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The Mind " Not Mechanics"
Drives Performance
The mind drives everything. The day we can do a video analysis on what is going through a hitters mind both in training and in a game is the day we really have something.
What an athlete is thinking about can ruin his or her development and performance. It can also make all the difference in the world.
Technique is driven through mindset, game performance can be accelerated or limited based on the thoughts of a hitter.
Some will say the brain gets in the way. That is only partially true.
The mind can also help performance. It's really about having a clear and simplistic approach to both training performance and game performance. Then turning the mind off at the right time.
I have seen struggling hitters succeed by changing nothing except mindset.
You can say the key to hitting is timing but the reality is that it's not. The key to timing is mindset. You can say the key to hitting is technique well it's not. The key to technique is the mind.
It has never been clearer to me.
Want to test theory??? Ask a great hitter what makes him a great hitter?
Listen carefully to the answers. It will be far less complex than you would think.
Some will even reply "I don't know".
Most people don't want to accept these answers because
it makes the answer to simple. They think, it can't be that simple.
In a way it's really not. In a way it is much more complex for people to understand therefore can't be explained.
This is why we as coaches work on "mechanics".
It's something that can be explained on a level that someone can understand.
It's a short cut. It can also be a crutch. This is the mechanics trap.
MOST think...
Change mechanics - you change the hitter.
Not even close to true. Change how the mind works and
doesn't work and now you have something.
This applies to all aspects aspects of the game.
Improve from the neck up and watch pitching performance, defense, and base running all improve.
When a hitter struggles most think about mechanics or timing. I don't. I think about game and training mindset.
How has the mind altered performance ?
Once again I will be very impressed when the video analysis of the mind comes to be common. When we can see what a great athlete thinks about and doesn't think about.
Until then keep asking a better question. Continue to ask why.
Coach Mike Ryan
Owner- Director of Baseball Training
Fastball USA
PS
To my coaches out there here is a test-
Give me 5 words describing a great hitter.
If you can only use 5 words to communicate great hitting to a student what words would you use ?
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