Recently I wrote an article on my “Limitless Mind” blog (www.limitlessmind19.blogspot.com) where I discussed how what we experience in our physical reality is nothing more then an outward expression of what is going on inside our minds. Basically what I discussed was how we are always searching for external reasons for the lives we are living. What we fail to realize is that the answers to living the life we desire is already residing inside our own minds. If we change what is going on internally we would then be able to see the results of that change manifesting themselves physically.
Well, how does this idea apply to baseball? Why is what is going on in our mind so important when we are trying to hit or pitch a ball? Many of you have often heard me discuss the importance of mechanical repeatability. How the most successful players simply repeat proper mechanics more often then anyone else. You may have also thought to yourself, “Well, if it is really that simple why is it there are so few people can do it?”
In order to answer this question I think we have to ask the question, “Why do we experience mechanical breakdown?” Once we are able to figure out why one athlete experiences mechanical breakdown more often then another we will then be able to figure out how to enable ourselves to repeat good mechanics more often. What I have learned is that almost all mechanical breakdown has a mental origin. That our mechanics and the results we produce are directly linked to what is going on inside our own minds.
Sure, sometimes there is a physical reason for our mechanics not being perfect. Generally this is caused by lack of knowledge of the proper mechanics, fatigue, or injury. However once an athlete has learned the proper skills involved in a particular movement they should be able to repeat those movements time after time. The mental causes of mechanical breakdown range from: lack of deliberate practice (this is mental, when you “practice” you are basically imprinting a movement pattern into your subconscious mind which will allow you to repeat that movement), muscle tension, mental clutter, emotional instability, and possessing an egoic mind set (being led by your ego). Any one of these problems will cause some kind of mechanical breakdown and limit your ability to produce results.
Let me give you an example: you are clear minded, happy, enthusiastic, and as a result you come up and crush a deep homerun to centerfield. When you get back to the dugout you feel great, your teammates are congratulating you, and you’re the man. A thought roles through your head, “Wow I am gonna hit the next one farther!” In your next at-bat you are trying to produce the same result. You become focused on the outward result and not on what’s going on inside you. Your ego has now crept in because YOU want to do it again. As a result your muscles become tense and when the pitch is delivered you “try” to crush the ball. Your mechanics breakdown and up hit a weak ground ball back to the pitcher. What happened? What was different in this at-bat as opposed to the homerun? Most athletes will look for a physical answer: I got long on the ball, I was too early, I dropped the bat head, whatever. What we fail to realize is that the physical result, the mechanical breakdown that you experienced was caused by the change in what was going on inside your mind. Your mind and body still know how to perform the mechanics, you just prevented yourself from performing those mechanics because of what was going on inside your mind.
If you really want to produce unlimited results, if you really want to find out what is possible, you must begin to focus on what is going on inside of you. Keep a journal, write down what was going on in your mind during each at-bat. Write about the emotions you were experiencing, monitor your muscle tension and write down how tense you were during each at-bat. What you are going to find is there will be a distinct pattern to what you were thinking and feeling when you experienced success. If you are then able to repeat these thoughts and emotions you then will be much more likely to repeat proper mechanics. The next time you begin to struggle or the next time you don’t experience the success you desire ask yourself, “What is going on inside of my mind?” Start to learn what it is that is blocking your success. Make changes to your emotional state and mindset and begin to see your physical success change. When we are in a good place mentally and emotionally ANYTHING is possible and we can produce unlimited results.
