Mental Baseball Instruction - Becoming a Mentally Tough Baseball Player

Article Title:
Mental Baseball Instruction - Becoming a Mentally Tough Baseball Player


By Nate Barnett

The assumption here is that you have either found the title of this article amusing to some extent, or you are looking for information on how to become more mentally tough as an athlete. Maybe both, which would be a bonus for you. Now, a little group participation... I want you to stop reading for a minute after you read the following question. Don't read past until you have an answer.

The Question: What did you do differently this season (compared to last) to prepare yourself for a successful experience in baseball?

If your answer is nothing, many athletes have since passed you and have consequently helped improve their chances of getting to the next level, whatever that may be for them. However, if you have added something else to your game, then the opposite is true.

In order to become a mentally strong athlete, players must develop two types of skills.

A. Physical skills: those that help you throw, run, pitch, hit, and field more effectively.

B. Mental skills: those that help you in dealing with failure, build confidence, get you in "the zone", keep you out of slumps, etc.

The problem is that there is consistently more importance placed on physical development over mental. There are a few reasons physical skills are taught far more than mental skills.

1. Physical skills are more easily taught through the ease of information access in videos, books, and private baseball instruction.

2. The fixation on massive home runs and big power numbers fuel athletes' desire to improve and learn the skill of hitting a baseball 400ft like the guys in the Bigs.

3. The results can often be noticed by everyone right away. Therefore, there is more of an immediate feeling of improvement with physical skill work through baseball drills, etc.

The mental side of baseball is taught far less for a multitude of reasons. Some include:

1. There are simply fewer resources available on the topic of sports psychology and mental training.

2. Many sports psychology and mental training information is written in a complex fashion making it difficult for a reader to comprehend the information.

3. Practice time is limited for many teams. Therefore, fewer coaches can afford to carve out the time to work on the mental game (assuming they know how to teach it).

So how do you begin to work on the mental game? You're doing it now. Read, listen, and search for pieces of information on the topic. Post-game interviews from professional athletes are a good source. Countless players like Derek Jeter and Cal Ripken have devoted time to writing some of their thoughts on the subject. Buy their books or find them at a library.

Why should you develop you mental baseball skills? The answer to this question is lengthy and is a topic for another article at another time. But the simple answer is that you will be noticed by more college and professional scouts because they look for indicators of a strong mental game. And secondly, it will help to cut out slumps that linger and take away from consistent performance.

Nate Barnett is owner of BMI Baseball designed to improve the mental game of baseball in athletes. Learn how to help your game by improving your baseball psychology.

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Baseball Swing Mechanics Tip - A Different Two-Strike Approach

By Nate Barnett

I might have a slightly different approach for hitting a baseball with two strikes than most coaches, especially at the younger level. The short of it is that I work with hitters in being offensive producers, since that is their job in the first place when they step into the box. Having said this, a hitter obviously gets three chances to produce something valuable for his team each and every at bat.

Because of this offensive thinking, I do not want my athletes shrinking into a defensive position while being on offense and limiting their production potential with two strikes. Just make contact with your baseball swing, or put the ball in play, etc. are all examples of defensive thinking. Few would argue that the just put the ball into play and make contact advice would rarely be given to a hitter outside of the two strike scenario. Because of this, I would much rather take a highly aggressive hitter who swings and misses on his third strike than a hitter who changes his approach into a defensive mindset. That defensive mindset is more damaging in the long run than an aggressive hitter who can be taught to focus that energy more constructively with some sound baseball instruction.

Having said that, there is great value in shifting the focus of what to do with a pitch later in the count. Because of a higher percent chance of an off speed or outside pitch being thrown later in the count, working on taking the ball the other way would be appropriate. Therefore in your baseball drills work on molding aggressive hitters which if they go down, they go down playing the game hard.

Nate Barnett is owner of BMI Baseball designed to improve the mental game of baseball in athletes. Come download a free ebook on dealing with failure in baseball.

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Baseball Throwing Part Eight - Specialty Throws

By Dick Birmingham

There are all kinds of specialty throws for infielders that have absolutely nothing to do with lining up and warming up.

To give you an example of a specialty throw lets look at first baseman giving the ball to a pitcher covering the base. It is an important play.

This has to be taught and it has to be worked on.

As far as the underhand throw is concerned, I feel that the whole hand should be behind the ball and that he should give it to him so that the ball is going rise up into the pitcher's face. You will lead him with the throw he needs to follow with a couple of quick steps. He needs to follow that throw instead of just flat-footed because a lot of times those big hitting first basemen, they will get flat-footed and will flip and go way up. If he is on top, I think it has to be a different type throw. It is almost like a middle infielder. He has to get the ball up here and he has to flip it.

I think those types of throws have to be worked on. I have seen a lot of great combinations but to me the success of the double play is the lead thrower. That is the most important part of the double play.

There are certain techniques that are going to help you. For example, that second baseman has to pop that hip to the hand up and flip the ball.

There are certain mechanics involved that are going to dictate what type of throw it is going to be. It is going to be a good throw or it is going to be a bad throw.

I personally believe that the hand has to be straight up and down. It has to be that kind of a throw. If it is off a little bit like this, or if it is down here you are asking for trouble.

It is a very quick throw but it is a specialty throw that has to be worked on all the time. Over and over again.

I’m going to finish by talking about outfielders.

Outfielders have to understand that they are a vital unit in the total defense scheme. They have to take a lot of pride in their defense. I don't think outfielders take as much pride in their defense as they should.

One thing is the throwing technique. Outfielders have to throw with a long arm. A lot of them don't understand the crow hop, the reason you crow hop is to give the arm time to lengthen out so that you can get in the proper throwing position and make strong accurate throws.

A drill that I like is to start off with outfielders is to have them hop three times then throw.

Then after they are doing that a while, then on a straight line or a slightly downward plane you can cut it down to two hops. Then you can cut it down to one hop and then you are in business.

In that process you need to really think about where their striding foot is landing. Because they have to hit that cutoff man. That is so important in the game of baseball that needs to be worked on and talked about constantly. A few guys in here have outfielders that never miss their cutoff man, hit him every time.

Baseball also is a game of catch. It really is a game of catch and you have to prepare your people to catch it and throw it. And, if they do that job real well, it is going to make you look like a much better coach. You will be developing your players and you will win more games.

To learn more baseball coaching tips for developing your players with baseball throwing drills and proper baseball throwing technique visit the Dick Birmingham Sports Championship Baseball Drill Book at http://www.BaseballDrillBook.com

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