You've got to think right...

My favorite bible verse is Proverbs 23:7, "As a man thinks, so is he."

This verse is very relevant to baseball training... especially pitching, since that is my particular area. However, it is relevant to all aspects of instruction.

I am writing this today because I live in the world of instruction and notice that players (and parents) fall into a few categories:

• Expect something for nothing... these do not have the drive or commitment to put in the necessary time and effort to improve.
• Think training is a "microwave oven"... expect IMMEDIATE improvement. These become frustrated when adjustments take longer than expected. They may quit the process because they have faulty expectations. An example that I use sometimes is this, "making mechanical changes is comparable to walking. You walk a certain way... and this is learned over a period of time. Let's say that one day you decide to get walking lessons. The walking instructor tells you that you are not walking correctly... that to walk correctly you must kick your right heel up with every step. Now tell me, how long and how much work would it take for you to change how you walk?" Do you get it now? Do you see how much work and commitment this involves?
• Some think training is irrelevant... they think that you either have it or you don't. They think that playing on a team and getting instruction in practice will be all they need. These never reach their potential no matter their ability. 
• Some think right!... these understand the importance of doing things right. These are also committed to make the adjustments no matter what it takes. They say, "I don't care how long this takes or how difficult it is, I'm gonna do it." As an example, I have a pitcher who has worked with me for 6 years. The first two, every fastball he threw cut (curved). This took velocity off his fastball and made location very inconsistent and difficult. His mechanics were terrible and caused all of this, but he had a good arm. However, he was (is) a bulldog. He would (will) not quit. And today, he has dramatically increased his velocity and command of pitches. He throws fastballs that run (move to arm side). And he has made some very significant mechanical adjustments. He will listen and learn. He will take risks to try new things. He also made his high school team and will eventually pitch in college. And, he will be a very good pitcher at both levels.

To highlight this, I read an article in Golf Digest this week about Tiger Woods. To make a long story short, he has had 5 different swing coaches over the past 30+ years. He is still working on making adjustments and must pour vast amounts of time and effort into the process.

So my encouragement to you is to "THINK RIGHT"... "DON'T QUIT"... who knows, your breakthrough my be just around the corner.

The Blame Game...

Helping Young Athletes Avoid the Blame Game After Setbacks

Posted by Dr. Patrick Cohn (noted sports psychologist) on Wednesday, January 26, 2011 ·

When your sports kids get a bad call from an umpire, lose a game when it’s raining or make a bad throw when a dog is barking, do they blame the umpire, the rain and the dog?

If so, your kids need to learn how to take responsibility for mistakes and failures. And your words and actions will either contribute to the Blame Game–or help kids shoulder the responsibility. That’s the word from Rob Barber, president of USAthletic Baseball. He has coached a number of baseball players who have become major league players. He says that avoiding the Blame Game is critical for young athletes, and it’s all about making a commitment to developing as players.

“Frustration and failure come to us all; that’s part of the process. There’s nothing unusual or crazy about frustration and failure. This is part of the commitment we’re making.” As sports parents and coaches, it’s critical for you to remember that how you communicate with your young athletes can contribute to the Blame Game. “The language adults use and how they describe the successes and failures of their kids is extremely important. If a kid makes a mistake in a game, parents sometimes want to buffer the kid. We might blame the mistake on a bad coaching decision. We need to teach kids to take responsibility for what happened,” he says. When kids take responsibility, they’re more likely to fare better when they encounter the same challenge again, he says. In addition to being careful about how you talk to your young athletes about setbacks, you need to set a good example. If you’re at a game and your child or teen gets a bad call from a ref, don’t point it out or complain. Encourage your child to move on.

What’s more, you can point out role models for your children. If you’re watching a game on TV and you see an athlete handle a setback with grace and responsibility, point this out to your child. If an athlete is interviewed by a reporter after a loss and takes responsibility for his or her contribution to the loss, you should discuss this with your kids. These are athletes who are committed to developing as players. They take responsibility for mistakes and learn from them, rather than blaming others.

As we’ve mentioned in the past, it’s also critical for you to help young athletes move on after experiencing setbacks or making mistakes. Give them that “flushing sign,” which means, “Flush it and move onto the next play.” Later, they can think about how they could learn from the mistake.

A Broken Child...

THE BROKEN CHILD - A POEM OF YOUTH SPORTS TRAGEDY

Submitted by Dr. Alan Goldberg on Thu, 08/13/2009 - Dr. Goldberg is a noted sports psychologist...

The following poem was written by Mike Hall about his heartbreaking experience as a 10 year old with his coach-father.

"Your voice was like thunder that rocked my room and my world.
It shook my soul and crushed my spirit.
Where it came from doesn't matter.
You were wrong...the first time and the last.
There are no excuses and I am not to blame.
I will not accept that it was just your way of letting off steam.
Dad, you were a volcano erupting near my heart.
It wasn't smoke and ash that I feared,
it was the suffocating thought that tortured my brain...
the thought that there was nothing, nothing in the world that I could do,
to make you love the broken child
that was too scared to speak and too hurt to cry."