Must-Have #1: Composure Composure as a hitter is non-negotiable. Both mentally and physically you will hear the word used and it is an absolute must if you are going to be consistent at the plate. When you are up to the plate, whether in practice or in a game, it is essential for you to practice having composure. This will not be something that comes automatically, but will take time in order to be used to its full potential. However, once you have mastered this aspect of hitting there is not much that can stop you. You can practice this by making sure you are in trust mindset or game mindset at least 50% of the time in practice. You MUST practice mental pieces of the game just as much as you practice the physical skills. The other 50% of practice, you can be in practice mindset which simply means you can work on analyzing and critiquing to get better. In order to be composed, a few things have to happen. Number one, you must be able to be disciplined in your approach, both mentally and physically. Take it one step at a time. Do not rush through it, but be purposeful in each movement. It is really easy to just go through the motions of hitting without really thinking about it. While this can be a good thing, when you have no idea what your routine is, how will you know what needs to change? Number two, you must be able to focus directly on the task at hand with superior concentration skills and attention. This aspect of composure is all about concentration. There are going to be numerous distractions whether you are at practice or in a game. Some of these you can control, while others are outside of your control. In order to have truly good composure, you must be able to be present to be the most effective.
Number three, you need to take action over and over again, despite pain or pressure or fear. You have total self-control over your physical and emotional reactions. You learn how to pull the trigger. There will be times that you are physically exhausted, and it is important to know the difference between this and mental fatigue. If it is mental fatigue, take a moment, collect yourself and trust. As Jim Newman wrote in Release Your Breaks, People are responsible/accountable for everything they think and do, whether they like it, accept it, or even know it. Something completely related to this quotation is the concept of self-discipline, which plays a huge role in composure. It s the process of doing something you said you were going to do, the follow through to make something happen, whether you want to or not. It s action-oriented, with no excuses and no procrastination. Composure and self-discipline are also about being real. About walking your talk. Be confident in your abilities, not arrogant, and this will allow you to step to the plate, know you put the time in, and just do. Being composed is about being in control. (See#3). There are going to be a lot of things happening around you, but you have to maintain your concentration, take the necessary steps, and focus on the present task. When you are in a hitting slump, you may be focusing too much on the past. You may be thinking when you step to the plate, Why do I even bother? I will probably just make the same mistakes I ve been making. This type of thinking only focuses on things outside of your control. Let it go, and play your game one pitch at a time. Composure also has a lot to do with attitude. Have you ever seen a player who you just knew had a bad attitude? You saw them
lose it a few times on the field and you realized that they were more worried about how they looked in front of the coach than they were about letting the team down. Attitude will always determine long-term outcomes. Think back on a time when you were up to bat and just really were not in the best mood. Did it affect how that at bat went? Most likely it did, and not in a positive way. Your attitude can definitely take away from your composure if it is negative. As the golfer, Payne Stewart, once said: A bad attitude is worse than a bad swing. And so it is in softball. Attitude is also directly linked to another aspect that can detract from composure: distractions. While attitude is an example of an internal distraction, there are also external distractions that can be just as fatal. One of the most important pieces to the athletic success puzzle at any level is to stay on course, and not be pulled off by people or things that do not fulfill your mission as a player. At the professional level, there have been many athletes who have gotten off course, didn t keep their composure and were caught up in things that weren t the best decisions they could have made. At any level, there is a tendency to follow the pack. Instead, stay on YOUR course. Composure is about doing so and not letting anyone else pull you off. There may be times that these aspects of composure do not line up for you, so it is important to remember your routine each time you come up to bat. Composure will not always be a 100% due to the many variables that it entails. There will be distractions; there will be people that try to pull you off your path. Composure will always come back to your at-bat routine. Whenever you feel as though you are losing your composure, pull yourself back in, work through your preplanned routine and regain your focus.
Must Have #2: Confidence Priority number one and enemy number one all at the same time. There are a lot of things that are influenced by confidence when you play softball. Confidence is an attitude. It will influence success or failure almost single-handedly. After a few bad at bats, it is easy for confidence to become a negative factor in trying to regain composure. If you are currently in a slump, you probably are not having the highest level of confidence in yourselves. Remember, failure is a statistical probability in the game of softball and by understanding and accepting this fact, you can avoid the confidence downward spiral. Failing twice as much as you succeed at the plate is normal. In fact, it will get you in the hall of fame as a pro baseball player. Do not let one or two strike-outs or pop-flies affect the next two at bats. Confidence is being able to overcome uncertainty and fear. The success you have achieved in the past is a lot more real than the failures you may fear in the future. By reminding yourselves of these successes, you find ways to keep confidence alive and strong. So how do we keep confidence strong? Set and attain small PROCESS goals. Most players set outcome goals. I want to hit 2 homeruns today. OR. I want my batting average to be.320 by mid season. Out come goals are just that the outcome of something you have done. By focusing on the outcome, we have a tendency to measure ourselves by if we hit these milestones or not. Our success or failure, and thus our confidence, is predicted by our outcomes. Instead, try setting smaller, manageable objectives or process goals.
Process goals allow you to take the whole picture and create a more manageable snapshot of how you are going to achieve your end result. For instance, if you focus on having good at-bats instead of hitting homeruns, you are more in control of the situation. As you will see in must have number 3, worrying about things you cannot control just does not make sense. So think about it, if you are worrying about hitting homeruns, and that is your goal, there are a lot of factors that may make that difficult. Consider the wind and what direction it s blowing in. If the wind is coming IN from center field, it may make it a little harder to hit a homerun. Also, consider the pitcher. If she is throwing perfect drop balls, then the chances of you lifting a ball out of the park are pretty slim. All the things that are out of your control make it really difficult to put all of your confidence in the results of your outcomes. Unfortunately, most hitters do that. If they have had luck against a pitcher or in a certain ballpark before, they feel more confident going to the plate. Create those process goals that you can always go back to in order to give yourself the best opportunity to do well no matter what the conditions. Confidence should be decided ahead of time, rather than just waiting for it to come to you. Our emotions are often up and down, rather than straight and steady. Instead of basing your confidence on your emotions or on a good or bad play you made, be proactive and already know your abilities and have confidence in them before you step to the plate. As we human beings, we are going to make mistakes. We are also going to make really great plays. Don t allow these to determine how you view yourselves or form your confidence. Live by the phrase, Be here now, and play with confidence.
Must-Have #3: Control Two of our biggest fears are the fear of the unknown, and the fear of being out of control. That is probably why it is irritating to some of us when the umpire makes a bad call, or when the opposing team is mocking or taunting you. You really do not have control over what other people do, and that can at times be frustrating, especially when it comes to sports. An important part to hitting is emotional control. This is a necessary piece to avoiding the roller coaster ride at the plate. By keeping your emotions in check and not letting a bad at-bat create feelings of disappointment and frustration, you can keep your emotions right where you need them to be in order to avoid slumps and create a positive momentum swing in times of trouble at the plate. However, there is also a tendency to over-control which can lead to negative situations. One of the biggest trust-breakdowns in hitting is trying to over-control at the plate. This happens when a hitter does not feel she can trust her preparation and starts to doubt herself. By trying to over- control and make something happen, also known as pressing, a hitter actually creates a problem where there necessarily wasn t one. The other half of control, however, is making sure that you are only worrying about what is actually IN YOUR control. There are many times you try to change things or are affected by things that are not in your control. It is critically important to learn
how to let go of everything that is outside your grasp. Umpires make bad calls. The rain may come down in the middle of the game. The other team may just be playing their best. There are plenty of things that you cannot control. If you focus on the things you CAN, you will be well ahead of the game. As we have spoken of in must-have number 2, it is vital that you keep your focus on your process goals. By going back to these, as well as your routine, you will have a better chance of maintaining control. We all have those games where we feel as though nothing is going right for us. Those are going to happen. Take every opportunity presented to you in games and in practices to improve on your weaknesses and control. Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success. Stephen A. Brennan