Like most baseball players, I learned the basics for my baseball career in Little League and high school baseball. From there I went to Sacramento City College where I really learned the game of baseball, and more so, the game within the game. The head coach at that time was Jerry Weinstein, who is a worldwide recognized baseball mastermind and catching guru. One of the most important aspects of the game that I learned was the “mental game” of baseball. It wasn’t until after my baseball career was done that I learned how important that really was.

After I finished up with baseball, I got into playing men’s fastpitch softball. I started off by playing in our local Tuesday night league and soon after we put together a team that was competing at higher levels. I played on a few different Northern California teams that played high level tournaments all around the country incuding The Best of the West in Santa Barbara, The Portland Cup in Oregon, The Red Rock Tournament in St. George UT, and The Boatnik Tournament in Grants Pass OR. I played in several National Championship tournaments in ASA, NAFA and ISC. Those were in California, Oregon, Texas, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa. I played with teammates, and competed against players, that were selected to Team USA, the men’s national fastpitch team. I played with and against not only the best players in the United States, but also against teams from Canada and even the New Zealand national team.

My fastpitch coaching career includes Sonora High Varsity, Summerville High Varsity, The Sierra Gold Rush travel team and the TC Crew. I have conducted several softball clinics, softball and baseball coaches clinics, as well as catcher clinics with individuals and groups for baseball and softball.

Confidence is key. By creating a culture where athletes are given the freedom to make mistakes, we relieve much of the perceived pressure that often contributes to those mistakes in the first place. We treat mistakes and failures as opportunities for growth by evaluating, correcting and making adjustments to prevent the mistakes from repeating.

We teach our players to focus on the things they can control and less on the outcomes. A player can control their actions and their response to an outcome, but they do not control the outcome itself. Desirable outcomes and positive results are a cumulative by-product of doing things right, thus, winning takes care of itself.

It wasn’t until after I was done playing that I realized how important the mental game was not only on the playing field but in life! The mental game concepts are fairly simple however they can be more difficult to apply. The same way that hitting is a simple concept, in order to do it well, it takes a lot of practice. The mental game is no different. Players must practice the mental game skills as often as they practice physical skills.

Be here now. There are many ways to say it such as “one pitch at a time”, “focus”, “let that one go”, etc. It is difficult to make this play while you are thinking about the last play or worried about future plays. We don’t have the ability to change the last play and we don’t have the ability to make future plays. We can only effectively make this play by focusing on this play.

Control what you can control. Things happen in games that we have no control over. Umpires make bad calls. Players make mistakes. Coaches make decisions that we don’t agree with and so on. We have no control over those things, so it is wasted energy and attention if we chose to dwell on them. What we can control is our reactions to those moments and our action in the current moment.

Practice like you play because you will play like you practice. Players practice the physical skills with repetition after repetition of fielding ground balls, catching fly balls, hitting, pitching and throwing. The mental game skills must also be practiced with repetitions as well. This is not a skill that someone can just turn on during game time. In fact, game time is when it is most difficult to implement. Players and coaches must practice focusing on this play, resetting their mind after a mistake and refocusing again for the next play if they expect to be able to do it in a game.

Trust the process. Commitment to the mission takes self discipline, especially in the moments that result in an undesirable outcome. We must understand that doing everything right does not guarantee success. Consistency in training with physical skills and mental game skills empowers the athlete with confidence to move forward in moments of adversity. Players who believe in the process recover from these moments faster than the ones who don’t.

Players that can apply these skills on the field will find that they can also apply them off the field and are more likely to find success in life!

Here is a list of some books that have contributed to my coaching style and what I believe influences success.

— The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, by Patrick Lencioni

— Above the Line, by Urban Meyer

— Way of the Peaceful Warrior, by Dan Millman

— Welcome the Rain, by Michelle Sedas

— The Art of War, by Sun Tzu

— They Call Me Coach, by John Wooden

— The Power of Negative Thinking, by Bobby Night

— The Mental Game of Baseball, by Harvey Dorman, Karl Kuehl, Rick Wolff

— Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell

— The Speed of Trust, by Stephen M. R. Covey

— The Matheny Manifesto, by Mike Matheny

— Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell

— The Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch

— The Car Ride Home, by Mike Bergstrom