Creating a positive mindset: A New Milford baseball coach’s perspective
NEW MILFORD, Conn. — I didn’t wake up one morning and say, “Theresa, I’m going to sign up to coach baseball today so I can make kids and their parents so miserable that they will all go sign up for soccer next year.”
Seriously, this is something that I feel people do think happens on a regular basis. I certainly did not say this one day to my wife when I started to coach baseball. With this being said, it happens way too much that kids are miserable when playing this great game. Baseball is hard, very hard, and if it was easy everyone would do it with great success.
Baseball is a game, just a game, that should always be fun. I want to take this time to explain to all of you how to make this game fun no matter what happens. Too many times throughout the course of a season there will be things that do not go your way. It doesn’t go your way as a player, or sometimes a parent. This is where I come in to give some tips and tricks to keep yourself UP when things are down. This game has changed my life for the better and I want to keep helping young people learn from this game as I have. With all the pressure of the world now, any time young people can be outside and do something that they love, we all need to make it the most positive thing that we can.
Failure
Listen, baseball is a game of failure and needs to be explained to players at every level through High School. If they know that it is ok to not be the best every day, they will not put the most pressure on themselves every time they take the field. Failure also breeds success in the long term. If you can learn to fail with confidence, yes, I know this is a bit strange, but hear me out. If you strike out 3 times on sliders away when you get to two strikes, what do you think you can do that will make you more confident the next time you get in the box? Do not get into two strike counts, swing at fastballs early in the count and understand that if you hit the ball hard good things will happen
Positivity
This is something that many people have a hard time with, and I do not understand why. I see so many coaches and players who come to the field with the least positive attitude I have ever seen. If you cannot carry a positive attitude to the field whether it is practice or game, then the topic above will always happen. Players, think of the most positive thing in your life and always channel that. Hey, are you good at Fortnite? MLB the Show? Well think about that when you get to the field. Make that feeling of positivity channel all the time while you are on the field and even off. Coaches, listen, this is a BIG one! You need to stay positive all the time. Yes, I know you can get mad, frustrated and/or upset at times. I need you to understand that your players will feel and model your behavior. If you are not positive and make things calm and cool, then how can your players play that way? Well, they can’t, and they will never perform the way you want.
These are the two most important things that I can relay to you all for the game of baseball. I can sit here and give you drills and drills that you can run or do at practice or on your own, but why would I do that? I know that I can teach the fundamentals of the game, but one thing that I pride myself on is the mental aspect of this game. As a player and a coach, you all need to know that you will fail more than you succeed. You also need to know that if you cannot maintain a positive outlook and attitude, you will fail a lot more. Everyone wants to win and be successful, but if you can build a positive mindset and positive relationship with your players then the sky’s the limit. I have had teams for years who were not the most talented, but they all pulled for each other and knew that every time they came to the park, their teammate would be positive, and their coach would be positive and reinforce success and not failure.
Thank you and I wish you all the best in the upcoming summer season and or end of your spring season. Always remember it is just a game, and if you treat this as such you will always have fun, remain positive, and be the most successful self you can be!
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