The Importance of Being Proactive
Would you consider yourself a mentally tough baseball player?
Do you consider yourself a player that can overcome every obstacle or every challenge that comes your way?
Mental toughness helps you rise to meet the small challenges in each game.
For example, each pitch in a baseball game is a challenge itself with every pitch having a combination of factors that makes each situation unique.
These factors include:
- Opposing team
- Opposing pitcher
- Pitch count
- Score
- Inning
- Count on the batter
- Runners on base
- Weather
- Umpires
- Field conditions
- Spectators
- Streaks
- Slumps
Mental toughness gives you the edge to play through a wide range of circumstances and pressure situations such as, overcoming errors, throwing strikes without your best stuff, making late inning rallies, closing out games, winning playoff games, etc.
Mental toughness also increases your ability to overcome other obstacles that happen during the season such as, injuries, reduced playing time, conflict with coaches, bad practices, technique improvement, etc.
You may want to develop mental toughness but you should know that mental toughness does not happen by mistake. Mental toughness is a skill that requires mental skills training.
Mental toughness is both an attitude (how you view adversity) and action (how you respond to adversity).
Think of mental toughness as a mental muscle that grows when you exercise it. Each time you successfully overcome adversity, you build mental toughness. When you overcome an obstacle, you develop more mental toughness that will help you when you face more difficult challenges in the future.
You can apply mental toughness strategies to many areas outside of baseball such as, school, work, relationships, sickness, goals or a significant life challenge tantamount to the coronavirus.
The coronavirus is a challenge like no other. You have been forced to face unparalleled obstacles: social distancing, self-quarantining, isolation, cancellation of sports, distance learning, and personal inconveniences.
The coronavirus, with all its significant challenges, also presents an opportunity to build your mental toughness.
Mental toughness changes the way you view adversity and the purposefulaction you take to overcome those challenges.
Major League baseball players are in the same situation as all other athletes dealing with the coronavirus. John Baker, the former Cubs catcher and current mental skills coach for the Cubs, highlighted the importance of mental toughness for all baseball players.
BAKER: “I believe baseball players, in particular, are very resilient and very tough. Nobody in any other sport deals with as much failure as baseball players. As a result, you can learn a lot watching how people play the game, obviously. But to come back from this as well, I expect players to bounce back resiliently.”
The takeaway is that the mental toughness is a transferable skill. As you develop mental toughness for baseball, you can apply those same principles and skills to overcome obstacles you face in life.
Developing Proactive Mental Toughness
Be proactive with your approach to your game! Don’t wait for the roof to collapse.
Many athletes wait until they are in a slump, injured or lose all confidence before they even consider to develop mental toughness.
Commit to spending 10 minutes a day to developing mental toughness. Set a few goals, rehearse your performance, anticipate challenges you might have to cope with and be ready when you return to sport.
Be proactive. It is easier to build a skill when the pressure is off.
Related Sports Psychology Articles
- World Champions’ Mental Toughness
- Mental Toughness For Comebacks
- What is Mental Toughness for Ball Players?
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