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Mental Side of Pitching

"One of the beautiful things about baseball is that every once in a while you come into a situation where you want to, and where you have to, reach down and prove something." Nolan Ryan

"I worked very hard. I felt I could play the game. The only thing that could stop me was myself."
Jim Abbott

“When I’m recruiting, I look at a player’s emotional maturity as much as his physical ability. I want a player to come in with a good head on his shoulders. At this level, games are won by the team that keeps its composure and intensity throughout the season." Jerry Weinstein, pitching coach, U.S. Olympic Team

“Wouldn’t it be satisfying to look in the mirror at the end of your baseball career and say, “I gave the game all I had?” You pushed yourself to the peak of your potential, and the world saw the very best you had to offer. Mastering the mental game is not easy. Most players spend 95-100 percent of their practice time focusing on the physical aspects of the game. As a result, physical adjustments are made from game to game, but some of the same mistakes occur no matter how hard we apply ourselves. Slowing it all down and analyzing our mental approach is a surprisingly effective way of becoming better baseball players.” Jim Abbott

No matter what level you’re on, to have the type of career you can be proud of, you have to take charge of your mental game. It’s what can set you apart from other players.Hank Aaron

“For me, my ability to fully focus on what I had to do on a daily basis made me the successful player that I was. Sure, I had some natural ability, but that only gets you so far. I think I learned how to focus; it wasn’t something I was necessarily born with. I realized early on that if I was going to reach my goal of being one of the best players ever to play the game, I had to do things other players weren’t doing. I had to get my thoughts together. I’ve seen players with as much or more ability as I had but somewhere along the line they lost sight of what they were doing; they just couldn’t keep in tune.” Hank Aaron

Both professional and college baseball players say that 80-100 percent of their performance on a given days is determined by their belief in their ability to succeed. Confidence is described as a feeling, a belief or knowing that the task at hand can be successfully performed. A confident player has strong positive thoughts and images running through his head. When he’s thinking about baseball, he sees himself playing well and in a positive way. Confidence is everything. Ken Ravizza & Tom Hanson, authors of Heads-Up Baseball

“Taking responsibility for your thinking means choosing what to think and how to act rather than blindly reacting to events around you. You don’t have to think any particular way or react to a situation with any particular emotion. The thoughts in your head largely determine how well you are going to play, and you are responsible for what goes on in your head. Choose what you think about.” -Ken Ravizza & Tom Hanson, authors of Heads-Up Baseball

You’ve got to trust yourself out there. Trust allows you to make the pitch that gets you to the ground ball instead of the base hit.” Jim Abbott, New York Yankees

“It’s what you do between pitches that determines what you do during the pitches.” Ken Ravizza & Tom Hanson, authors of Heads-Up Baseball

You’ve got to TRUST WHAT YOU’VE GOT and focus on what’s working for you because that’s what you can control. Instead of focusing on what’s not working, focus on what is. Maybe you feel tired, your mechanics feel uncomfortable or your hands seem slow and you feel you’re only at about 70 percent. Focus on the 70 percent you do have, not on the 30 percent you don’t. Ken Ravizza & Tom Hanson, authors of Heads-Up Baseball

“The ‘wrong’ pitch thrown with commitment is much more effective than the ‘right’ pitch thrown with doubt.” Ken Ravizza & Tom Hanson, authors of Heads-Up Baseball