...

To paraphrase a line from my favorite movie...don't think, just hit. Easy for me to say, I know.

There is a book called "The Mental Keys to Hitting" that has some strategies that might help you. You can find it at Amazon.com.

a.axum581,

It may help you to get in front of some audiences not on the ball field to help build your confidence. Try the following:

Go to a little league field or s****r field and do a little coaching.

Go to a boys and girls club or YMCA and volunteer to work with a group of kids.

If you attend church volunteer to get up front and do a reading or prayer.

Ask some of your teachers if they will let you do a presentation.

All of the above things are not on the baseball field, but will help your self confidence. My son volunteered every Sunday morning for three years with a wheelchair s****r team. He gave them encouragement and friendship but they gave him back much more.

Just some thoughts. Please come back and let us know how you are doing.

IMO...there's 2 types of baseball self talk...
1. Postive - Self promo you thoughts, be optimistic, and focused
2. Negative - It's self defeating. Period!

Look at the opportunity as a challege and be a contibutor to the team...you'll succeed!

I am taking your post literally "Almost every time...". Does that mean there are times during a game that you aren't nervous at bat? If this is true then what is different about those situations. ie runners on, full count, 2outs. Everyone is nervous when batting it is how they focus those nerves that makes the difference.

You are relaxed in practice. You are not thinking about failing in practice. You are capable of performing up to your ability in practice because your not letting your fear of failure get in the way of success. So you have to learn to not fear failure in games. Fear of failure results in failure. Hitters have to block out every emotion when they are hitting and simply hit.

You have to have the chance to fail so that you have a chance to succeed-- you cannot walk on the field or step in the batters box concerned with failing--you just go do what you can do

Backstop-17
What great suggestions. LeftySideSon heads a free baseball clinic for our area Boy's Club. It is something he started on his own during his sophomore year when he wasn't as comfortable on the mound as he is today. His teammates were able to see him in a leadership role. Heading up that endeavor made a world of difference to how his teammates viewed his role both as a leader and player.

TR and Coach May also hit the nail on the head. You have nothing to fear but fear itself. The more you get in front of others either on or off the baseball field, the easier it gets.

I agree that backstop has some great suggestions. Confidence is just like anything else physical - it has to be practiced in order to succeed. There are some people who are born naturally confident just like there are people who are born naturally able to play baseball, basketball, football or whatever. But almost everyone else have to work at anything to be successful.

Another tool which helps is visualization. Sit there and see yourself succeed in various different situations. It's like muscle memory for the mind. See yourself do it enough then you are able to relax enough to do it. Of course visualization is worthless without the other tools to be successful.

If it makes you feel any better, the pitcher is probably nervous too!

Remember, baseball is a battle against who will win the at bat, the pitcher or the batter. If you show signs of being confidant, you might win the battle.

You might want to find a ritual that makes you feel comfortable, adjust your gloves, your helmet, your crotch, take a deep breath and let it out, whatever, watch MLB hitters (pitchers have them too), most have this ritual they repeat over and over and that is what brings them into focus.

Similar to what Coach May suggests, my guess is when you go up to the plate during a game, you're thinking about a desired result; that is, getting a hit. Try walking into the batters box without any thought about a result in mind, just clear your head and go up there and have fun.

At a more advanced stage you will hear people talk about tips to help you "slow the game down" which will help you focus and perform at a higher level. (If you listen to professional hitters talk about hitting slumps often the slumps are prolonged for reasons similar to your concerns. There's too much thinking going on and self imposed pressure.)

At your age I would suggest you walk in the batters box with a smile on your face and have fun. Stay positive. Good things will happen. Good luck.

Also I just re-read your post and I admit I had to laugh when I read, "I have another big problem." Baseball is first and foremost a game of failure so you might want to get use to it. The most important thing is to stay positive while you work on the things that need to be worked on.

Nice post igball. I think its alot like life. If you wake up thinking your going to have a bad day because you had a bad day yesterday your very likely to have a bad day. In fact it has already started out bad because your already thinking its going to be a bad day.

If you go into the batters box believeing your going to fail , worrying that you might fail , thinking you might fail , your more than likely to fail. And your fears will be realized and validated by your failure. Your fighting yourself.

The exact reverse is also true. If you wake up believeing your going to have a great day then your working in a positive mental state. Your expecting good things to happen to you so good things happen for you. Its already a good day because you have started it off with a positive mental state.

When you get in the batters box believeing good things are going to happen then you are more than likely to have a good ab. Understanding what a good at bat is will assist you in this as well.

Be positive and expect good things to happen. If you have a bad ab flush it and continue to expect good things to happen. The odds are in your favor when you take this approach. Confidence that you will fail will result in failure. Confidence that you will succeed will result in success. Just make sure you understand what success actually is so you dont believe you failed when you actually had success.

I have coached hitters that if they had a bad at bat in their first plate appearance of a game they were done for that game. And that same player if they got a hit in their first ab they were destined to have a great day at the plate. This is a direct result of them feeding off the positive of that first ab or feeding off the negative of that first ab. Then there are guys that can be 0-3 with 3 terrible at bats and you would never know it by looking at their approach in the box , in the field , in the dugout. Or the same guy could be 3-3 and you would never know it either by the way they acted. They were just as good in that 4th at bat regardless of what they had done in the previous at bats.

This is where you want to get to. Hitting is something that you must approach with a flat line approach imo. Remove the emotion and put 100 percent of your focus on that pitch right then and there. Anything that takes 1 percent of your focus away from where it should be needs to be flushed from your system. That includes instruction from the coaches box , stands , dugout. Good luck.

I would suggest you speak with your coach about this problem. A good coach always knows how to keep his players loose and relaxed. IMHO lack of confidence is just a lack of focus.

My high school coach and this was many years ago had a little thing he would use to help us focus. The batter who had the most strikeouts in a game the following practice would have to wear a pink helmet during BP. Now you can imagine what kind of poking the player got that had to wear that pink helmet during BP at practice. It was all in good fun though.

In the dugout the guys would be poking at each other about who was going to have the honor of wearing that god awful pink helmet the next practice and coach brought it to every game LOL. Also each time you had to wear it you also had to sign your name on it. Surprisingly enough coach and the thought of that helmet kept us focused and loose at the plate.

Guys. I have another theory that may explain why he's "shaking" in the batter's box; simply put--He's maybe terrified of getting hit by the baseball.

and if this were true... just man up and play. This isn't a game just for anyone.

Out of the few years I've been playing and watching the game of baseball I've never seen a guy shake of nervousness just because of competition or the size of numbers of scouts/people in the stands.

The only time I've witnessed this was when the kid was just afraid of the pitcher.

Nonsense. People get torqued up and nervous about all kinds of things (I am guessing that you don't play golf yet =)). Congrats for rising above it yourself, but show a little forebearance for those that are still trying to.

a.a581, I would suggest the following; find a swing thought and focus on that. For example, instead of trying to think about everything that goes with having an at-bat, focus only on staying inside the ball (on your pitch, of course) and driving it. Only that. A lot of times, the process of clarifying what you are trying to do makes it simpler. Good luck, OBC

Try thinking "what's the worst thing that could happen to me during this at-bat?" The answer would probably be that you could pop up or strike out, and you have survived those events before, and lived to tell about it, right?

Even the best players in the world have bad at-bats about two-thirds of the time! My son likes to use focusing techniques similar to Evan Longoria's; when Longoria gets upset or nervous at bat, he focuses on the left foul pole intently and it helps him calm down and clear his mind. I think he explains how he does it in an ESPN interview that may be on youtube. Good luck this season!

quote:

Originally posted by Ole Ball Coach:
Nonsense. People get torqued up and nervous about all kinds of things (I am guessing that you don't play golf yet =)). Congrats for rising above it yourself, but show a little forebearance for those that are still trying to.

a.a581, I would suggest the following; find a swing thought and focus on that. For example, instead of trying to think about everything that goes with having an at-bat, focus only on staying inside the ball (on your pitch, of course) and driving it. Only that. A lot of times, the process of clarifying what you are trying to do makes it simpler. Good luck, OBC

Well I'm just saying. If you want to play football but you're terrified of getting hit and tackled, then the sport isn't for you. By the way, I feel that criticism does a hell of a lot more good in some cases.

It definitely has helped me. Coaches aren't going to baby you about that kind of stuff. The best way to learn something is to work it out yourself.

And you might be right; I am only going off what I read originally.

I do know this, even longtime pros get a little nervous when the pitcher is throwing gas and is a little loose with the control; its just human nature. What is it that they used to say about Randy Johnson? He was, on occasion, "effectively wild."

What I have observed is that pressure and nervousness are things that the athlete puts on him or herself. From wherever it comes (fear of getting hit, playing in front of a scout, trying to impress your folks) it is real for the athlete so he or she needs to figure it out and do something about it.

There are some great pieces of advice here, no doubt from years of trial and error. The orginal question is great and in fact I've been reading a great book on the matter lately. I'll post the link below. (It's related to tennis mental game, but same principles apply to baseball.)

Let me offer a couple things I work with my players on:

Picture yourself standing on the tee box at your favorite golf course, or at the free throw line in a basketball game. Most of us have experienced one of those scenarios before. What happens when you begin to think about the mechanics of the next step involved in your action? Your inner voice may sound something like, "Ok, this time you just need to work on bringing the club head through the ball on a straight plane. Oh, and dont forget to follow through after contact!". At the freethrow line you may hear, "Remember, this is a big shot. You're down by one and you need to sink this shot to give your team a chance. If you miss this shot, coach will certainly be furious and you'll probably run more at practice Tuesday." Most of us have experienced something similar in these situations. Usually when this type of inner voice clutter gets too loud or too frequent we struggle with our performance. We shank the ball or miss the free throw.

It's interesting to think about the conversations that take place in our minds on a daily basis. In any conversation there is one party doing the talking and one party doing the listening. This implies that you have two selves conversing ideas and thoughts in your mind while you are trying to perform a task. The author below calls these Self 1 and Self 2. Self 1 in is charge of telling (mechanics, directions, commands) and Self 2 is in charge of doing (muscle memory). Great athletes are those who can silence Self 1 during performances and rely on Self 2 (muscle memory) to take over.

Here's how it works. Imagine that Self 1 and Self 2 are actual people for a moment. In baseball, Self 1 would be talking to Self 2 saying, "Remember, you need to get a proper weight shift to create power on this next pitch! And you do know last time up to bat this guy blew the ball right past you because you weren't ready! But, you can't forget about his curveball, it's nasty and you probably can't hit it!" Self 2 all the while is trying to focus on the job of hitting the baseball with Self 1 screaming commands in his ear. It would be tough to concentrate and over time, the confidence of Self 2 would only diminish if he could not perform under the pressure Self 1 was creating. Of course, this would only increase the amount of commands and directives Self 1 would issue to Self 2 in the attempt to get him to fix things.

I think you get the point. So now the question is, how do you shut up Self 1 when you are trying to focus on performing a highly precise task of hitting a baseball consistently?

In order to keep Self 1 quiet you need to learn how to keep him occupied. Below I provide one good way to do this. But, just like working on your hitting mechanics, developing the mental game of baseball takes repetition and practice.

Breath. If you can focus on listening to your breathing you will keep Self 1 quiet. This will simply allow Self 2 to do his job without interference because Self 1 will be occupied with demanding focus on listening to your breathing. When your body and muscles are relaxed, your breath is slow and rhythmic. When you are tense or distracted you tend to have more of a quick breathing pattern. By listening to your breathing you will also allow your body to relax and become in synchronization with your breathing. Controlled breathing is a great way to allow Self 2 to perform to the best of his ability.

Have a read, I quite enjoyed this book - Timothy Gallwey - The Inner Game of Tennis - http://www.amazon.com/Inner-Ga...rmance/dp/0679778314

i honestly knew a pitcher who experienced the same thing from the mound. And his solution was to chew gum. Concentrate on the gum being chewed and itll get your mind off the rest. I know it sounds silly but try it. why not.. see what happends

It would be easy to say "Just stop thinking so much" - Instead do think before you get to the plate. Prepare yourself mentally. "This guy is not going to beat me, this guy has nothing" get angry, but harness this anger into an aggressive approach, you have to believe you are the best hitter on the field.

And think about this.. What's the worst thing that could happen? You make an out? Who cares. You are going to fail 7 out of 10 times. Even if you do that, you are a .300 hitter. .300 hitter's make a million dollars in the Pro's for failing 7 out of 10 times. Not bad in my opinion.

Hang in there, you will be just fine

I really enjoyed reading these responses. Great stuff.

I wouldn't rush to the pink helmet, but it's great if that coach pulled it off successfully (the last thing I want my players thinking is trying to avoid striking out).

I really like the Inner Game of Tennis idea -- that's still the best sport psychology book ever (I'd rank Heads Up Baseball a close second....).

It was also interesting for me to read b/c it gave me a chance to see how I personally have evolved these past several years.

I'd say all the responses are "cognitive behavioral" in approach. Lots of really great stuff I teach players every day, but it's now to me the icing on the cake.

I'm now firmly entrenched in the "energy" world, or "energy psychology."

I would address this guy's nerves with "tapping."

Tapping gets to the root of the issue. It enables you to actually do the things people are suggesting here.

I noticed myself getting frustrated with even very good responses because there (IMO) is so much better way.

The home of it just moved to www.eftuniverse.com

I also teach it at baseball confidence.

But cognitive behaviorally, I would suggst my ABCs:
Act confident
Breathe deeply
Commit to your target

Do your ABCs on each and every pitch. Practice them.

Think about something besides yourself. Batter can think about the pitcher. Pitcher can think about the batter.

Instead of thinking about whether you will hit the ball, think about WHERE you WILL hit the ball.

You need to accept who you are and then develop a system to become who you want to become. There are lots of ways to accomplish being relaxed in the batters box. The guys I have seen overcome anxiety in the batters box have done it with breathing techniques combined with imagery. The brain weighs 2% of your body weight but takes 20% of your air.. if you feed it with bad (anxiety air) you feed the part of the nervous system that releases more strsss chemicals - causing you to get even worse as the at bat progresses. Breathing properly (nasal) stimulates the part of the nervous system that calms and puts you in a relaxed state where you can just react and hit! Combine that with some advanced imagery and you have a well balanced calm hitter! More on my video series at
www.baseball-cap.net

Good luck!
Rick

Whenever I am nervous about something, I just remember that "you get what you focus on." Don't focus on striking out or getting a pop fly, focus on a hitting a home run or a line-drive past third base. More practice will give you more confidence.

This thread is almost a year old, and there is some very good information in here to help batters improve confidence. I wonder how far you have come in the last year a.axum581?

Little League Parent
For tips on improving your game and reviews of e-products related to baseball performace, go to www.youth-baseball-training.com

Lots of great thoughts here.

First rule: build confidence by being prepared in every way.

If you want some more details about how the world's greatest athletes consciously build confidence in pressure situations, go here for my free e-newsletter "Mental Skills Tips - Confidence"

You can get new issues sent to you via email by signing up in about 15 seconds here.

Best wishes for making today your masterpiece.

-Aaron
www.CoachTraub.com

There are some times I feel like I think too much in the box. I used to be much worse.

Two solutions I have found that seem to have worked for me:

Chew Gum (Blue Collar Baseball mentioned this)

Think the words "see the ball" (I got that one from a baseball mental book not sure what it was called)

Your first job as a hitter is to see the ball. Nothing can happen without that, and after that, everthing that happens is pretty much autopilot anyway.

I have two boys, 15 and 12, playing ball. While the younger one is a bette athlete, the older one almost never strikes out - hits the ball where he wants it a high percentage of the time. The younger, while getting better, often takes hittable pitches and then hacks at marginal ones.

A while back I asked the older one why he thinks he hits so well. His answer? "I never doubt I'm going to hit the ball." Once he is in that frame of mind, all that's left is recognizing the pitch and timing his swing. When he gets a hit, it is usually the first or second pitch of an AB. He's not waiting on the perfect pitch to hit - he has enough confidence that he doesn't need to.

Younger brother is still worried about swinging and missing/striking out. But his LL majors team has him hitting in the clean-up spot, and he learning that clean-up hitters are expected to hack!

The key is to establish your hitting zone, and develop the confidence that you can hit everything that come through it.

John

First of all, congratulations for seeking help! Most players (especially players your age) think that if they say they're nervous, people will think they are scared or a whimp. I think it's beneficial for hitters to break hitting into stages. Each stage requires a different level of focus and a different set of thoughts. Creating a routine (write it down!) gives you much more control over your mind and sometimes helps prevent your mind from racing. My blog post today is about these stages and gives an idea of what a player should be thinking in each stage. Google BaseballByTheYard Hitting: Five stages of focus if you are interested in reading more.

Good luck! All of us were in your shoes at some point!

JohnU

My new hitting philosophy has changed from
"look for a good pitch to hit....."
to "LOOK FOR A PITCH YOU CAN HIT GOOD!"

While I am not a psychologist, I have experienced this before in not only my players that I coach, but me when I was younger. What worked for me was to first realize that baseball is a game and I ENJOY this game. You can't enjoy the game if you are too nervous to even hit the ball. Now, before you step into the batter's box picture yourself ripping a double in the gap right off the sweet spot of the bat (we all know how good that feels!) This will not only boost your confidence but also make you focus on hitting line drives instead of swinging for the fences. Hope this helps!

quote:

Originally posted by rocketmom:
Try thinking "what's the worst thing that could happen to me during this at-bat?" The answer would probably be that you could pop up or strike out, and you have survived those events before, and lived to tell about it, right?

Even the best players in the world have bad at-bats about two-thirds of the time! My son likes to use focusing techniques similar to Evan Longoria's; when Longoria gets upset or nervous at bat, he focuses on the left foul pole intently and it helps him calm down and clear his mind. I think he explains how he does it in an ESPN interview that may be on youtube. Good luck this season!

Here you go. Excellent video.

http://www.audioacrobat.com/note/CYpKsBVQ/

[/QUOTE]Here you go. Excellent video.

http://www.audioacrobat.com/note/CYpKsBVQ/

Learning from this Evan Longoria video really helped elevate my game my senior year, along with Harvey Dorfman's book, "The Mental Game of Baseball."

http://www.amazon.com/Heads-Up.../ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1

One I like even more than Mental Game of Baseball, especially for younger players.

quote:

"The Mental Game of Baseball.

The one you referred is good but still for me "The Mental Game of Baseball" is little more better than this one.

"The Mental Game Of Baseball" is simply great....But yes the one referred above is also good.I like the content.

quote:

Originally posted by a.axum581:
I am a 10th grader in highschool and i have another big problem. Almost every time i get up to the plate i get nervous and start shaking resulting in a strikeout or a weak grounder or pop-up. People tell me all the time to just relax. Its easy for people to say that, but in my mind people saying that isnt going to help me. Durring practices i play up to my higest potential. I need help finding the problem before the 2010 season. PLEASE HELP!!

Hopefully you survived to this point a,axum581. I wish I would have been able to offer you this sooner.

As everyone who knows of me or reads my posts, I am always looking for the most simplistic (common sense)way to deal with things, either in motion or in someones head. On this topic of the gitters and the shakes. I know that many people posting have come up with remedies , and good ones at that for overcoming this. Most of the posts have helped with this as being a symptom of either a lack of confidence or maybe fear or both. For the posts that bring about gaining confidence, I agree, for the posts of overcoming fear, I agree.

The part that I would like to bring forward is that if confidence is there and there is no fear in the situation, then the shakes are a very good thing. We have been programmed to think this is bad when in fact, it is great.
If you understand that the body is meant to survive and that it does so with out us asking it to,(Scabs on cuts, we don't have to ask or make white blood cells move to the area, they just do) then you can understand that quite possibly when you are trying to achieve something great. Your body is trying to equipt itself. Who is to say that the shakes you are feeling is your neurons firing in such a way so that you can react faster than ever before? Your body is trying to elevate it's game to produce. With this line of thought, fear goes out the window, confidence elevates and now you can act.

This is seen as your "flight or fight" mechanism to some.

I choose "Fight" over "Flight".