Baseball is a game of ups and downs. There are moments of euphoria and moments of utter frustration. These moments define a baseball player. The confidence, or lack thereof, does more to define the experience than the routine plays.

The in-game experience has a big impact on a baseball player’s confidence. “Strike three, you’re out” is the last thing any batter wants to hear from the umpire. “Ball four, take your base” is one of the last things a pitcher wants to hear from the umpire. The problem is that some players hear those words a lot. The disappointment and failure that the player feels would carry on until he made up for it, or until the end of the game. It is always hard to make up for it, though, especially when disappointment is weighing the player down. Players will tell themselves that they are just having a bad day. But a player eventually comes to realize that there are no bad days. It all depended on attitude and confidence and the ability to adapt to the ups and downs in the game. Confidence is the key characteristic to doing well as a player, and as a team.

A player goes through a lot of internal psychology during the course of a game. When a pitcher is on the mound or a batter is at the plate, the player often thinks to himself, “I hope I don’t throw a ball” or “I hope I don’t strike out”. When a player tells himself that, he wouldn’t have the amount of confidence needed to achieve the goal. This results in inconsistency of performance, and luck is the driver rather than mental motivation. What a player should be thinking is, “I am going to throw a strike” or “I will get a hit”. It is still saying the same thing, but the attitude has changed. That is when the confidence takes over and creates a higher level of focus and results. This is the difference between letting it happen to a player, or making it happen. Then it is a lot more likely that it will happen.

Coaching can be a key component to overcoming challenges. Even though confident players still throw balls, strike out, and make mistakes, overcoming inconsistency due to a lack of confidence can be a challenge. When a player makes a mistake and it stays in his head, that’s what coaches refer to as a “mental brick”. It sticks with the player and weighs him down. Good coaches always say that you get ten seconds to be mad about your mistake, but then you have to “flush it”.
A good player will make a mistake and return to his confidence and positive attitude quickly. When a player “flushes” his mistakes, it helps them quickly shift to a positive mindset and “make it happen”.

The in-game experience of a baseball player can seriously impact on a player’s confidence. The psychology of player is directly impacted. However, coaches have excellent tools to overcome mental “bricks” and turn the challenges into opportunities. These baseball lessons can be life-long lessons used to overcome all kinds of ups and downs in life.