Failing Like a Champion

There is little disputing the fact that the mental game of baseball is vital in order to excel as a baseball player. And one of the most important parts of the mental side of the game is the skill of dealing with failure. It remains a constant challenge for athletes of all ages.

One of the most common pieces of “advice” I’ve heard given to young athletes who are having a rough stretch of play is to “flush it” or “just let it go”. It may have been just me, (though I have a sneaky suspicion I wasn’t the only one) but those simplistic phrases made me want to "flush" my coach because of the over-simplification. I know, that approach is not necessarily the right attitude to have, but failing made me extremely frustrated. I knew I needed to "flush it" but I didn't have the mechanism in place within my own ability that would allow me to do that. I hadn’t learned the skill of dealing with failure and consequently couldn’t do what my coach had recommended. I had not been shown any mental baseball drills to help me out of tough spots. When you run into a slump in your play, here are some good ways to break out of the funk.

1. Ask any coach who played at a high level how he or she chose to battle failure.

2. Log onto www.youtube.com and search for information on sports psychology or mental training. There is some good information out there by Brian Cain and others that will provide some thoughts on the subject.

3. Always keep in the forefront of your mind that you are playing a sport (baseball) that is littered with failures every performance. It’s just part of the deal. The more you play, the more you’ll fail.

Remember, all champions fail. In fact, they fail a lot. Just do a search on the internet on any well- known athlete and you will find that there are countless failures along his or her road to success. Michael Jordan is one example having been cut from his basketball team when he was a kid! It's time to change the perspective on failure from something negative to something positive. It's difficult and will take some rewiring, but it’s possible. The athlete who figures out the secret of adjusting to failure but still remaining willing to work hard will get the most out of his physical ability. Those who don't will unfortunately finish their careers without knowing how good they really could have been. Don't be the guy who makes that choice.