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I’m not a Yankees
fan. There, I said it. I know that half of you are now finished reading this article, and I’m ok with that.
I guess I should explain my opening sentence a bit more thoroughly. While I’m not a Yankess
fan, I AM a fan of good, solid baseball. I consider good solid baseball players those who have
a firm grasp on both the physical as well as the mental game of baseball.
One of the first players I think of who has both components under control is Derek Jeter.
As with most years in his professional career,
2009 was an outstanding year for Jeter. First and foremost, he was a major contributor in the
Yankess winning the World Series. Some of his 2009 personal accolades included:
1. Appearing in his 10th All-Star
game
2. Winning his 5th World Series
Ring
3. Has become the Yankees all time leader in hits wit 2,747
4. Won his 4th Gold
Glove
5. Won his
4th Silver Slugger with a .334 batting average
and .406 on base average
6. Won the
Hank Aaron Award as the best hitter in the American League
If you get a chance to read Derek Jeter’s book,
The Life You
Imagine, you will quickly learn what makes him tick. The mental game of baseball is
high on Jeter’s list of reasons why he has become a highly successful baseball player. I’ve
added a couple quotes by Jeter below with some of my own commentary
following.
"You have
got to have fun. Regardless of how you look at it, we are playing a game. It is a business, it
is our job, but I do not think you can do well unless you are having fun."
Derek
Jeter
* Hard work, competing, and winning are what
make baseball fun. Once in a while I hear younger players mutter under their breath about not
having fun any more with baseball. Sometimes coaches can remove some of the fun from the game,
however, I think typically players can regulate their own fun-meter while playing ball. Those
who enjoying working on developing their hitting
mechanics or pitching skills over and over again think baseball is fun. They know at some
point they will enjoy the benefits of their hard work. Those who go head to head with tough
competition think baseball is fun. And finally, those who continue to work through mistakes and
achieve great things think baseball is fun. Fun doesn’t always have to be easy. I tend to think
Jeter would agree.
"We just want to win. That is the bottom
line. I think a lot of times people may become content with one championship or a little bit of
success, but we do not really reflect on what we have done in the past. We focus on the
present."
Derek Jeter
* Getting stuck in what you did or did not do in the past will destroy your forward momentum.
Lingering too long on your accolades from a couple years ago does nothing productive for you or
your team in the present. I think Jeter has nailed this by saying that he doesn’t reflect on what
he or his team has done in the past. A new year is a new year. Another athlete who has talked about
this quite a bit is Albert Pujols, who by the way won the Hank Aaron Award for the National League
last year in 2009.
If you are looking for a couple good resources
for developing the mental game, I’d suggest picking up the following books for starters. Both
are fairly east to comprehend and will help you out in the baseball psychology department.
The Life You Imagine – Derek Jeter
Mind Gym – Gary
Mack
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