Keeping Your Composure During Games
I’m sure you’ve seen professional baseball players lose their cool during games.
What causes players to lose their composure during competition?
You can lose their composure for several reasons. You might lose your composure after making stupid errors, not meeting your expectations or feeling angry or frustrated with your performance. Milton Bradley of the Chicago Cubs shows his anger by throwing temper tantrums on the field.
Recently, Bradley threw his helmet and a water cooler in the dugout after a fly out in the sixth inning against the White Sox. Bradley struck out two innings prior to the incident. Manager Lou Pinella was tired of Bradley’s behavior and removed him from the game.
A loss of composure can also result in more mistakes.
Rick Porcello, Detroit Tigers pitcher, lost his composure after the Minnesota Twins got a few hits recently. The Twins hit two runs, a single and home run, rattling the rookie pitcher. Porcello then gave up a combination of hits and walks to send eight batters to first base.
These are just a few examples of what can happen when players lose composure. Even professional baseball players get frustrated and angry sometimes.
Frustration can happen at any time during the game.
When players are angry, they can forget about the rules of the game.
No one can feel frustrated but yourself.
Composed baseball players don’t let strike outs or other mistakes ruin their mindset for the rest of the game. Composed baseball players approach can let go of their mistakes because they know that frustration can harm their performance.
First, you must be able to identify what situations cause you to feel frustrated.
- Do you feel frustrated after you’re down in the count?
- Do you get upset when your teammate makes a scoring error?
You’ll want to know which situations cause you to become frustrated so that you can respond more effectively.
Then, you’ll want to use positive self–talk to help you manage your emotions. For example, after a strike, you might take an extra check swing and tell yourself to focus on the ball.
Your baseball psychology tip is to respond more effectively to your mistakes.
Mistakes are part of sports. You’ll want to keep your cool by using positive self-talk or taking an extra few seconds to regroup.
Related Sports Psychology Articles
- How to Manage Frustration in Ball Players
- How to Develop a Ball Player Championship Mindset
- How to Develop a Ball Player Championship Mindset
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