How do you turn around your season in the middle of a year?
Some ballplayers start off the season slowly or sink into an early-year slump. A string of bad games is not unusual.
In fact, it’s quite common. Let’s take a look at MLB as an example.
Major League teams play 162 games. Even if a player plays in only half of those games, playing at your peak for 81 games is practically impossible.
Unrealistic expectations often get in your way of playing your best. When you fail to meet those expectations, you start doubting yourself and your abilities to play at a high level. For example, expecting three hits per game, shutting out your opponents, winning every game, or playing mistake-free is unrealistic.
When you miss those marks, your confidence slowly erodes and can lead to a performance slump. Similarly, unrealistic negative expectations also interfere with performance.
If you are stuck in a five-game rut where you are hitless and making an increased number of errors in the field, you may start thinking, “I will never get out of the slump. My best days are behind me.”
This thought process chips away at your confidence and makes it more difficult to turn around your play. The keys to turning around your season and breaking out of a midseason performance lull are perspective, confidence, and trust.
These three mental components are interrelated; each one affects the other two. Perspective is how you view your circumstances. When you view your circumstances as negative or hopeless, your confidence will decline, and you will lose trust in your ability to bounce back or perform at your previous level.
Your low confidence and lack of trust will support your view that your situation is helpless.
Likewise, if you see your midseason performance dip as temporary, you will continue to work, make adjustments to your mechanics, and spend time developing your mental game.
With the increased preparation, you will feel more confident and trust that you have the ability to bounce back better.
Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Gavin Lux struggled in the field and the batter’s box early in the 2024 MLB season.
In April, Lux was hitting .175. Since the MLB All-Star break, Lux appears to have turned the corner. Lux finished the month of July hitting .299 with 20 hits, nine runs, four home runs, and 13 RBIs and carried a 10-game hitting streak into August.
How did Lux turn his game around midseason?
LUX: “I think just a better frame of mind, more confidence, and more at-bats.”
With a big-picture, positive perspective, you will approach games with a performance-enhancing mindset. Instead of focusing on misses, errors, and bad games, you will focus on preparing and playing your best in the moment.
Put your performance in perspective. Don’t allow a few bad games to affect your preparation or attitude.
Each game is an opportunity to break through. So, keep working, preparing, and developing your mental game.
Related Sports Psychology Articles
- Tips to Get Out of a Baseball Hitting Slump
- How to Not Turn 0 for 8 Into a Slump
- Mental Tips for an Early Season Hitting Slump?
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