Mental Side Of Pitching
By Steven Ellis former Chicago Cubs pitching pro
Our mind and body are highly connected, one affects the other. We want to think clear thoughts so our body will follow with smooth coordination of movement, making it easier to create our best performances. If you want power and speed, you must first "think" powerful thoughts.
Excellence in sport is the mind and body working in unison with smooth, coordinated execution between thought and action. What you think is what you feel and it directly affects how you react. For example; feelings of fear and uncertainty will lead to stress, which limits power and strength.
On the other hand, feeling strong, energetic, and confident, and having consistent positive thought allows for more powerful actions. Choose a "powerful" word that allows you to more easily create your desired behavior. The word you choose should represent the action that you want to follow. The word represents the stimulus to the behavior you wish to evoke. For example, if you want "speed", choose the word "fast."
If you choose the words such as "I'm tired" you will notice a decrement in your ability to be powerful. Negative thinking leads to negative thoughts. Negative thoughts turn leads to negative behavior. Remember, what you "think" is what you "get".
Pitching is mental. The difference between those who make it and those do not often has nothing to do with talent at all. In fact, in professional baseball the difference in "talent" between a pitcher in Rookie League and a pitcher in the Major Leagues is minimal. The separating difference is the pitcher's mental toughness!
If you want to be great pitcher, win the mental game by thinking positively. It could be the difference that sets you apart from the rest of the talented pitchers on your team!
Work on it.
Pitching Yips
By Ernest Solivan, author of "Mastering The Mental Side Of Pitching"
When you get in a game, are you afraid you're going to hit someone?
Your problem is subconscious. The Mind is made up of two parts. The Conscious Mind and the Subconscious Mind. The Conscious Mind allows us to experience awareness while the Subconscious Mind stores every experience we have ever had.
When you engage in an activity like pitching, your Consciousl Mind sends instructions to your Subconscious Mind, "Send me all the information you have stored relating to pitching." The information you access will dictate how well or how poorly you will perform on the mound. Sounds like you have stored what we call "synthesizing events" relating to everytime you hit a batter.
Everytime you access these synthesizing events when you are on the mound it creates stress in your body. When stress is present in the body it causes one or both hemispheres of your brain to weaken or switch off. And, that is what's causing you to lose control and command of your pitches.
There are several ways you can attack this problem:1. The only way to achieve peak performance on the mound is to remain relaxed during the execution of your pitching motion. Before you throw your pitch, state your goal for the pitch (low and inside for a strike; etc.) then mentally say the word relax; then execute your pitch. Continually remind yourself to relax while on the mound. When you are relaxed, both hemispheres of your brain function at maximum capacity, and the brain controls all physical movement in the body.2. When you are pitching on the side, imagine there is a batter standing at the plate when you throw your pitches. If you can execute your pitches using your imagination, chances are you will execute your pitches in a real game situation. Remember to remind yourself to remain relaxed even during practice.3. The night before your game sit down and write out your goal for your start the next day: i.e., My goal is to win the game tomorrow with no walks; 8 strikouts; pitch a complete game; with an ERA of 2 or less; Etc..
There is also an excellent program created specifically for the mental side of pitching called Mind Mastery For Pitching which is available at amazon.com. It contains a DVD and a CD. There is also a book coming out called Mastering The Mental Side Of Pitching.
Good luck!
Ernest Solivan is author of "Mastering The Mental Side Of Pitching," a book in which pitchers learn how to achieve peak performance using Hemispheric Kinesiology. Click here for more i
Mental Side Of Baseball Pitching
By Coach May for TheCompletePitcher.com
The mental side of pitching a baseball is just as important as the physical side of pitching. Your ability to master the mental aspects of pitching - your pitching mental toughness - plays an important role in your development as a pitcher.
Below are some objectives to help with your mental preparation for baseball pitching.
1. "This game is mine", attitude. Every time I walk on the mound I control the game or batting practice or throwing on the side. Nothing can happen till I release the ball. I am in charge.
2. Know the purpose of every pitch and picture yourself succeeding. (The purpose is to get the hitter to hit the ball.) Visualization can be very beneficial. This will be covered at another time.
3. From the first pitch to every hitter, every pitch is designed to get the hitter out. There are no waste pitches. (Get ahead in the count.)
4. Every hitter must prove that he can hit my power pitch. My other pitches will compliment and set up my power pitch.
5. I will develop an off speed pitch that I can throw for a strike when I am faced with a fastball count, 2-0, 3-0, 3-1, 2-1, 1-0.
6. I will know my strike zone and throw pitchers strikes. I will never throw hitters strikes. This means developing my power pitch on and off the plate and pitching to both sides of the plate. I will pitch inside.
7. Develop a plan for each hitter. How? Develop an attitude that says every time I see a hitter swing or take a pitch I will learn about him. To do that you must be in the game on every pitch: On the mound or in the dugout or bullpen.
