Focusing on Mechanics

We hear it all the time, “Focus on what you can control” but for most of us we really never understand what that means. We’re told that if we focus on the process of success then success will happen naturally. Great! The problem is most of the time the people telling us this have no idea what the process to success really is. As a result we get into this mode of trying to do everything we can to succeed. We develop a mentality that is focused on everything external, we focus on trying to create a result, trying to hit the ball as hard as we can but we don’t have the knowledge or ability to focus on what we need to do to create that result. Fortunately for those of us who work for or work with the guys at UPB we are able to gain the knowledge and develop the skills that we need to create the results we desire to create. The hard part is trying to break our old mental habits and actually begin to focus on the process.

In baseball just like in life there are certain laws or rules that produce success. Success in hitting and success in pitching can be broken down into specific physical and mental skills that have been proven to produce superior results. Over the course of my career I have been on a quest to discover what these specific rules are. As more and more things were revealed to me it was then necessary for me to change my way of thinking. To try and think like the new player I was and not continue the same mental habits that I had as a player with lesser ability. I didn’t understand at the time how difficult this would be, however for the first time I understood what it meant to, “Focus on the process”. Like most athletes I had been told to, “Focus on the process” but just like most athletes nobody had told me what that process was. I was receiving mixed signals, on one hand I was being told that success on the baseball field was in large part due to my genetics, my natural born ability, and then on the other hand I’m being told to focus on the process. WHAT??? I mean how is there supposed to be a “process” of success if we are either born to succeed or born to fail?

Fortunately I didn’t buy into the belief that my success was in some way related to my genetics or natural born ability (If you still think it does I recommend two books, Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin and The Biology of Belief by Dr. Bruce Lipton). Over time I was able to gradually change my thinking and what I found was when I focused on simply executing proper mechanics my success took care of itself. I began to take the focus off of external results such as hitting the ball hard or getting hits and began to bring my focus more inward and focus on executing proper mechanics. What I found was not only greater success but success with far less effort. Now when I do my tee work or take batting practice I don’t necessarily concern myself with where the pitch is. Oh sure I recognize where it is, whether it be inside, middle, away, up, or down, but once I recognize where the pitch is my focus is then totally on allowing the pitch to enter the hitting zone and then just executing a good swing.

Once you have been exposed to and have learned proper physical mechanics I would recommend that you take your focus off of outward success and place it on executing good sound mechanics. Pitchers, once you get the sign from the catcher don’t concern yourself with getting the hitter out but rather focus on executing good mechanics which will allow you to execute a good pitch which will allow you to get the hitter out. Hitter’s sometimes we get too caught up in the “see ball hit ball” mentality. We go up to the plate with the attitude that we are going to hit the ball hard and as a result our mechanics leave us because we exert too much effort. Instead make your goal to execute a mechanically sound swing on pitches inside the hitting zone. Recognize the pitch type and location and once you do allow it to enter the hitting zone and simply put a good, mechanically sound swing on it. Taking this approach will help relax your mind, you will feel in more control over your performance and you will find more power production at the plate and you will begin to experience far more success.