"When I think of a stadium, it's like a temple. It's religious." -Jim LeFebvre, major league outfielder and coach

It is the time of year!  If you aren't yearning for it right about now, you might want to double-check your affinity for baseball! Major leaguers; potential major leaguers; college players they are getting ready and prepped for Opening Day! 

In the photo above of Shibe Park (Connie Mack Stadium) - the former home of the Philadelphia Phillies and the Philadelphia A's - it makes you feel the summertime,  even by just looking at the picture.

Soon enough pitchers will be throwing strikes and balls. Batters will be hoping for a good one to hit. The tying run, the winning run, just another run will all be in play once the field is taken by the players. The defense will be gunning for outs. Voices will be heard. Dirt will fly. 

This makes all the snow and cold leave my mind. It makes me visualize the spring and summer of 2010!

So make sure you make a mental note to check in with the ballplayers as soon as you are able.

It's About "We"

"A team is where a boy can prove his courage on his own. A gang is where a coward goes to hide." - Mickey Mantle, NY Yankees.

I am a firm believer that we are only as good as the people around us.


Whether it's in life or in sports or in the business world, one is dependent on the concept of "we" not "I." 


I think this Mickey Mantle quote sort of leads us down that road. It leads us to a place where we can contribute to success, not hide among excuses for failure. 


As much as one remembers Mantle for being at the core of the Yankees success in the 1950s and early 1960s, there were many, many, many names that helped him bring the glory and World Series trophies to the Bronx. After all is winning is a team effort. In the 2010 world we live in today, there is too much emphasis placed on individuals and individuality.  If everyone cared about the group or groups succeeding, I think we'd see more success.


Make sure you players understand that individual stats are important, but the success of the team is of the Utmost importance.

Georgia Peach on a Cold January Morning...

"Baseball was one hundred percent my life." - Ty Cobb, Detroit Tigers

On this frigid winter morning, there are thoughts of baseball diamonds, white leather spheres and bats running through my brain. 

I can see the players lined up in the outfield, getting stretched out. I visualize them throwing and then going through the pre-game workout.

On the pro level its a few weeks away. On the collegiate level, its just about here. At the high school level (at least in NJ) we start up March 5th!!

With this in mind, the advice we get from the great "Georgia Peach" - Tyrus Cobb, tells us that - we should be thinking about all this already as we prepare for the upcoming season.

He lets us know that to be the best at whatever you choose, it takes a 100% effort - physically, mentally, emotionally. So whether we are going to be engineers, accountants, bankers, teachers, nurses, attorneys, entrepreneurs - go at it with everything back. If you hold - you run the risk of looking back on the moments and saying "What if I had given 100%?"

So on the cold New Jersey morning, take a little time to reflect about the choices you make, look in the mirror and decide where you are going to put your 100%. You can't change the past, but you can surely shape the future.

It's All in the Mind...

"You must have an alibi to show why lost. If you haven't one, you must fake one. Your self-confidence must be maintained." - Christy Mathewson, Hall of Fame pitcher from the New York Giants

One of the most underrated qualites of successful people is their confidence. To be successful and triumphant, one must believe! There has to be no doubts. Doubts will lead to self-questioning. Self-question will lead to fear. And fear will lead to, even more fear.

So close your eyes, count to five and believe! If one lacks self-confidence, one is defeated before the contest has even begun.

So whether it's baseball, life or any game - one has to look and play the role, before any wins can be put in the book.

For more on Mathewson, check out - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christy_Mathewson

Skills, Skills, Skills

"If you aim to steal 30 or 40 bases a year, you it by surprising the other side. But if your goal is 50 or 100 bases, the element of surprise doesn't matter. You go even though they know you're going to go.  Then each steal becomes a contest, matching your skills against theirs." - Hall of Fame outfielder Lou Brock - former Cub and Cardinal





Ok all you baseball nuts out there, here we sit in late January pining for Spring and the arrival of pitchers and catchers to Florida and Arizona.


At the collegiate, high school and youth levels - kids are working on their game getting ready for the upcoming season. One way players can get ready for the upcoming season is to hone up on the love of the contest and to work on their baseball skills.  It's a great time to start swinging the bat, throwing the baseball and getting the legs in shape for baseball type activity.  


It doesn't have to be everyday, but about 2-3 times a week is perfect. If hitting, it doesn't have to be live pitching - it could be soft toss, tee work or even just dry swings.  For pitchers, it doesn't have to involve throwing hard - just work on the basics. The basics for pitchers would be the windup/set stances, the motion, balance and getting the arm into the proper throwing position.


On the mental side, players should be analyzing their own goals and expectation and getting them down in writing.  They should be specific goals and specific expectations. Players should be doing a lot of visualizing and mental preparation.


January is almost over. At that point, we're just about 4 weeks from Spring Training games!!


-
Mitch Powitz
powitz@gmail.com

Feels like spring...

Ok everyone, I'm give this blogging this a run on a regular basis. (At least the third or fourth time I've written that).

I'm going to feature a famous quote (or not so famous) and work off of it as we start counting down to the start of baseball season.

So we start with Brooklyn Dodger great Roy Campanella:

"You gotta be a man to play baseball for a living but you gotta have a lot of little boy in you, too." 



The Three-time National League MVP (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Campanella) sums up a key element to success in any endeavor - enthusiasm. He perhaps was one of the greatest catchers in baseball history and this, I'm sure, was one of the keys to his success.


Even after he suffered a career-ending car accident which paralyzed him from the waist down in the late 1950s, he still had a reputation and upbeat and enthusiastic man. 


Let's hope the little boy (or little girl) comes out of each of us a little bit each day.

HOW TO BE A WINNER –

WHY WINNERS WIN!

The top 5% do 95% of the winning. Why, because they set goals.
One knows they are going to win, not cocky, just fact.
Expectations become internalized.

Mental Management:
A. Conscious (thoughts)
B. Sub-conscious (skills)
C. Self-Image (habits, attitudes & how we picture ourself)

KEYS
1. One can only concentrate on one thing at a time.
2. What you cause someone to picture is important (Black Cows; don't spill the coffee)
3. Sub-conscious mind is the source of all your power.
4. SC moves you to the conscious mind.
5. Self image and performance are EQUAL. To change your performance, change your self-image.
6. Replace the self-image you have with the self-image you want.
7. When your conscious, sub-conscious and self-image are all aligned and balanced, good performance is easy.
8. Use principle of reinforcement - (use positive prediction & be careful who & what you talk about. If you worry about something, its likely to happen).
9. Use REHEARSAL - MIND can't tell between actual vs. imaginary.
10. Deal with pressure - by controlling your anxiety and arousal - through rehearsal.

GOAL(Is it achievable or a pipe dream?)
1. Decide what you want
2. Decide when you get it
3. List the pay-value (what will it cost you in sacrifice)
4. Determine the obstacles in your way
5. What is your plan to get your goal?
6. Ask important questions:
A. Will the plan work?
B. Can I work the plan?
C. Is the prize worth the price?
7. Schedule it!
8. Start Now!
9. Set your next goal before complete your current goal.
10. Never, never quit.


MENTAL PROGRAM
1.Point of initiation (starts process, be consistent with this)
2. Point of attitude (confidence, gear up the sub-conscious. Begin visualization)
3. Point of direction (concentration on task at hand and its success, continue visualization)
4. Point of control (focus on preparing to execute the most important part of task, "be loose & quick, see the ball " - for baseball)
5. Point of focus (executing your technique "get a good pitch and cut the ball in half.")

TRAINING (TO BUILD UP THE SUB-CONSCIOUS MIND)
1. Catch yourself doing something right (positive reinforcement)
2. Train 4 or 5 days a week.
3. Wherever you are, be all there.
4. Rehearse game situation within the practice.
5. When you are practicing well, keep it going... (shoot a lot/hit a lot, etc).
6. We raise or lower ourselves to the standards we are around.
7. Make a bet with yourself and when you win it, pay off.

TO IMPROVE -
1. You must be willing to change!
2. Identify the attitudes and habits you need to change
3. Set up a new self image that is in direct conflict with your old habits and attitudes.
4. Exchange the old self-image for the new self-image.

SEVEN STRATEGIES OF THE MENTALLY TOUGH
1. Principle of transportation (adapt and change habits quickly)
2. Your past is not a prison (you can win the big one)
3. Imitate the champions
4. Train hard, compete easy
5. Visualize before game day
6. Take all problems as positives
7. HAVE BIG DREAMS

Thanks to Lanny Bassham, 1976 Olympic Gold Medalist marksmanship and his book, With Winning in Mind