Focus on the Now

I've heard from many people who have been following the blog and enjoying it, especially the story I wrote about tripping over my own feet. I've also heard some good feedback on topics people would like to hear about. I would love to hear from you via email (mfabiaschi12@gmail.com) to see if I can answer any questions that are applicable. I was talking to a high school friend Chris Pashley about some of my experiences from last summer and he gave me some great insight from a fan's perspective. He let me know that most fans never get to hear about the mental/personal side of a professional baseball player.

Playing any sport requires a level of mental toughness to be able to compete at a high level everyday. There are a couple of reasons why baseball will test you mentally, mostly because even the most successful hitters will fail seven times out of ten. Can you guess how many major leaguers hit over .300 last season? Only 12 out of the hundreds of hitters finished the season hitting .300 or higher. Failure is a part of baseball, and to be a successful hitter you have to be able to deal with this failure. The way that I try to deal with this part of the game is to treat every at bat the same. This seems like a pretty obvious idea, but it is only human nature to think some at bats are less important than others. Batting at the end of a close game with runners on base is very different than hitting when your team is down 15 runs. But, you really should have the same mental approach for every at bat because at the end of the season, all at bats are equal. You shouldn't be trying harder because it is a pressure situation, you should be giving yourself the best chance to hit every at bat. I posted a great video about mental toughness in baseball below.

I've also been asked what else I do to deal with the struggles that are sure to come at some point in a long season. The speaker in the video above makes a great point about focusing on the present. I am a huge believer in this, because right now is the only thing that you can control. You can't control your performance yesterday and you can't guarantee what your performance will be tomorrow. But, today you can control. I heard a quote that really stuck with me, "The most important day of your career is today." I love this quote because it applies to sports, work, school, and all aspects of your life. My focus when I get to the ballpark is to improve my skills and make the most of that day. We have hours before the game where we work on our swing, defense, and all parts of our game. When it comes time to 'tee it up' and the game starts, I try to focus on each inning, each out, each pitch. If you do this, you are totally focused on the current play, not the error you made last inning, or the home run you hit last night.

I hope this helps some fans get some insight into the mental side of a baseball player. But, I also hope this helps younger players and coaches learn more about baseball mental training, which is becoming more popular every year. Again, I would love to hear any feedback or questions anyone has about this or any topic you are interested in. God Bless!