Mental Aspects

The mental side of baseball is perhaps the most complex part of the game. The season consists of non stop chess matches between one team and the next, one player against another, as well as one player against himself. Whether you are in little league, high school, college, or professional baseball, you will undoubtedly face mental challenges throughout your entire career. For most players, they can pinpoint a stage in their career when things got extremely challenging, and their mental toughness had to be at an all time high. For me, it came when I was an incoming freshman at Middle Tennessee State, when I had no idea what I had gotten myself into...

As a high school senior at Archbishop Wood, I put up good numbers. I was an invited walk-on to Middle Tennessee State, and admittedly, thought I was a little better than I actually was. I was treated to a rude awaking the first week of fall practice/tryouts as soon as I stepped foot on the field in Murfreesboro, TN. As I watched the other pitchers on the staff throw their bullpens, and consistently sit at 86,88, and 90 mph with their fastballs, I was curious to see where I was at...Boy, did that hurt. I was sitting between 78-82 mph as a lanky right-hander, with no movement on my fastball, no breaking ball, and no change-up. About two weeks in, I called my father, and we had a conversation that I'll never forget. "Dad," I said, "I can't do this. These guys are way better than I am, I'm getting demolished every day at practice, I think I need to come home." His response wasn't exactly what I was looking for at the time. He said, "Well son, you decided to go there, and you said this was what you wanted. If you still feel the same at the end of the year, we'll talk about it. For now, you're just going to have to suck it up and figure it out." I don't think he could've given me a better statement than that. At the time, with my confidence in the tanks, I didn't want to hear it, because what did he know? I was 17, and I knew everything about everything. For probably the only time in my teenage years, I followed his advice. I sucked it up, and went to work at a feverish pace with one of my teammates, in the gym, on the field, and off the field.

At that point, I did anything and everything in my power to take control of my mental approach and work ethic. I found a book, literally in our locker room, called "The Mental ABC's of Pitching" by H.A. Dorfman, and read it every day until the end of the season. I went to the book store and purchased a copy for myself, looking to regain my confidence and become the pitcher I knew I had inside of me. To sum up my freshman year...I stunk. I came home with an ERA of 16.11, and still hadn't figured it out from a physical standpoint. With my continued work, guaranteed innings with Northampton Legion, and my frame finally filled out a bit (went from an emaciated 175 lbs. to a solid 195 lbs. over the year), I continued to work and ride the confidence that I had found in The Mental ABC's.

That summer, it FINALLY clicked in my third appearance of the season. My mechanics FINALLY came together, and my fastball was into the mid-upper 80's, with a curveball that I'd never seen come out of my hand. From that point on, I never regressed with my confidence, physically or mentally. After a great fall at MTSU, I decided to transfer to Temple with an amazing opportunity to get my college education for next to nothing, as well as pitch a lot of innings for the Owls.

The point to all of this, is to excel at anything in life, we must be willing to do whatever it takes to attain that goal. Excellence is not due to someone's "genetic code." Excellence comes from a combination of attitude, work ethic, and the will to go further than anyone else in your field. I recently finished reading "Bounce" by Matthew Syed, and not only is it an easy read, it goes in depth to what makes the most successful people in the world, great at what they do. In all the studies done within "Bounce", it came down to one thing: The mental toughness to see everything we do, through to the end; to give every last inch of ourselves to our goals, with an undying self confidence and love for our craft, in order to maximize the end results.