In the game of baseball, there is a saying that goes “Baseball is 90% mental, and the rest divides between physicality and coachability.” This saying is important, since many players suffer from slumps, bad games, or even a bad season. In a player’s mind, the fear of messing up is one that haunts forever, no matter how well you incorporate mental health into your regimen.
Many players use meditation to overcome droughts in performance. Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Dylan Cease uses the Calm app, which is a meditation app to help improve mental stability. “I always thought that I didn’t know how to meditate, and it’s very difficult…I can notice the difference in how I feel and how clearly I think.”
Throughout baseball history, there have been many greats who have touched upon the mental aspect of baseball and how it has affected them. Many say that it makes them feel like the game speeds up on them, and ultimately makes them play worse.
Julien Powers, Varsity Pentucket Baseball Captain and senior, says, “Maybe I’ll just take more reps in practice, and I’ll see what that thing is I’m doing wrong and try to fix it, but when it comes down to the game I try to clear my mind and ultimately trust my mechanics.” He is talking about how he gets out of a slump in hitting and fielding.
Similarly, Luke Pergola, another senior and Pentucket Varsity Baseball player, says, “I work harder to get out of a slump and focus on what I did wrong and improve on it.” Luke tries to understand what he does wrong and reflects on it, making his ability to adjust to situations impeccable.
Both of these seniors do their best to perform the best they can, and will try to fix whatever is wrong in any angle in baseball. They understand the game, making it easier for them to become better and advance to higher levels.
Another aspect of overcoming this slump is focusing on the mental growth of baseball. This aspect is more important, as baseball is mostly mental and helps to get out of the head, promoting success throughout the game.
Patrick Stewart, a senior and pitcher on the Pentucket Varsity Baseball team, says, “If I start off not hitting my spots in the strike zone, I take my deep breaths, say a prayer, and focus on other things than baseball.” Patrick prioritizes his ability to stay focused on the mound and finds a way to always stay on top and mow down the hitters.
Throughout life and baseball, staying out of your head is important, but also finding what works best for you to stay out of your head is an efficient and reliable way to achieve this goal. Sports are a great way to teach life lessons, and a person can learn a lot from older people or players, and eventually become a great person. All of these players have found something they can do to become who they are today, as people and as ball players.
