I have no reservations saying that if you have an athlete involved in youth baseball today, hes been exposed to failure more than a few times. The good news is that failure is part of the deal as it will build important character traits that will pay off inside and outside of baseball in the long-run. The problem Id like to address is how the tiny game to game failures compound and begin to turn into longer struggles or slumps.
The game to game disappointments athletes often experience are usually the result from a particular skill that isnt developed as well as it could be. Long-term slumps on the other hand, are caused by much more complex issues. Long-term struggles are generally caused from a combination of physical skill inabilities as well as confidence problems and self-doubt. Those two problems (physical and mental) occurring at the same time can be devastating to a players game.
Before I talk about how to solve a long-term slump, its important to understand how small game-to-game failures grow into full blown long-term slumps. Its really a simple concept to understand. Your mind records images of your performances, especially if the performance is accompanied by a strong emotion. If the performance is poor, the mind will save the image of your poor performance in your short-term memory allowing you to review it over and over again. The problem gets tough when the amount of negative images pile up in the short-term memory.
Unfortunately, when an athlete experiences a series of poor performances it creates extreme emotions. The longer the player experiences these emotions, the tougher it is for him to replace those negative images in his brain. The good news is that with some mental game skill practice this problem can be solved before it gets out of control.
The solution is to change the mental picture your mind keeps. Instead of seeing your strike out over and over again after the game, replay the image in your brain except this time see yourself get a base hit. Instead of replaying your blown save on the mound, change the image and allow your brain to see a different, and more positive result. Its a bit tricky when you first start out. But let me assure you, the more you work on this mental skill development, the easier this process will be for you.
About the Author:
BMI Baseball is devoted to teaching mental baseball skills to baseball players. the mental game of baseball is so valuable that BMI has created articles, products, and more to help develop mental skill sets for athletes.
Get all the information and photos:: http://coringa.info/sports/dealing-with-failure-in-baseball
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