Trust in Your Abilities
How has overthinking affected your performance in past baseball or softball games?
Many players overthink at the plate, on the mound, or in the field. These players experience excessive nervousness, fear of making mistakes, and freezing under pressure.
The frustrating part is that these players have performed at a high level in the past. At some level, they know they have the ability.
However, their thoughts interfere with performing in the moment.
A player who responded to our Softball and Baseball Mental Toughness Survey sent us the following question:
“I’ve played shortstop on the varsity team for the past two years. Now that I’m a junior, I’ve been making more fielding errors. I seem to be questioning myself when the ball is hit to me. How can I stop overthinking when I’m playing in the field?”
Second-guessing is the result of a lack of confidence and trust.
Instead of reacting to the ball, you fear what might happen if the ball is hit to you. All you can see in your mind is booting the ball or making a throwing error.
In the field, you feel the tightness in your body and can’t seem to quiet your mind.
Easy plays become difficult, and difficult plays become impossible.
You try to talk yourself through each play, “Stay relaxed. Don’t throw the ball in the dirt.” The reality is that you are sending yourself conflicting messages. You are stuck between “Make the play” and “Don’t commit an error.”
In these situations, your fear usually wins out.
If you don’t have trust, it doesn’t matter how talented you are, how skilled you are, or how long you have been playing, you will have difficulty making even routine plays.
During the 2023 MLB season, the New York Yankees utility man Isiah Kiner-Falefa has struggled with his confidence. Kiner-Falefa has struggled to produce at the plate and has made uncharacteristic errors on the field.
In a game against the Texas Rangers, Isiah Kiner-Falefa made a 4th-inning fielding mistake in center field, misjudging a ball that led to a run scoring.
KINER-FALEFA: “I got caught in between a little bit. I hesitated just a tad. I made up for the ground, but I wasn’t able to cover it because I was more worried about where [Yankees shortstop Anthony] Volpe was. But the game’s on me today. I’ve got to keep that ball in front. I got caught in between trying to make the play and playing it safe. I’ve got to learn from it, go in and slide and call for it late or just let it drop in front of me.”
You can sense the lack of trust Kiner-Falefa is battling on the field. Regaining trust helps you to play intuitively and react to game situations.
As with any skill, the mental skill of trust can be built, and it starts by taking control of your thoughts and images.
You can build trust in your game in several ways:
- Practice without feeding yourself instruction. This strategy develops the habit of reacting to the ball.
- Stay present instead of thinking about consequences or outcomes.
- Know that your technique is good enough right now.
Related Sports Psychology Articles
- Helping Players Trust Their Skills In Games
- Improve Your Hitting By Improving Your Trust
- How to Have a Playoff Mindset
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Instilling Confidence in Baseball And Softball Players
Confidence, more than any other mental game attribute, is vital for your team’s success. If your players have it and know how to keep it, they maximize their success. Your team cannot reach their full potential unless each player can harness the power of stable and enduring self-confidence–so your team can perform as a confident team.
Your players might possess a ton of physical talent, have great coaching, and train harder or practice more than anyone else in your league, but if they do not have the self-confidence to match, your team can’t utilize this talent.
“Instilling Confidence in Baseball and Softball Players” program consists of one 72-minute audio CD that includes 7 days of confidence-fueling exercises. You’ll also receive a simple-to-follow 74-page coaches’ manual that guides you through the 7 team session you’ll conduct!