Baseball, and of course softball, are mental games as much as they are
physical. The game stripped to its most basic is a stand off between the batter
and the pitcher. The pitcher does have an advantage, he knows what pitch he
plans to throw and has eight other players to back him up. There are, however, a
variety of mental tricks that the batter can use to tip the balance in his
favor.
Visualization: This is a pretty common mental activity, used for
everything from pain management to test taking. Basically you take some time to
sit quietly and picture the perfect swing. Although this sounds too simplistic
to work, Give it a try. You will be shocked at how difficult it is to imagine
yourself striding up to the plate, getting into your batting stance, and
swinging away at the perfect fastball. What normally happens is that your mind
takes over and you strike out, get hit with the pitch, or some other tragedy
ensues. The key to successful visualization is to have the perfect at-bat in
your mind. It is the most effective way to overcome any demons that you face on
the field.
For children, encouraging visualization can be a challenge. One way is to
have them practice together, at practice. Have them shut their eyes and you
describe the perfect scenario to them. Do this after each practice and encourage
the kids to do the same before bed. Once games start, when one of your kids has
a great hit, tell them to re-live that hit, how it felt, everything about it,
every evening.
Relaxation:
This is helpful for the batter who has a tendency to over think his hitting.
Before you are up to bat take a few minutes and breath in and out as slowly and
deeply as you can, shake your shoulders loose, basically go into your own little
world. Your goal is to bat like you are out there alone, you against the
pitcher, no coaches, spectators or first basemen ready to put you away. Just be
ready to swing the bat and let everything else take care of itself. This can be
a difficult concept for children to grasp, but if you are coaching you can help
by providing them with the tools, encouraging the physical behavior, such as
deep breathing, and the mental aspect will catch up.
Positive Self Talk:
This one is tough. Although it seems easy enough to be positive, there is a
difference between making a positive statement and effectively using positive
self talk. No one is ever perfect, and if you want to improve you have to be
realistic about what you did right and what you did wrong. The trick, whether
you are talking to yourself or to a group of kids, is to point out what went
wrong, shake it off, and re-live what went right.