Mental imagery
has been a major part of each and every aspect of human evolution,
regardless of whether the imagery was evident in our consciousness. In
other words, if one continues to think he can't hit a baseball, the
unconscious mind believes it, as negative thinking can only hurt the
individual's performance as well as the team as a whole. It's far
better to verbalize that work is needed in the batting cage rather than
to throw a helmet while complaining about an unsuccessful at-bat.
By mental imagery the idea is not to imagine crossing the plate after
hitting a game winning home run. Instead to improve hitting
performance, imagine yourself performing the perfect swing on a good
pitch or see yourself at the plate, in the batters box, waiting for a
specific pitch. Then picture the proper mechanics of keeping the head
perfectly still while getting the bat head in front of the plate to
make solid contact bringing in the winning run (if you need to keep
that part in your motivation).
A good time to practice mental imagery is away from the field of
play. By relaxing with the eyes closed, one may see himself
performing all facets of the game from hitting, fielding, base-running,
communicating etc. Here the young player is actually preparing
all of the neuro-muscular pathways within the body to learn proper
mechanics of motion required to perform the tasks of the game, while
letting the unconscious inner self believe it can be done. Mental
preparation also helps these same systems to assist with improved
confidence.
By all means one should learn more about the game by acquiring
knowledge of how it is played, and physically by practicing and playing
competitively. However, the mental part of one's game is often the
difference between being individually successful or unsuccessful which
often can result in winning and losing.
During a game the avenue to better mental preparation is through
concentration and CONCENTRATION is the key to success. Learn to keep
focus by constantly reminding oneself throughout the game of
situations, tactics and strategies and all of the specifics you've
learned about baseball. But most of all remember the adage " If you
think you can, or if you think you can't - you're probably right".
