Introducing Intention

In a quote by Deepak Chopra he states, “It is human nature to make our dreams manifest into physical form, easily and effortlessly.” The same could be said for playing baseball. When done correctly (both physically and mentally) playing the game becomes easy and effortless. We hit balls farther then we ever have even though it feels as though we barely swung. As pitchers we hit spots and throw harder even though it feels as though we are throwing at 60% or 70%. Often playing at this level is referred to as “the zone”. A quick, fleeting moment in time when everything lines up and the game seems to slow down causing everything to be easy and effortless.

What we don’t realize is that when we are in the state of “the zone” we aren’t in some magical, mystical state that only comes around every so often but rather we are performing in what is our natural state. For those fleeting moments when you feel so locked in and the game becomes easy you are actually in the state of mind that is our natural state. The state in which we should be performing and living in at all times.

So if this is true and we should be performing at this level at all times then why is it “the zone” only comes around every now and then? The combination of our mental conditioning combined with our learning of poor and ineffective physical mechanics prevents us from living in “the zone”. We are limited because we are never in a state where we allow things to happen. We are constantly struggling and striving to “make something happen” that we create our own obstacles to reaching the level of performance we desire to reach.

I see it all the time in the performance of my athletes. They are going along, learning, improving, and seeing the results they were hoping to see. Then something goes wrong a bad swing, a bad at bat, whatever. They begin to analyze what it was they did wrong and the next swing they “try” to fix or make the adjustment they know they need to make. With this effort comes mental clutter and physical breakdown and then one bad swing turns into another, and then another, and then another, until the athlete is convinced that, “somethings wrong”. They show up distraught and upset, “There’s something wrong with my swing!” they usually say, with desperation in their voice as though their world is coming to an end. By the end of our session they are usually fixed and then go out and play very well for the next few weeks. But what did I really do? Usually, more times then not all I did is remind the athlete what adjustment they need to make and then help relax their mind so that their body can perform the movement. In essence I simply removed the obstruction that was preventing them from performing the skill.

This could have all been done by the athlete on his own. I want you to change the way you look at your mechanics and how you perform the skills in baseball. Begin to see them not as something you do but rather something you allow. Once you obtain the knowledge of proper mechanics you then have everything you need to perform the skills over and over again creating limitless success. Many times all of the problems in your mechanics will fix themselves if you were to simply quiet the mental clutter that is going on in your head. Slow down your thoughts, your body, and begin to relax.

One of the things I work on with my hitters is what I call “Introducing Intention”. After a poor swing I get the hitter to set an intention for the next swing, that is think of the adjustment they intend for the next swing. Then instead of having them “try” to make this adjustment I get them to simply relax, slow their mind and body down, focus on slow deep breaths and then deliver the next pitch. The results are astonishing! The hitter usually executes a perfect mechanically sound swing. The ball us usually hit better then any of the balls before it and the hitter is able to maintain this swing until they get back into the mental habit of creating the obstacles to the execution of the swing. It really is amazing.

If you are going through some struggles or are having a hard time developing consistency performing your mechanics I urge you to try something different. Visualize the adjustment you wish to make and then step out, relax your body, slow down your thoughts, slow down your breathing, and allow yourself to perform your mechanics. Remember playing at a high level isn’t as hard as you think. We just make it that way.