Baseball Confidence

Rox in Their Heads

2007-10-30T13:46:00.000-07:00

Well, the best team won the World Series.

Maybe they had more talent, maybe not.

They certainly had better energy.

I don't mean they were more pumped up, more Richard
Simmons-like energy. I mean they had better focus and flow
and resilience and flexibility and power -- energy-wise.

As I've said, the keys to success include: 1) Be aware of
your emotions 2) Be able to marshall your emotions in
service of your goal 3) Be able to recognize and relate
effectively to the emotions of your teammates.

The Red Sox did a great job with those.

I like to say that E-motion means Energy in motion.

When you feel emotions, energy is flowing through your
system. Is that good? Bad?

It depends. (When you deal in psychology, the answer to
almost every question is "it depends.)

It depends on the three items above -- can you recognize
them, use them in service of your goal (as opposed to being
used BY them or hijacked by them), and relate effectively
to the emotions and individual styles of your teammates?

If so, you're a good "emotional athlete."

So the Red Sox were superior Emotional Athletes.

They could take a punch (in the form of a 3 or 2 run HR by
Colorado), they could hold their center/hold their power as
the Colorado fans went wild trying to break them.

The Rox fans' lightning bolts simply bounced off the force
field the Bosox created around them.

As a mental game coach, it was a delight to see, although
as fan I would have enjoyed seeing things come back to
Fenway.

Everything I saw and read about the Red Sox was right on
from a mental/emotional game standpoint.

The whole Manny thing ("It's not the end of the world") was
perfect.

That upset a lot of people, but that's our culture. It
upset a lot of people that would have played like the
Indians when the chips were down -- tight, like, well, it
WAS the end of the world.

The Bosox kept saying in the interviews "we're playing one
game, one pitch at a time." Everyone KNOWS they should do
that, but very few DO it.

That's why when the players actually do it, they use those
words. They can't think of any other way to say it because
that's REALLY what they're doing.

Few players, and even fewer TEAMS actually play one pitch
at a time.

Lastly, all the quotes in the paper talk about how Francona
"created an atmosphere where we were free to play loose,"
or something to that effect.

Coaching is largely about creating an environment where
players are freed up to play great, as opposed to playing
to avoid mistakes.

So my hat off to the Red Sox for a well deserved
championship.

Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson

p.s. Want that great feeling after a season like you saw in
the Boston uniforms? Choose your weapon here to get
started: http://www.BaseballConfidence.com/Products.html

p.s. Please be sure to read an email from me tomorrow -- I
may have a very short term offer for you to get the best
"how to create great individual and team energy so you can
win your own championship" program for baseball and
softball I've ever seen.

p.p.s. http://www.BaseballConfidence.com/bootcamp.html

Audio Tips for Playing with Confidence

2007-10-26T17:32:00.000-07:00

I got a call today from Bob -- a softball player who's really gotten into the mental game.

I recorded the call because I wanted to be able to pass on what he's learned from applying stuff from Confidence Conditioning for Baseball.

I wasn't disappointed, and am happy to let you listen in here...

http://www.baseballconfidence.com/baseball_audio.html

The Rockies need to up their game this weekend. I have no doubt they can, given what they've accomplished in the last month.

But, if you know any Rockies, pass on this recording of Bob, it's got some gems.

Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson

p.s. You can get the program he's talking about for no charge if you join the Baseball Confidence Gym for just one month. The CD for November will be an in-depth interview with Kent Stock, the coach depicted in the new move, "The Final Season." It's being called the "Hoosiers" of baseball. Great, dramatic story. He'll tell us the inside scoop on how he did it.

http://www.BaseballConfidence.com/Join.html

The Emotional Athlete

2007-10-18T08:23:00.000-07:00

It is just me, or are the sports pages dripping a lot of
emotion this morning?

Start with C.C. Sabathia: "unexpectedly ineffective" is how
the page describes him in two play off games.

His manager, Eric Wedge, says: "With C.C. I know that he
feels like he needs to do more, and hopefully he won't feel
like that tonight. All he needs to do is just go out there
and be himself and pitch the way he's capable."

Have you ever seen a player TRY TOO HARD at your level of
play?

Then there's Manny Ramirez.

"We're just here to have fun and play the games and that's
it," said the all-time post-season HR leader (meaning, he
plays well and often in the post-season).

Reacting to questions about his home plate reaction to his
HR the other night:

"I'm just trying to go have fun. If somebody strikes me out
and shows me up, that's part of the game, I love that. I
like that. I like to compete and when people strike me out
and show me up, it's all good. It's not a hard feeling."

Then there was FSU football coach Bobby Bowden saying that
his 1987 decision to go for two after a late touchdown. A
choice that prooved costly. "I think about it, but it
doesn't haunt me," he says.

And another football player talking about how his "gut was
tied in knots."

---------- SIDEBAR

Did you notice that Leo Mazzone was a genius at Atlanta as
pitching coach, and got fired from Baltimore?

Something also tells me there's more than one person out
there that could be successful as the Yankees manager.

END SIDEBAR ----------

Sports doesn't demand that you just be a physical athlete.

It demands that you be an "emotional athlete."

By that I mean you have emotional strength, emotional
flexibility, emotional endurance, emotional balance,
emotional resilience, and emotional intelligence.

You need to be able to recognize your own emotions, channel
them into service of your goals, and, to be a good
teammate, be aware of others' emotions.

That's what enables you to "just be yourself" and "have
fun" no matter how big the stage.

Homework for today... Simply notice the role emotions play
in your decisions and actions today.

One of my teachers, Julio Olalla, defines emotion as a
"predisposition for action."

We read about actions in the paper, and watch them on
SportsCenter, but emotions are actually leading the way.

Be on the lookout for them today.

Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson

p.s. I'm in the process of completing the manual for my
Mental Training Camp. The manual will be an All-Star team
of "emotional athleticism" exercises. It will be a
step-by-step for turning you or your players into emotional
all-stars.

Most players (and coaches and parents)are emotionally out
of shape.

As a result, they can't take a punch (the aren't
emotionally resilient), they lack flexibility (so they pull
emotional hamstrings), they're not balanced (so they try
too hard in big situations).

Remember when Don Zimmer charged Pedro? Pedro was
emotionally balanced, Zim wasn't.

Face plant for Zim.

Don't get your face planted. Learn to be an emotional
all-star at this camp.

http://www.BaseballConfidence.com/bootcamp.html

p.p.s. At least get started with one of the programs at
http://www.BaseballConfidence.com/Products.html

Space Monkey Update 1

2007-09-18T08:40:00.000-07:00

That thunder you may have felt Sunday night was the
launching of our Baseball Confidence.com Space Monkeys.

They are now well on their way. Too soon to have on-field
results, but here's one update...

*********************

S.M. Jeremy wrote in his application...

"My current issue is that I have a great deal of trouble
throwing Batting Practice.

"I have been coaching for 6 years, 3 years at the college
level, and this has been an issue since then. BP is an
essential part of what I do, as you know Dr. Hanson, and
there would be nothing more I would love to do than my guys
great BP and watch their skills improve.

"But taking the "mound" to throw puts a fear of failure in
me so deep, it locks my mind, most importantly, and then
begins to lock up my body parts.

"Standing behind the L screen, not even throwing that day,
gives me the willies. Instead of being able to hone in on
the zone, the plate looks like forever and a day away and I
feel like the loneliest man on earth.

"The batter becomes my focus, instead of focusing on
throwing strikes. "I am worried about their reactions to
each bad pitch, and then I am so focused on what everyone
is saying at the park; our batters, our fielders, our
coaches, the other team, other fans, etc.

"I hear every comment and by this time, my focus and mind are anywhere
but throwing strikes…Bottom of the barrel!"

**********************

And here's his first post-launch journal entry:

"I just go off the phone with Dr. Hanson and I cannot
believe how great I feel right now. I was in a early
morning-just woke up-studying for a test mode and I feel
completely energized and ready to take on the world and
this issue...

"I then visualized myself throwing BP to our players on our
field and relayed what I was seeing to Dr. Hanson. At
first, I could not focus on throwing great BP; I could see
myself throw a strike and then drill a guy or throw a
ball...

[We did about 20 minutes of coaching...]

"I feel very confident at this moment that I can walk into
the cage and throw consistent strikes by trusting my
mechanics and focusing on the mitt. I am definitely a
believer and will keep up with my homework to completely
eliminate this issue! Thank you Dr. Hanson!!

Jeremy Sheetinger, KY

--------------------------------

I'll keep you posted on Jeremy and many other S.M.'s
progress. I'm so confident that he'll throw great that I'm
not concerned in the least about any pressure this update
might put on him.

Stay tuned, Tom Dr. Tom Hanson

p.s. I guess what I want you to get out of this is that
rapid improvement is possible. Moreso than ever before.

Last week I coached a DI player out of his throwing yips in
13:35 seconds and had a pitcher declare the reduction in
his shoulder throwing pain was "astonishing."

If you want to jump WAY in front of all other players and
truly have an awesome mental game, come to my Boot Camp
November 3 and 4.

Be astonished yourself -- by what YOU can do.

www.BaseballConfidence.com/bootcamp.html

A Dire Warning

2007-08-30T19:05:00.000-07:00

I've always enjoyed this quote:

"Sometimes the best thing you can do with your life is to let it serve as a warning to others."

The photo that usually goes with that is of a sinking ship.

Funny stuff.

Except when you're the ship.

Much of our success as humans stems from a highly developed ability to stay out of danger.

We're programmed to 1) get food and water, 2) reproduce ourselves (s*e*x) 3) avoid danger.

We "rubber neck" at accidents in part to see what not to do. Negativity sells on the news in part because our brain is trained to look out for danger -- to see what to not do so we can stay safe.

Such a warning came out yesterday.

You may have seen it. I don't ususally see things like this, so it's likely that you did too.

Miss Teen South Carolina.

I don't want to make fun of her -- I've choked too.

But for the reason's I've listed above, I think you should see it.

And then imagine the baseball equivalent.

See, if you go out onto the field under prepared, you run the risk of this happening to you. Let's just call it falling short of one's potential.

Not good. Especially in today's YouTube World.

More unforgiveable is to send players you coach or your son into the fray under prepared. You know powerful mental training is available, there's no excuse for watching a player melt down and fall short of his potential.

Knowing the power of the mental weapons I've got in my arsonal, I don't see a player reaching his potential without them.

In the coming days and weeks I'll be sharing more about the design and functioning of the mental game of baseball.

All my messages will end the same way. I want you to come to my Mental Training Boot Camp. I'm certain that all who attend will never be the same.

First, here's that clip I mentioned, the melt down. You might laugh ( I confess I did), but don't miss the lesson.
Train your brain for excellence and you avoid this....

http://www.BaseballConfidence.com/avoidthis.html

Then come back and get the low down on my Nov, 3-4 Boot Camp here in Tampa Bay at www.BaseballConfidence.com/bootcamp.html

Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson

p.s. And check out all the tools that can help you avoid crashing and burning at www.BaseballConfidence.com/Products.html

How to Win

2007-08-07T08:01:00.000-07:00

"Just win, baby."

Great line from football's Al Davis. And he won a lot.

It sounds great, but how do you do it?

This month I interviewed another winner named Al.

This one is a Hall-of-Famer. He's 70 years old and he's won
every where he's competed. 50+ years of winning.

I met him just a couple of weeks ago at a sport psychology
seminar -- he was the kick-off speaker.

I knew 5 minutes in I had to have him in the Gym -- to work
him over for my members.

My Gym members love to win. They know they can't control
winning, but they love to win.

I love to win and I've made a career out of learning from
winners how they do it.

Do you love to win?

You've no doubt won a few things in your day. How did you
do it? How would you answer that question: How do you win?

How do you balance wanting to win while focusing on the
process of playing? What are the steps you'd take to
outline for someone else how to win?

Well, those are just some of the questions I asked this guy
Al.

If you're guessing which Al it is (Kaline? Oliver? Dark?
Campanis? Alda?) you can stop now, you won't get it.

Al Miller.

Hall of Fame: Soccer.

Have you ever had the privilege of playing for a truely
great coach? One that made you feel like you could do
anything?

In his talk, Al said: "You've got to get them to see
themselves as bigger thann they now see themselves."

(Tom: "How do you do that?")

Remember the 1980 Olympic Hockey team? U S A U S A

That was a "miracle."

When Al took over an expansion pro soccer team his primary
interview question for everyone involved -- front office to
front line -- was "Do you want to be part of a miracle?"

Those that said "yes" that he selected were in for the ride
of their lives.

They went from 0 to W in record time and were the Team of
the Decade. Their first decade.

How do you do that?

He took over a college team that hadn't won a game -- ever
-- in three years of existence -- and won a national title
in his fifth year (40 years later the college hasn't won
another national title in ANY sport)

How do you do that?

He took up golf late in life and has now won 5 club
championships.

How do you do that?

He took up racquetball even later in life and now has been
in the national finals 3 straight years.

How do you do that?

And he won my admiration. Big time.

How do you do that?

Win, baby, win.

(And then be smart enough to be able to articulate how you
did it.)

Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson

p.s. So my first challenge for you today is to define what
winning is for you: today, this week, this month, this
year. What would be the equivalent of winning the World
Series for you?

Next, I challenge you to take action toward that goal(s). A
smart first move is to get this interview with Al Miller
and get the exercise I created that accompanies it.

Take action and you're on your way to a W.

JOIN NOW

The True Nature of Baseball

2007-07-26T14:33:00.000-07:00

I love this line from White Sox' hitting coach Greg Walker:

"We just got down early, and mentally, we panicked. Guys
started thinking 'Oh my God, I'm hitting .220,' or 'I'm
hitting a buck fifty.' And baseball doesn't feel sorry for
you. If you start going bad it'll bury you" (Baseball
America).

BASEBALL DOESN'T FEEL SORRY FOR YOU.

That's my favorite line.

Baseball doesn't care what you've done lately. It feel bad
for you when you're hurting.

It doesn't feel good for you when you're on a roll.

Even if you are a big leaguer.

Baseball just is.

It is just there, like an instrument waiting to be picked
up and played.

It's up to the player to pick it up and decide how well
he's going to play.

It's up to the coach what type of emotional environment
he's going to create.

Baseball can be a blessing from Heaven. It can be lethal.

Better players decide how they are going to play and they go
out and play that way.

Regardless of circumstances.

Lesser players let the game decide for them how they are
going to play. They let what happens, much of it quirky,
determine their attitudes, effort, and enjoyment of the
game.

The beauty is that we don't get to decide what actually
happens in the game, but we do get to decide how we're
going to approach it.

Are you going to be a victim of the game or a victor?

You don't have to let the game play you. Notice in the
quote above it sounds like the White Sox hitters were
powerless to reverse their fortunes?

That's not necessary.

Not for big leaguers, not for little leaguers.

No matter what your results you can turn things around.

Fast.

Start taking charge of your mental game by joining my
mental training Gym. Tomorrow is the last day to get the
Aaron interview as part of your membership.

http://www.BaseballConfidence.com/Join.html

Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson

p.s. I'll still take a few more people with the throwing
"thing." Yips. Steve Sax Disease. Whatever you want to call
it. I'm undefeated so far -- all are far down the road to
recovery. Don't let this curable affliction rob you of your
enjoyment of the game. Write to me.

p.p.s. I'm finalizing details for my Mental Toughness
Bootcamp this Fall. Stay tuned for that.
Heads-Up Performance Inc

Send Me Your Yippers!

2007-07-19T08:50:00.000-07:00

Rick Ankiel.

Chuck Knoblauch.

Steve Sax.

You?

If you fit in that list I've got good news for you. If you
don't fit in that list, good for you!

The "Yips."

The "Thing."

"It"

It goes by many names this "throwing thing." It's cruel and
heartless -- cancer-like.

It cuts down wonderful players in their prime. It cuts down
wonderful players before they even reach their prime.

And,it's a mystery -- until now.

Here's my bottom line: If you have the throwing yips or
care about someone who does, write to me and ask for info
on my new program, "Yip-eee!" (I may go with "Yip-ease",
but for now I like Yip-eee!)

The bottom line to the bottom line is that I'll work with
you, on the phone, and if I can't get you back to throwing
the way you used to you won't have to pay for my services.

This will be available to a limited number of players (or
coaches, I worked with a couple of professional coaches who
couldn't throw BP because of "it"). So act fast.

In the past I've worked with a fair number of these issues
and in different forms. 2 of the first 5 Yankee players I
met with had trouble throwing the ball to first to hold a
runner on.

I've got a pitcher now that pitches great but is terrified
to throw to first.

Catchers get it.

Outfielders get it. (Infielders who became outfielders
because they got it get it)

Golfers too.

So please forward this to anyone you know that may be a
candidate for my yip elimination program (YEP), (that's not
a bad one, but I still like Yip-eee!).

I'll work with a few and give you a report.

Thank you,

Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson

p.s. Hear a short clip of Aaron at
http://www.baseballconfidence.com

then get it all by clicking "Join" in the left navigation
bar.

Jet Stream Your Performance

2007-07-18T08:02:00.000-07:00

Sidebar:
----------------------------------
Can you believe the Brewers yesterday called up a pitcher named Grant Balfour?

I can't decide if that's one of the best or worst names ever for a pitcher. One could go with the riddle: "What's the worst thing you can do to a bad hitter?"
(answer: Grant Balfour)
----------------------------------

I had a great conversation on the phone yesterday with a new individual student who is committed to making his baseball dreams come true.

He'd been struggling for some time now, a few years, and as a college senior-to-be he's running out of time.

My first assignment from our free initial conversation the day before, was simply to pay attention to his thoughts until we spoke again the next day.

To give the exercise a bit more teeth, I asked him to simply evaluate whether he felt his thoughts were moving him toward or away from his goal.

"What did you notice?" I asked.

"That up until yesterday I was a 'glass is half empty' guy, now I'm a 'glass is half full' guy."

He's gone from despair to excitement in 24 hours.

We then blasted away at his negative thinking, conditioned in some positive thoughts and he took off toward his goal like Marlin and Dory jumping into the EAC.

You may not have young kids, so I'd better explain that one.

Did you ever see Finding Nemo? I've seen it 100 times thanks to my son CJ. At one point Nemo's dad, Marlin, and Dory (Ellen Degeneres) jump into the EAC (Eastern Australian Current), a sort of underwater jet stream, with a bunch of turtle-dudes.

Outside the current they had to swim to move. No swimming = no movement.

Inside the EAC they take off like rockets. Little to no swimming = rapid movement toward their goal (get to Sydney).

Now, back to the player...

This player entered the baseball EAC. A three step process:

1) awareness of his thoughts 2) blasting his negative programming 3) conditioning in the positive.

Of course he'll need effort to reach his goals, but he's now cruising down stream instead of fighting against the current of negativity.

Consider doing the same. Or, as Dory says, "Just keep swimming."

Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson

p.s. Time is running out for you to get the Aaron interview in the July Confidence Gym. Here're a couple of comments:

"Tom, The Aaron interview was PHENOMENAL." -- Mike Skoutelakis

"Dr. Tom, "Loved the Aaron interview, very thought provoking very much contrasted by Pete Rose comments earlier. Both men were passionate about their sport and had intense focus and trust but accomplished their goals differently.

"It's amazing when you reflect as to the time your interviews were conducted, 1991, 1993 etc. Great stuff-please keep it coming.

"Short story, my son will be a sophomore in HS. Plays high caliber travel and now summer JV and Varsity ball. He knows how to pitch but hasn't pitched competitively in almost a year but has thrown a couple of bull pens this summer. He was recently asked to pith in a tournament -the coach saying give me what you can. He is a competitor. He pitched a complete game shortened by the run rule. Why was he successful?

"1) he "shrunk the game" 2)stayed relaxed and focused on hitting the target and getting ahead of the batter, 3) he had no expectations and stayed within himself, did not rush, did not try to throw too hard etc. All good stuff.

Best Regards, Alan Freedman"

TH: Notice above how the son benefited from his dad's learning the mental game? That kid is in the EAC! That's good baseball coaching.

Don't get left out. Try the Gym for just one month, this month, and get the interview that changed the course of my career.

Read more at:
http://www.baseballconfidence.com/This_Month_in_the_Gym.html

Hear an Aaron clip at: http://www.BaseballConfidence.com

The #1 Key to Success is _________________.

2007-06-20T06:29:00.000-07:00

I screwed up.

Twice.

---------------------------------------
Before I explain that, thank you to the many people who've written me in response to my question about coaching @12 year olds. I'm shooting a video Saturday and have some short answer, specific questions that I've added at the end of this email. If you work with @12 year olds, please respond immediately.
----------------------------------------

A week ago I congratulated a player on being drafted and I mentioned his dad's name instead of his. His dad is a dear friend and one of our planet's best people and I was excited for him, so he was on my mind.

Then I pledged to correct it the next day and forgot.

So first, congratulations to Steven Otterness on being drafted by the Reds. Great job of making your dream come true, Steven.

Steven has done things the right way. He's persisted. He's gotten great grades in a demanding pilot training program at Embry-Riddle, busted his butt for 4 years physically, and has turned himself into a top pitcher.

A professional pitcher. He's earned that title.

He's followed the #1 key to success.

The #1 key to success is to decide you are going to succeed.

For me, for sure, the key to my business success is simply my deciding that I will be successful and then taking action consistent with that belief.

I make mistakes. I do things that don't work.

But I know if I keep going, if I keep my vision at the forefront of my mind I cannot be stopped. Not by anyone or any thing.

Not as long as I take action consistent with that decision.

It can be different for a baseball player, in that his physical gifts may not be there to compete at the highest level.

But the only way for him to know whether he's been given enough is to decide he's going to make his dream come true and act consistent with that belief.

Many, many players are in the Major Leagues who had once been told they couldn't make it. Scott Brocious told me at every level he ever played there were more talent players than he. But he believed and he focused.

And kept going.

Winston Churchill apparently gave a 9 word graduation speech:

"Never give up.

"Never give up.

"Never give up."

That was it. Then he sat down. To say more would have muddied his message.

Irvine never gave up last night, that's for sure.

I used to think I understood this idea. I taught it.

And you might be thinking, "Yes, I know that."

But now I get it at a whole new level. And I'm willing to bet there are several layers of understanding still there for you to peal away.

And chances are with greater understanding of the mental game and expertly guided mental training you can peal them away and rocket yourself toward YOUR dream (you have one don't you?).

Invest in yourself at www.BaseballConfidence.com/Products.html

Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson

p.s. OK. Here we go you baseball coaching /parents of @12 year olds. I encourage you to be brief b/c it makes it easier for me and it makes you think more. It is harder to be concise than verbose.

1. What is your greatest challenge? (see if you can nail it in one sentence)

2. What should I be sure to cover? (list in bullet format)

3. What elements should the video and program have (e.g. short segments, kids talking, etc.)

Anything else you want to add:

Thank you.

How to Make Your Performances Breathtaking

2007-06-12T11:59:00.000-07:00

This is a glorious time of year for us mental game-arians:
college baseball playoffs.

I can see the guys working their pre-pitch routines, taking their pre-pitch deep breaths. (The top teams almost all either have coaches that are into the mental game or they use a consultant to teach the stuff.)

It seems like the players really get that each pitch is important, that they need to really be focused to give themselves their best chance of dog piling on each other at the end of it all.

So you see the breaths in particular. Its sort of a "Deep-Breath-apolooza.

But...

Newsflash: every pitch in a game throughout the whole season is important.

These guys are still playing in part because they get that.
They do it all year. It's not something you "turn on" for the playoffs.

If that's your approach you won't get to the playoffs.

I remember a Single A level player telling me "I can't wait to get to the Big Leagues. You see those guys? They look so relaxed and free."

The short of where I went with the conversation is that they GOT to the Big Leagues by playing that way, they didn't get there and then free up and let go.

"Oh," he said.

So the key is to start now. Elevate your game to where you're focused consistently. To where you're playing free and focused.

This is a learnable skill.

I've watched it be developed in my students and I'm experiencing it now myself.

I've improved my play on my softball team dramatically by applying the stuff I teach to others. As I've practiced and refined my mental approach I've gotten better and better and the games are funner and funner.

For example, since I've been practicing just two of the many ideas I got from Garin Bader in this month's Baseball Confidence Gym CD I'm 9 for 9 with a slugging % of over 2.000. With no HRs (big park).

That's a lot of doubles. 2 doubles, a triple and a walk tonight.

So pick a mental tool and work on it.

And get into each pitch -- the game is so much more fun and the results are so much sweeter.

Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson

p.s. Much of what the top teams are doing have roots in "Heads-Up Baseball," the book Ken Ravizza and I wrote over 10 years ago.

I've advanced the programs and made them simpler to use. To see the line up go to www.BaseballConfidence.com/Products.html

Click here for more on baseball coaching.

Heads-Up Performance Inc

A Danger in Lessons: from the Mail Bag

2007-06-07T12:45:00.000-07:00

From the Mail Bag:

Kate writes...
-----

"I have a 13 year old daughter who made an elite softball team with older, more experienced girls. While she is very talented, enough to make that team, she is the youngest on the team.

"Her strongest area has always been her batting, right now however she isn't hitting at all and seems intimidated and timid during tournaments with this team. She spent all winter, twice a week with a batting coach who made changes and now is striking out continually.

"I believe it is the mental part of the game, how can she snap out of this? She is in to her 5th tournament of the season with only 5 on base hits. Any suggestions? Thank you!
-----

Some of the red flags that pop up in that...

1) lots of coaching -- new mechanics

2) new level of play -- she's playing up so the competition is tough

3) she's had some failure so I'm sure she's not thinking productively. The failure doesn't hurt her future performance, her thinking does.

Let's start with #3. She's no doubt pounding herself with negativity bombs 24/7.

Whatever you focus on you get more of.

So spending her time thinking about how badly she's hitting brings about more bad hitting.

#2: When the other girls are older the competition will be tough. She'll fail more and needs to understand that if she is going to have a chance to succeed.

Getting upset about failing makes future failure more likely.

#1 Lessons can be dangerous. Chances are she's got a head filled her with mechanics. That means her head will be deliberately talking to her muscles while she's hitting.

That's not good. (It's like having a 3 year old "help" you paint your bedroom -- a mess.)

The key to success in hitting is focus and trust. Focus on the ball, trust your body. Let it do what it knows how to do instead of trying to help it.

9.3 times out of 10 when a player is going bad he/she will tell you their focus in on their mechanics.

Just as often a player going great will say they are just focused on the ball, or the mitt if she's pitching. Not their mechanics.

Its unlikely the lesson giver was able to teach mechanics without her becoming mechanical -- few can.

So there's lots more I could say about each of these three things, but let's just take the shortest path to turning things around.

The keys to her future are in her past.

Encourage her to pick a time when she was hitting great. Go back and re-experience it. Enjoy it. Let go into the experience so she can feel it.

Then mine it for info. Look for what she was doing then and do those things now.

Easier said than done, I know. But it works if she'll do it.

In the same vein, she needs to shift from an outcome focus:
getting hits, to a process focus: seeing the ball, putting the fat part of the bat on the ball, having a quality AB, or even "having fun," or "supporting my teammates."

Have her choose something she's doing when she's hitting great that she can control and judge her ABs on whether or not she did that thing (stand tall, breathe, focus, etc.)

Also, chances are good she's very focused on herself.
Focusing instead on supporting her teammates can take some of her self-imposed heat off of herself.

I could go on all day with ideas. I've actually got a lot a very useful info in my "5 Steps to Unstoppable Confidence"
f*r*ee course at FreeBaseballConfidence.com.

Keep me posted, Kate

Sincerely,

Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson
http://www.BaseballConfidence.com/Join.html

p.s. What I don't like about my answer above is that I'm not a big quick fix guy. Developing mental skills can be lightning fast, but, like physical conditioning true change happens over time.

With conditioning.

That's why my basic program is called Confidence Conditioning.

You condition yourself to be confident just the way you condition yourself to be fit. (Unless you don't, of course. But then you get the consequences: If you don't condition yourself physically you get fat and ineffective. If you don't condition yourself mentally you risk being in the situation the girl in the question is in.)

To get Confidence Conditioning for no charge, join the Baseball Confidence Gym for just a month.

Take your time, as the guy below did. He joined the Gym for a year today and got all the bonuses...

-----
Dear Tom: "I played pro baseball (minors) many moons ago and now teach athletic training for not only baseball and softball (my 1st love) but I train for all sports.
Three of my 5 kids are very good athletes, so my push to switch to this new career has been hastened a bit, which was probably good since otherwise I would probably have always dreamed but never made the leap.

"I always had that mental edge where the switch would always click when I crossed the white line but I have struggled with being able to teach it to others, especially my kids, outside of the skills/drills, values and work ethic that I have instilled in them since they began to crawl and walk.

"I have spent a good time studying and analyzing many different programs out there and throughout all my travels in book store and the internet, I keep coming full circle back to your program and website.

"So, I finally made the decision that I have exhausted all my research and I believe that your site has the most to offer, so here I am.

Warm regards, Mike Killian Sports Excellence, LLC.
www.SportsExcellenceLLC.com
-----

To check out the Gym, go to

http://www.BaseballConfidence.com/Join.html

For an overview of all my programs, go to http://www.BaseballConfidence.com/Products.html

With new power, I Injured the Pitcher!

2007-06-06T11:02:00.001-07:00

I knew it would be good, but I didn't know it would *amaze* me.

Let me set the stage for you before I tell you about it...

When you were a kid, did you ever imagine you were some star player?

I often pretended I was Harmon Killebrew, Tony Oliva or Rod Carew. (Yes, I grew up in Minnesota in the late 60's and 70's).

When I was Killebrew, I jacked the ball. Period. I was the man.

When I was Carew, I laced it all over the park.

See, I wasn't little Tommy Hanson, I was a dominant Major League player. Future Hall-of-Famers cream wiffle balls all day and all night.

I'd wear out my pitcher/friends (Fish, Nate, High Head and Pits).

There's power in imagination. Big time, transformational power.

And this imagination technique isn't for the young only.

Hall-of-Famer Mike Schmidt said he used to think "Clemente"
as his "last conscious thought" in the batter's box before a pitch.

So one HOF guy was pretending to be another HOF guy. In a big league game.

Einstein has his well-worn quote that "Imagination is more powerful than knowledge."

But to harness that power you need the knowledge of how to do it.

You've seen a hypnosis stage show, most likely. You know, where the guy gets the poor suckers that volunteer to go up there (I've been one of those suckers twice) and do silly things.

Like be freezing cold when the room temperature is normal.
Or make out with a mop like it's Paris Hilton. Or even not see a man standing in plain view.

We know the mind is capable of amazing things, but how do you harness that and use it to create power you can use?

What should you imagine to give yourself maximal power in your pitching and hitting?

To find out, I found I guy whose made a science of harnessing that power his whole life.

I recently interviewed a guy named Garin Bader. You've likely not heard of him unless you've seen his Vegas show on a cruise ship, or in Vegas, or somewhere else.

He's a world class pianist. World class magician. World class martial arts guy.

Generally, a world-class guy.

One of the people I respect most in my life calls Garin a "modern day Leonardo DiVinci."

Over the course of his life Garin's created a system for taping into the awesome power of imagination. He's created a system for powerful, consistent performance that I am jacked up about.

I think this system eventually will make a big impact on the baseball world. My interview with him is the first in baseball.

You have not heard this information before, I promise you.
Garin re-defines what it means to pitch and hit.

As I held a ball and did what he told me to do I felt a power and fluidity in my throwing action I'd never felt.

As I held a bat in my hand and did what he told me to do I felt such a power that in anticipation of my upcoming slow-pitch softball game I said "they'd better get the married men off the infield."

Two day's later I winced as the opposing pitcher was helped off the field.

Seriously. That actually happened.

I smoked a wicked one hopper off the pitcher's knee that caromed over the shortstop's head and into left field.

Earlier that day I'd played in a corporate golf tourney and used just one of the ideas Garin told me and I set a new personal record for longest drive at 305 yards.

Old record, 275.

How did I do it? I harnessed my imagination. I used it in a way I'd never imagined using it before. Imagine that!

But this system, called Core Force Energy, isn't for everyone. You have to be open. You have to actually TRY it.
DO it while you're listening.

If you just sit back and evaluate it -- with a "prove it to me" attitude, you're apt to think it too strange. Please don't waste your time and money.

But they laughed at Columbus when he said the world was round. They laughed at Copernicus for saying the earth revolved around the sun.

They laughed at the idea that a TV network could make money showing only sports.

All I can say is that I'm laughing at the power of the content of this month's Baseball Confidence Gym CD.

Try the Gym for 1 month for $29.95 and get my best selling Confidence Conditioning for Baseball program free, to keep.

Get in now because each Friday you'll get a coaching email from me, and with this amazing topic I'll be fielding questions and coaching you through it.

http://www.BaseballConfidence.com/Join.html

Thank you,

Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson

p.s. I so want you to experience this power that for this month only I'll give you a full refund if you don't feel you got your investment worth. So you get the Gym membership, plus Confidence Conditioning for Baseball (mental game success 101) at no risk.

p.p.s. this could revolutionize baseball coaching.

Get Your Free Ebook

2007-05-30T06:22:00.000-07:00

I've created a new ebook: "Winning Baseball from the Inside
Out: How to Do 10 Things Champions Do -- Instructions for Players, Coaches and Parents"

And I want to give it to you.

But first I want to acknowledge someone who has gone beyond reading about the mental game and has applied the stuff and become a champion at baseball coaching: Gary Hatch.

He sent me this email yesterday...

======
"Thanks for your efforts. I read everyone of these hummers [email coaching tips] - I have copies of your book for my Baseball Theory, Play and Strategy class I teach here at the High School - it is amazing how much better my guys are as a result of practicing the mental side of coaching - playing every day - at least 5-15 minutes daily
- it is another tool in the tool box - every bit as important as the skills and drills section of the box! Not enough coaches take the time to understand its fundamental strengths - pretty powerful stuff.

"We just came off winning a State Championship this past weekend - Washington State Champs! Much of our success I attribute to our mental training - most all of it has come from you and Ravizza. You guys are tops!

"I have been privileged - honored to be named the USA Baseball Youth National 16 and Under head coach this summer."

Gary Hatch
======

Congratulations, Gary. Way to go.

Imagine the scene -- Gary's team jumping around on the field after winning the State Championship.

Our National 16 and Under team is in good hands.

My new ebook is about how to have experiences like Gary's.

Of course, many factors go into winning a championship (lets start with talent), but you can't win a championship without a strong mental game.

Here are the 10 things you'll learn how to do in my new ebook, followed by the barter deal I'll make with you.

1. How to Put Your Head in Your End (and why that's good)

2. How to Master *The* Crucial Parenting Skill

3. How to Gain Control of Anger

4. How to Succeed with Baseball and Babes

5. How to Not Choke

6. How to do it Like A-Rod Does it (when he does it)

7. How to do it Like Barry Bonds Does it

8. How to Watch a Breath-Taking College World Series

9. How to Tap the Power of an Elevated Environment

10. How to Think Like a Hall-of-Famer

My commitment is to help as many players, coaches and parents as I can learn to use their minds to dramatically improve their performance, have more fun in baseball, and learn life-long skills that will enhance their lives beyond baseball.

To help me do that I'm willing to give you this new ebook as a gift -- you can download it moments from now -- if you're willing to give a gift to people you know.

When you signed up for these emails you got "5 Steps to Unstoppable Confidence" and "Jeter's Confidence Secret."

(if you didn't, here's how to get them)

Here's a link that will enable you to give those no cost programs to friends of yours, and in return I'll give you my new ebook.

Click to this hidden web page to give and get...
http://www.freebaseballconfidence.com/TAF_1x.htm

Thank you,

Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson

p.s. "Winning Baseball from the Inside Out: How to Do 10 Things Champions Do" contains some of my favorite material I've ever written.

I suggest you print it out and put it somewhere that you've got a few minutes to digest a chapter at a time.

Success is Calling You...

2007-05-24T07:14:00.000-07:00

"BRRRRIIINGGG!"

The ringing phone knocked me out of a deep slumber. I
looked at the clock: 1:47 a.m.

I was too young to have a call at that hour scare me.
Nothing could have happened to my kids since this was years
before they were born.

I was too old to have it be a friend goofing around. By 29
most of the guys had slowed down quite a bit.

I mumbled "Hello."

"TOMMMY!" said the unmistakable voice of Ken Ravizza. It
was a couple of years before we wrote Heads-Up Baseball
together, but we were pretty good friends and had logged
some important conversations.

Ken was on his way home from a night working with the
California Angels. He ended up working with them for
something like 15 years before management changes ended the
streak.

That's an amazing streak, to be working with one pro team
for that long. Lasted through a few managerial changes --
very rare.

"You know what's funny?" he said. "No matter what I talk
about with these guys it always comes back to playing one
pitch at a time."

He'd known this for years.

He'd taught that for years.

But it hit him at a new level tonight and he was so excited
about it he wanted to share it with someone who might
understand.

"Every conversation I had tonight in the locker room," he
said, "came back to playing one pitch at a time. No matter
what's going on for you on or off the field, the best thing
you can do is get totally focused on this next pitch and
give that your full attention."

We talked for about a half an hour, enjoying the present
moment we were sharing.

Nothing's changed since that time (circa 1993). No matter
what, once the game has begun, the key to success is being
focused on the present moment.

How do you do that, though? Anyone can SAY "just focus on
one pitch at a time," but how do you do it?

Would you tell a 10 year old to go out and bunt if you've
never taught him to bunt or given him a chance to practice?

How about if there were a few hundred people in the
audience and I told you to go pole vault 10 feet right in
front of them? Would you be excited about that? Would you
even do it?

You have a basic image of how to pole vault, but wouldn't
you prefer to first be taught how to do it and then spend a
lot of time practicing it before you have to do it under
pressure?

You can tell players to play one pitch at a time, but that
doesn't mean they can do it.

My two new programs: Dominate! (pitching) and Zoned In!
(hitting and defence) teach you how to play baseball one
pitch at a time by developing a simple pre-pitch routine.

They then teach you how to practice them and give you score
sheets for you to track your progress.

They make baseball coaching much simpler.

They've flown out the door since I launched them Monday,
and I'm having a party on Friday at noon to celebrate their
birth.

I'll be making a bold offer, I'll be answering ANY and
EVERY question you have about the mental game of baseball
(or life for that matter)

So click here to register...
http://www.yoursqueezepage2.com/displayPage.php?id=6901

Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson

P.S. All of life comes down to being fully present in the
present moment,not just baseball. The skills you or your
players or your kid learn from this program will help him
til he's in a rocking chair on the front porch enjoying his
90th birthday.

As important as shortening his hand path might be now, it's
not a life lesson he learns.

Learning to let go of failure, frustration, anger, or even
over confidence will help him in all areas of his life for
the rest of his life.

If you're at all interested in any of the benefits I've
described (fun, better performance, greater satisfaction &
fulfillment, pride, joy, winning, etc.), register for this
teleseminar. You can listen any time and it qualifies you
for the most amazing offer I've ever made.

I want to make this super duper easy for you to try these
programs and then decide if you want to invest in them.
I'll be making what some might say is a bold offer, but I
know how great the value of these programs is so I'm not
worried that I'll get burned.

So sign up, then ask me your toughest, most important
question, then either call in a noon Friday (you'll be able
to win prizes during the call), listen online to the web
simulcast (saving you any long distance charges) or
download it later and listen any time.

Click above to check it out...

Baseball Coaching For Consistent Excellence

2007-05-21T13:39:00.000-07:00

Calling all players, coaches, and parents looking for
CONSISTENT confidence and focus on the field...

baseball coaching and playing just got a lot easier.

No matter what the situation is -- you're ahead, you're
behind, you're hot, you're in a slump, you feel great, you
feel terrible, you're healthy, you're injured, your coach
likes you, your coach hates you,

the field is great, the field stinks, the sun is out, it's
drizzling rain, it's your first game at a new level, it's
the last game of your senior year,

you're at a showcase in front of tons of scouts, you're
playing another fall ball intra squad scrimmage, the girl
you like came to the game, the girl you like didn't show
up...

NO MATTER WHAT...

My bottom line coaching to players is to go out and
*execute your pre-pitch routine with the will to win.*

The mental game rubber meets the physical game road at
pre-pitch routines.

But what is a pre-pitch routine? How do you develop one?
How do you know if you have a good one?

How do you coach players into developing rock-solid
pre-pitch routines?

How do you change your routine as you gain more experience
with it?

That's what I get asked about all the time. That's what I
actually do when I coach a player in the cage.

Pitcher or hitter, I don't care: If you want to play
consistently at or near your best, if you want to be good
under pressure, if you want to find out how good you can be
at the the game of baseball, you need to have rock-solid
pre-pitch routines.

Both for "green light" (going good) situations, and "yellow
light" (upset-about-something) situations.

My two new programs answer all these questions, and many
more. They show you exactly what you should be doing on the
field between pitches.

After all, that's MOST OF THE TIME in baseball. There's
more non-action time than action time. What are you doing
in those times?

Format: Each program comes with a dvd and manual.

The hitting dvd, which includes an entire bonus section on
how to play defense with confidence, is 1:45 minutes long.
Yes, an hour and forty-five minutes. Longer than Finding
Nemo.

Although my goal is for you to have a very very very simple
routine, I want you to have a thorough understanding of all
that goes into a routine, all the choices you have.

The workbook, which includes a transcript of the dvd and
many pages of worksheets for you to develop and refine your
routine and track your progress, is 78 pages long.

I also spill the beans on what 17 years in baseball have
told me are the two best hitting drills of all time. It's
highly unlikely you're doing either of them now.

The hitting system is called: ZONED In!: How to Hit with
Total Confidence, Focus, Composure and Consistency.

The pitching program's dvd is 1:06 long, and the manual,
which also includes pages of worksheets, is 48 pages long.

I take you through step-by-step how to take charge of the
mound and dominate the mental game.

The pitching system is called Dominate!: How to Pitch with
Total Confidence, Focus, Composure and Consistency --
Regardless of How Good Your Stuff Is.

In each program you get to eavesdrop as I teach the Hanson
Method for developing pre-pitch routines to minor league
players.

If you're not happy with what you get, I'll give you 90
days to return it for the purchase price. You've got
nothing to lose (except a few games...)

I'm running a Combo special at least through noon
Wednesday. Get both systems mailed to you for just $97. I
may keep that special after that time, but for now plan on
my cutting it off then.

Click a link below to order one or jump on the Combo
Special, and take your baseball coaching, playing or parenting to the next level.

DOMINATE! How to Pitch with Total Confidence, Focus,
Composure and Consistency -- Regardless of How Good Your
Stuff Is --$67

ZONED IN! How to Hit with Total Confidence, Focus,
Composure and Consistency -- $67

Combo Special: Both DOMINATE! and ZONED IN! for just $97

If the links don't work, write me or fax in
your order to 813-968-9007.

Thank you.

Tom Dr. Tom Hanson -- Making Baseball Success routine!

p.s. Game night for me. I'll be toeing the rubber at 6:30
in my co-ed rec league game. What's my commitment for the
night? What will I do out there on the mound?.....

My routine!

It All Boils Down to This...

2007-05-15T07:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I played in a golf tournament and had a softball game. A great day.

And great reminders of the heart of mental excellence.

I set a personal record with a 305 yard drive. The key: I got freed up and trusted.

We were playing in a best ball scramble and already had a good drive we could use, so I had no concern for the consequences. No attachment to the outcome.

I did my pre-shot routine (I added an amazing technique I learned Saturday from the June Gym interview, more on that later). Took my breath. Drew the club back, paused and let go.

There was effort but there wasn't. It felt like a lighting bolt.

Freedom and trust.

In softball we fell behind 6-0 after 3. We made a ton of errors, Bad News Bears stuff. I don't think any of the runs were earned.

But as a team we stayed focused. Kept supporting each other. Focused on keeping them from 7.

Sure enough, we broke lose for 10 in the 5th and won 13-9.

No matter what happens, or what the circumstances the game is to free it up and trust yourself on the present moment.

This shot. This pitch.

If you aren't playing a sport at the moment, it's this problem. This conversation. This book. This food. This kiss.

I've getting even more excited about the Baseball Confidence Gym. It's really taking off and I've got lots more powerful material lined up.

Here are some snippets from current Gym members on this month's CD that teaches simple, but highly advanced and potent breathing exercises. They're talking about what they've gotten out of the exercises.

Listen to how the exercises put them in a position to free up and trust themselves...

"Relaxed state of mind. More energy."

"I have been doing them once in the morning then again in the bullpen for an energy up. I really like the way it makes me feel. Thanks again Tom."

"Awareness of when I need to take deep breathes... and another step toward serenity."

"When I do the breathing I feel focused on the moment. I actually met a guy in the park that taught me some of this, but not to this level. I am excited."

"Relaxed and clear headed. Very Cool!"

"I listened to the CD and found that I have not been breathing as well I am able. I now focus more on breathing during the day."

"Confirmation of how valuable it is to breathe. Also, a way to work on energizing the system."

"It has a tendency to calm me down biologically and also it causes me to pause and give myself a chance to refocus or calm down."

Any of that of interest to you?

If so, try the Gym by clicking to
http://www.BaseballConfidence.com/Join.html this present moment.

In the moment,

Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson

To Win, Listen to Your ITBC

2007-05-09T07:24:00.000-07:00

I hit the ball so hard I barely felt it.

(This is in contrast to my first AB when I SWUNG so hard I barely hit it! But that's a story for another time.)

When I saw the ball rocketing on a line 15 feet inside the right field line, parallel to the foul line, I knew I was off to the races. On my first step out of the box I started my wide turn to cut first base tight.

"The placement of that frozen rope is so great," I thought to myself, "a 53-year-old could score from first base."

(I would find out in just a few moments on that -- the base runner on first happened to be 53.)

It was a throw back to my youth moment for me. I was running well, nice long, free strides, delightfully wide arcs. Wind noisily blowing over my ears.

(When I was a youth the wind blew because I was motoring and had a helmet on, tonight it was because it was windy outside. But hey, it made me feel fast and it's my story.)

I was going for it.

Thanks to all the yoga I've been doing my hamstring-o-meter was giving me the green light to run full out.

"Home run," I thought. "The right fielder throws like a girl."

(You guessed it, the right fielder WAS a girl.)

After perfectly hitting the inside edge of 2B I got a vocal blast from my teammates in the 3B dugout going crazy, yelling -- "Go home, go! go! go! go! Go home!"

I was going. (As I approached third I was getting the first bill for the oxygen debt I was accruing, but I knew I could make it home, my credit was good. I gave my body my word that I would let it pay off the debt in slow installments if it would just get me home.)

But then my dream was shattered by a different word. One word. Softly spoken in comparison to my yelling teammates...

"Hold."

The Voice of Reason (VOR) came from the guy coaching third.

I rounded third and pulled up as I looked for the ball.
Sure enough the well-armed SS had moved into cut off position on the edge of the infield and he was just getting the ball.

I faked going home to draw a throw, but the throw was on the money and I would have been dead to rights.

Plus, with no one out and me the tying run and a good hitter up next, the choice to hold was obvious. But only for my 3B coach. The other voices, though well intentioned, were wrong.

Life is like that moment sometimes. Lots of voices -- most of them inside your head -- yelling at you to do one thing, but they're wrong. They aren't telling you the best thing.

They're very seductive, these voices. Persuasive.
Compelling.

These voices seem to be cheering for you to fail. "You're no good!" "You can't do it!" "You're not good enough!" "You should be better!" "You aren't doing enough!"

With all that going on in your head, the challenge is to be able to calm yourself enough to listen to your Inner Third Base Coach (ITBC).

Your ITBC is the one telling you to relax. To focus on the ball. To not try so hard. To forgive yourself. To have fun.
To be grateful for the chance to play, to coach, or to parent.

Today, tune in to your inner voices. See if you can distinguish between the one's giving you bad information and the one coming from your ITBC.

Go with what the coach says.

Sincerely,
Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson

P.S. The best way to connect with that ITBC -- to overpower the critical voices in your head that tell you you can't hit, can't pitch, or can't anything -- is to train your brain. Pump it full of good thoughts. Condition it to think good thoughts. Confident thoughts. Thoughts that rocket you toward your goals, toward your best decisions.

The best way to do that is to join my Baseball Confidence Gym. Do it now and get an extraordinary breathing program that will de-stress you and put you in a zone you've not been in before.

Wait... Hear that? It's your ITBC telling you to take action at:

http://www.BaseballConfidence.com/Join.html

See also my new letters to players, parents, and coaches at http://www.BaseballConfidence.com

A Breather to Say Thank You

2007-05-04T10:16:00.001-07:00

In honor of this month's Gym theme and in appreciation for
your commitment to the mental game, I just posted a fr*e
breathing exercise on my site at

www.BaseballConfidence.com/baseball_audio.html

It's four minutes long and it a nice treat. I confidently
predict you will feel better after you do it.

Do it once and then notice how you feel immediately
afterwards, but also later in the afternoon.

It's called the "Rectangle Breath." You'll see why.

It's deceptively simple, as it can do many different things
for you. The key to getting what you want from it is
setting a clear intention for what you want to get from it
before you start.

Do you want to de-stress? Energize? Clear your mind for an
afternoon of focused effort to complete something? Prepare
for a game or practice? Prepare for visualization of your
goals? Take a spiritual moment and connect with what you're
grateful for?

You might just say "I'm going to give myself a treat here
for 4 minutes and enjoy myself."

You name it. You get what you play for.

Just set an intention and get going now.

I hope you're "inspired" to do this.

www.BaseballConfidence.com/baseball_audio.html

Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson

P.S. And don't get stuck on "I don't know what my intention
should be." Just click this and pick your intention before
your browser gets you there.

P.P.S. You might also take a click to my new home page when
you're done.

www.BaseballConfidence.com/baseball_audio.html

A-Rod vs. College Pitcher

2007-04-25T04:07:00.000-07:00

Doggone it!

I failed this weekend.

I was working with a college team and failed to get a particular pitcher to buy in to my ideas.

I wanted the pitchers to take a full deep breath before each pitch.

Having players not buy in is normal, but unacceptable to me.

When I talk to Ken Ravizza about it he says over the course of his mult-decade career working with baseball players that when speaking to a group, one-third will be really into it. One-third will be on the fence, and one third just won't buy in.

This is human nature. This is normal.

But I don't like it.

I get up this morning and see A-Rod hit two more dingers.
The man is unreal.

No player I know of is more into the mental game than he is. When I was with the Rangers he already had a guy he was working with.

They met for 15 minutes before EACH GAME to mentally prepare.

He would visualize what he wanted to have happen.

He would go out and sometimes it would go great, sometimes it wouldn't. But either way he'd be back at it the next day, visualizing to prepare himself to play.

He knew -- and knows to this day -- that mentally preparing himself using the best techniques in sport psychology gave him his best chance of being successful.

His struggles in the play-offs are well known. How to account for that? I don't know. He's a complicated guy, most of us are (Pete Rose isn't, as Baseball Gym members have heard), and a lot of factors come into play.

What I do know is that despite all the cr*p he had to deal with last year, he's answered with the best HR start ever.

I'm pumped for him. He's a walking billboard for the power of the mind.

Now back to this weekend.

Talking to a pitcher after my presentation on breathing. I had spent about 30 minutes going over how and when to breathe to maximize performance.

I talked about Clemens. I talked about every team in the College World Series.

We did a lot of breathing, so he experienced it. He said in the session he felt much more confident, calm and in control when he breathed that way.

I asked him if he was going to use it during his start, and he said "only if I need it."

Well, I'm not going to force a guy to use it. I can't.
Plus, he'd been successful and was reluctant to try something new.

That makes good sense.

But he proceeded to go out and stink. Pitched terribly.
Tight as a drum. Bad mound presence.

Not a deep breath to be seen.

He "needed it" before he ever got out of the bullpen.

Why wouldn't he take even one quality breath? Same as many other pitchers:

1) he may not remember. When rattled our brains shrink. 2) he may not be able to. When rattled our chests shrink. 3) he may be too stubborn.

The outing may have created a learning moment, where he'll give this a try. If his ego to still too strong he'll keep doing what he's doing -- and yet expect a different result.

So did I really fail? I don't know. It often takes time for guys to get into this.

It's a habit thing. It's an ego thing.

I and his coaches will keep dripping on him.

So the lessons?

A-Rod is totally into it. A college pitcher in a poor outing isn't.

There are many other differences between the two players, of course. But while we can't all have A-Rod's physical tools, we can do what he does to prepare his mind.

So players, try doing what Hall of Fame players do with their brains.

Coaches, the best way to go is simply work it in to your teaching. Make it part of practice.

You don't even have to talk about it as "mental game" stuff vs. "physical game." Just make it part of playing the game.

One of the most consistent comments I get on my stuff from baseball people is how they appreciate how it is worked right in to the fabric of playing.

Parents, learn the fundamentals of the mental game yourself so you can drip drip drip good thinking onto your sons.

And be patient. Some players buy right in, others it takes time.

Others never do.

You don't play well when you try to force things. You don't get players into it by forcing it on them.

Just keep dripping.

Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson

P.S. If you've read this far, it is a good idea for you to have a strong foundation in the mental game. Whether you use it on the field or use it to help someone on the field, having the knowledge and skills in my programs will propel you to your goals.

The best offer I've got is at
www.BaseballConfidence.com/Join.html

How to Fail Like a Baby

2007-04-16T08:28:00.000-07:00

My goal for this week is to fail like my baby.

Angelina is now 6.5 months old. Amazing to me, she pulls herself up to a standing position all day long.

(I'm pretty sure she's gifted).

But of course she also takes some terrible wipe outs. The kind that would put that ski jumper at the start of the old Wide World of Sports show (the one where the announcer says "... and the agony of defeat") to shame.

For you youthful readers that may not have seen that show, you may watch the "Jacked Up" segment on ESPN during football season. You know, the segment where they show the hardest hits of the weekend's games.

Angelina has had a few few times where Chris Berman and company would say:

"Angelina Hanson gets..... JACKED UP!"

She falls. She fails.

Then she wails.

Big time tears and howls. So Birgit or I pick her up and comfort her.

Fail and Wail. That's her strategy.

But that's not where she stops. When she's done crying she starts the climb again.

She pulls herself up to a standing position and smiles her big toothless grin and starts rocking to music only she can hear.

Then she pushes the envelope and crashes.

So now there's a third step to her formula:

Fail. Wail. Repeat.

Each day she's getting better, stronger. That envelope is being stretched right before our eyes.

So ultimately her formula is:

Fail. Wail. Repeat. Prevail.

Try it.

I know if I put myself out there a bunch this week I'll fail. I may even wail. But I also know if I model my girl I will ultimately prevail.

Happy Fails to You,

Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson

P.S. In order to fail in a way that allows you to prevail you must take action. You must do something.

If you want to prevail fast in your life or career, choose between a quick, potent coaching program:
www.HeadsUpPerformance.com/Jetpack_Coaching_Program.html
and a powerful performance system: www.ConfidenceConditioning.com

If you want to prevail fast in baseball, go to http://BaseballConfidence.com/Join.html

How to Win the Big Game

2007-04-10T11:17:00.000-07:00

Players often ask me how to come through in the Big Game.

What should they do differently? What does it take to be, say, like Jeter who seems to play great in Big Games.

Well, instead of answering that myself today, I'm going to pass on email I got from a guy whose been succeeding in the Big Game world for over 25 years.

Bill Farley is a big game hunter. He leads expeditions hunting big game animals.

Check out the pictures at http://FarleysAdventures.com

He wrote me about what it takes to succeed in hunting big
game:

"Yes the mental aspect is critical in any part of life.

"Most people do not realize as you have just done how important of a role it plays in the Hunting and Outdoor Adventure aspect of this Industry.

"Most people look at the physical preparation, much as what you describe regarding Baseball, but do not realize how critical the mental aspect of maintaining a healthy positive attitude is to the overall success of the trip.

"Much more important than the physical aspect.

"I have dealt with clients in this business for over 25 years, and they all expect that because they pay and have the money to pay for an adventure assures them of success, but fail to live up to their half of the agreement, which is to remain positive and focused amongst other things and not give up.

"Often by the 2nd day of a life long dream hunt the lower lip is hanging if they have not taken that trophy of a lifetime.

"I cannot express to you, how many hunts I have been on where I was successful after MANY days in the field, and how my failure to quit, and attitude and persistence have played a huge part in the many successful trips I have personally engaged in." Bill Farley

------

Well, there you go. Stay positive and focused in the face of adversity.

How many players take the big buck lessons yet hang their lower lip when they don't succeed right away?

The key to being great in the big baseball game is to stay positive and focused every day. You don't do something different on the big games, you do your routine every day.

Then you do your routine on the big games.

Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson

p.s. One of the things I value in the stuff I teach is how they are life skills, not just baseball skills. Bill says the stuff I talk about he'll use on his hunting trips.

You may not be into hunting big game, but you players will be job hunting. You will be "hunting" for a lot of things throughout your life.

Hitters -- ever hear the expression "hunt your pitch?"

Learn how to be a big gamer by taking me up on my offer to get my Confidence Conditioning program at no charge when you join the Baseball Gym for just one month at http://www.BaseballConfidence.com/Join.html

Inside the Major League Mindset

2007-04-05T13:31:00.000-07:00

Great feedback on my Pete Rose comments yesterday -- most supporting my view, a few opposing.

I'll return to the debate soon, but now there's something more exciting to discuss.

I'm in Minnesooda visiting my parents and am thrilled to see my Twins off to a 3-0 start.

Reading the Minneapolis Tribune this morning, the mental game jumped right out at me.

Ramon Ortiz was the Twins winning pitcher yesterday. Last year it took Ortiz 8 starts to get his first win.

Here are a few excerpts from the article:

"Ortiz credited pitching coach Rich Anderson for teaching him how to relax in pressure situations....

"During a mound visit [in a troubled spot in the 6th], Anderson said he told Ortiz: 'Don't try as hard. Just back off and pitch and change speeds.'

"His damange control was awesome," Anderson said.

The Twins made a few great plays on defense and Ortiz was clearly helped mentally by them:

"You make a few plays behind them and these pitchers get confident," manager Ron Gardenhire said.

So what's going on here? What is going on with the mental game of major league pitchers? Of division champion pitchers?

The same thing that goes on in high school pitchers. The get nervous. Their confidence goes up and down with what happens in the game. They need to get better at "damage control."

They ride the Results Rollercoaster: good results leads to confidence; bad results leads to lost confidence.

I think this is important for players at all levels to realize. Much of the battle of winning the mental game is simply realizing that the feelings you are having are normal and are experienced by top players at all levels.

Everyone has to deal with their emotions.

Once you realize that, you're less likely to freak when your heart starts pumping and your grip gets a little tight.

Be on the lookout for quotes like this in the paper. I find players find it helpful to find out that big leaguers wrestle with the same things. It's not like they have it together.

Awareness of the issue and understanding it happens to everyone gets you a long ways.

Mental skills training gets you the rest.

Tom
Tom Hanson, Ph.D.

P.S. This is why I teach the same things to 12 year olds as I do Major League players. Join a rapidly growing list of high achievers who are kicking butt in the Baseball Confidence Gym http://www.BaseballConfidence.com/Join.html

Are You as Relentless as This Guy?

2007-04-02T10:06:00.000-07:00

I got this email from a Baseball Confidence Gym member and it got me jacked up.

This is what the theme of March's Gym was all about: Having a goal, keeping your sites on it, and continuing to take action until you reach your goal...

"Hello this is [NAME]. I just wanted to keep you posted. I got released from the [MLB Organization] this week because as they said "we just have too many pitchers". They told me I was a model citizen and a hard worker. Yesterday I signed with the [A TOP INDEPENDENT LEAGUE TEAM]. This does not change anything for me. My goals are still the same and I am going to keep doing exactly what I have been. I was throwing the ball well and I put some of the exercises off the cd onto my IPod so I could do them on the bus and at the field. Great stuff. Have a great day.
[NAME}

Can you feel the energy of that message? Do you believe him?

I do.

If you were on course for YOUR dream and took a hit like this guy did, would your emails carry that much positive energy?

Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson

p.s. The April Baseball Gym package was mailed Friday. This month is the ideal time to join because I am starting to go through each letter of my ABC's of Confidence, one letter per month.

This month is "A" -- Act confident.

I've got two Big League guests: Pete Rose talking hitting.
Vanessa Bader sharing secrets to generating true confidence by acting confident.

My money is on Vanessa giving you more valuable info than Rose. But I could be wrong, I've known what HOF (level) hitters say for a long time so I may be desensitized.
You be the judge. Read more at
www.BaseballConfidence.com/Join.html

p.s. Prepare to be prepared: The Pitching and Hitting Systems I'm developing are on track for an April launch date.

Targets for Parents

2007-03-21T12:21:00.000-07:00

What do I want for parents?

First a quick reminder.

Yesterday I said my target for players is to provide tools and coaching needed for them to best develop, express, and enjoy their talents.

So for parents my target is to enable them to create the emotional context (relationship) that frees their sons to develop, express, and enjoy their talent.

Way too often the well-intended actions of the parents become interference for their son's performance. (Remember: Performance = Potential - Interference).

I've coached way too many players on how to deal with their parents' behavior.

My not-so-hidden agenda with BaseballConfidence.com is for parents to develop, express, and enjoy their own talents.

You can't give away what you don't have.

"The sins of the fathers shall be visited upon their sons."

I love Scott Peck's book The Road Less Travelled. On page
21 he says:

"If a child sees his parents day in and day out behaving with self-discipline, restrain, dignity and a capacity to order their own lives, then the child will come to feel in the deepest fibers of his being that this is the way to live.

"If a child sees his parents day in and day out living with out self-restraint or self-discipline, then he will come in the deepest fibers of his being to believe that that is the way to live."

Right now many of the most active participants in my Baseball Confidence Gym are parents.

They themselves are doing the homework. They themselves are developing the knowledge, skills, and abilities that best allow them to develop, express, and enjoy their talents.

As they do so they become better parents.

I can't tell parents what they should do all the time in each situation. But I can coach them toward a better understanding of the thoughts and feelings of their son and how those interact with their own thoughts and feelings.

As a result they make better parenting choices. They are better able to create an emotional context or relationship between them and their son. Both sides win.

If you heard the teleseminar I did last week, you heard a dad tell a heartwarming story of how he learned to better connect with his son.

The son went on to considerable on-field success (perhaps in large part because the player's relationship with his father was no longer "interfering" with the son's performance). But the beauty was in the enhanced relationship.

When parents understand the mental part of baseball, they are much better able to create a relationship with their son whereby the son is freed to fully develop, express, and enjoy his talent.

(By the way, the mental part of baseball is the mental part of life.)

That's my target for my work with baseball parents.

Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson

p.s. If you'd like to be better able to create a relationship with your son that frees him to fully develop, express and enjoy his talent, join us at http://BaseballConfidence.com/Join.html

Targets for Coaches

2007-03-21T12:18:00.000-07:00

So far I've covered my "targets" for players and parents.

My target for players is to provide the tools and coaching needed for them to best develop, express, and enjoy their talents.

My target for parents is to enable them to create an emotional context or relationship with their son that frees the son to develop, express, and enjoy his talent.

My target with coaches is essentially the same as parents, even though they play a very different role than parents.

My target for coaches is to enable them to facilitate the (1)development, (2) expression and (3) enjoyment of their player's talents.

Define facilitate: to make easier or less difficult; help forward (an action, a process, etc.) (online dictionary).

Coaches can't play for the players, learn for the players or control the players. Players must do the learning and playing themselves.

So the coach's role is to facilitate. Do your damnedest to make the development, expression and enjoyment of players' talents as easy as possible. (Note: this does not mean it is actually easy for players, just easier.)

This is determined largely by the "emotional context" a coach sets for his team. What does the team feel like? What are the unwritten rules? Do players feel safe? Does information flow freely? Do players and coaches trust each other? Respect each other? How present are dignity? Pride?

Great coaches set great emotional contexts. Even though few would use that term.

A great emotional context makes the other three elements easier.

(1) Develop their players' talents. For too long there has been an imbalance in coaches' approach to the game. Strong on "outer" or visible elements such as strategy and technique. Weak on "inner" or non-visible elements such as confidence and focus.

When a coach makes a change in a player's technique, say he lowers his hand position in his stance, it affects the player's confidence, focus, and well-being. Often new technical instructions "interfere" with performance.

Coaches must keep this in mind and the good ones are constantly looking for ways to help player make "mechanical" adjustments without the player's performance being "mechanical" (bad).

Developing talents also includes developing confidence, focus, composure and consistency. These are not often taught directly, but are vital to success.

(2) Free players to express those talents. Freedom is at the heart of baseball performance.

Freedom = Trust.

When players play freely they play at or near their best.

When players play tight, they play badly.

Using Gallwey's model (Performance = Potential - Interference), a player playing freely has very little interference. Thus, his performance is very near his potential.

That's what a coach wants.

Players cannot play "over their heads." They can only play at or near their best. That's all a coach can ask for and that's what his goal should be.

Like parents, coaches are sometimes sources of interference. They get in the way as much or more as they help. Not intentionally, but that's often the result.

My target is to provide the tools and coaching needed for coaches to free their players to play great; to play to play great rather then play to avoid playing badly.

(3) Help players enjoy the game. Players want to have fun.

Derek Jeter told me keeping it fun was key to his success and clutch performances.

What I find is that when players develop their mental game baseball becomes fun again.

The good news is rather than having to decide between having fun and winning, having fun creates a positive emotional context which makes success more likely.

In closing, the target I'm shooting at is for BaseballConfidence.com to empower coaches to better facilitate the development, expression, and enjoyment of their players.

Having been a college head coach for 7 years, a DI hitting coach for 3, and an American Legion assistant for 3 years, I can speak from some valuable experience.

Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson

p.s. This exercise of clarifying my targets has been very helpful to me. I hope you've gained some insight into where I'm heading. You're welcome to just enjoy and benefit from my emails each week, but I invite you to come out of the stands and get onto the field.

This month in the Gym is all about setting clear targets and going after them. Read the details for this month's program at:
http://www.BaseballConfidence.com/This_Month_in_the_Gym.html

When Coach is an Idiot

2007-03-21T11:16:00.000-07:00

What do you do when the coach is an idiot?

I got lots of great responses to my emails over the weekend where I shared my targets.
But one stuck in my craw. Feel the emotion in this...

"The biggest obstacle that faces my son this all important junior year is his own coach. I can go on for several pages; suffice to say that he is the antithesis of everything you have written about and believe in. He is cruel, overwhelmingly negative, mentally abusive and seems to enjoy humiliating his players. I'm sure you receive input like this from parents, most of which probably have an underlying issue such as lack of playing time etc. This is NOT the case with my son. He led his team last year (and in fall-ball) in every category, and won the batting title.
He is a starter, bats in the two or three hole, and has picked up where he has left off last year (4-7, 2B in two games). I feel so bad for my son; he deserves so much better; someone to help him develop and enjoy the game.

"What makes it very frustrating for him is that despite his consistent performance over the last two years, he receives absolutely NO, NONE, NADA recognition or positive support; while a select few players of lesser ability/attitude/hustle/performance are favored and mollycoddled."
[end quote]

Clearly this coach is an extreme case, but he's not alone.

Other coaches are pretty far out there.

Amazing how that can happen. I could go on about how this shouldn't happen, how wrong it is, how sad it is, etc.

But that wouldn't help. It would only draw attention and energy away from the young man's goal. Cutting to the chase, the kid has two viable choices.

1) Leave. Go play somewhere else. I don't know the complexities of this, but let's assume it is a tough option.

2) Use it as a springboard to greatness.

I like a Napoleon Hill's line that "Inside every adversity is the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit."

OK, so where's the benefit in having this guy for his coach?

Baseball is hard enough the way it is. It is so damn hard and we all fall short so much that it takes a lot to keep focused on our targets even with supportive coaches and parents.

This player is being called on to rise to a higher level.

In order to perform, learn and enjoy as much and well as possible he'll have to develop his mental skills beyond the challenge he faces.

My answer to any "What should I do if..." question for pitchers and hitters is "Do your routine."

Get into as confident a state as you can and focus your attention where it needs to be to give you your best chance to be successful.

Regardless of what else comes your way.

Research on Bobby Knight showed that his players learned to tune out the criticism and the tone and focus on the information he was giving them.

This young man needs to develop his ability to generate his own positive energy, direct his attention toward the most important things for his performance, and see how much fun he can have.

It is possible to rise about this challenge.

See the coach as Buddha. Buddha was a teacher. This coach is a teacher. He is demanding that the player take his game to a higher place.

That is the gift the coach is giving the player.

I wouldn't recommend trying to "prove" himself to the coach. I wouldn't try to spite the coach by showing him how great he can play.

All that diverts energy from the player's goal. All that plays down to the coach's level. The player must focus on playing great because he wants to.

He would be well served to clarify his values of the type of player he wants to be and focus on that.

Focus on your goal.

And very proactively he ought to create a supportive team around him. Like Team Tiger, a group of positive, supportive people who are committed to helping the player achieve his goal.

Do not let them join in any coach bashing. Acknowledge the challenges the coach poses, but energy spent bashing him is energy down the drain.

And as my mom always says, "Smile lots."

Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson

p.s. The player's goal becomes his North Star. It will guide him through and help navigate the stormy waters. But to hold strong in the face of such adversity it must be a strong goal. Set well. Set smart. Set with an understanding of how the brain works, how goals work, and how you can use your brain to reach your goal.

That's what you learn in this month's Baseball Confidence Gym.
Get it AND my best-selling Confidence Conditioning for Baseball for just $29. Get it now before supplies and the month run out. www.BaseballConfidence.com/Join.html

Targets for Players

2007-03-16T11:34:00.000-07:00

One of the keys to success, really a law of success, is having a clear target.

For me today that took the form of some overdue vision work.

What am I creating? What do I want to have happen with BaseballConfidence.com? What difference do I want to make? What do I want the business to look, feel, and smell like?

Over the next three days I'll share with you my "targets"
for what I want for players, then parents, then coaches.

For players, I provide the tools and coaching they need to fully develop, express, and enjoy their talent.

One patron saint of this is Scott Podsednick. He's done it all. Check out his quote at www.BaseballConfidence.com.

He DEVELOPED his talent (during I think 9 years in the minors), he EXPRESSES his talent ("I'm letting my talent pour out onto the field"), and he's ENJOYING his talent (Did you see his interviews during the playoffs and WS? Fun. And he's still having fun, grateful, and giving back
-- that's enjoyment).

Develop talent means growth. Expand capacity. Be able to do more. Be able to better produce desired results. It means approaching the levels their physical tools will allow.

Express talent means the capacities they have developed are fully expressed on the field. That is, their performance on the field is close to their potential on that day.

Tim Gallwey, author of the Inner Game of Tennis, from whom I take the terms Inner Game and Outer Game, says:

Performance = Potential - Interference

That is, you play as well as you can minus things that get in your way. Negative thoughts, fear, doubt, anger, distraction, and so on are all things that interfere with players' performance.

Here's a question I received where the player is experiencing considerable interference:

"How do I take my stuff from the bullpen to the mound? I am a pitcher in a Division I college. I am trying to solve what it is that I do differently when I face "live" hitters. In the bullpen I am told I have a plus curveball and my 90 mph fast ball is down and controlled. In games my pitches are not as accurate and I find it hard to figure out what I am doing differently."

He's not Performing near his Potential because of a lot of Interference.

In my experience the preponderance of interference is in players' thoughts and feelings. They perceive situations in ways and focus on things that limit their performance.

These make their performance be far short of their potential.

Mental training reduces interference.

Finally, I want players to enjoy their talents. I want it to be fun.

Most started playing the game because it was fun and they loved it. Most start to lose that sense of fun when thing get serious (nowadays around the age of 10).

Coaching as I do it is the art of re-connection; Re-connecting people with why they started doing something in the first place.

If you've taken my "5 Steps to Unstoppable Confidence" program at www.FreeBaseballConfidence.com, you know re-connecting is one of the five steps.

So I provide players with the tools and coaching to develop, express, and enjoy their talent. That's at the heart of the mission here at BaseballConfidence.com.

Tomorrow I'll show you my target for parents.

Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson

p.s. If this sound like something you'd like to be a part of, go to www.BaseballConfidence.com/Join.html

Your Inner Assistant Coaches

2007-03-14T13:27:00.000-07:00

I talk a lot about the "Inner Game" and the "Outer Game" of
baseball.

Amongst other things, the Outer Game has assistant coaches,
namely a pitching coach and a hitting coach. These coaches
have some power, but not control like the head coach or
manager.

If the pitching coach says to the manager, "We should take
Jones out," Jones doesn't come out right away. The manager
takes that information and decides for himself whether
Jones stays or showers.

Same with the hitting coach. He can make suggestions about
player moves, but the skipper makes the final call.

Lame is the manager who lets his assistants make the
important decisions.

The Inner Game has assistant coaches too. One is called
Feelings and one is called Thoughts.

Your "inner pitching coach," Feelings, may give you
information such as doubt, fear, or angst.

Your "inner hitting coach," Thoughts, may give you
information such as "You suck, You can't succeed at this
level, You can't hit, You can't pitch," etc.

But you don't have to buy it.

You are the skipper in your own Inner Game.

You can't always control what information your assistants
give you. But you have control what you do with the
information your assistant coaches (Feelings and Thoughts)
give you.

Most players let theses assistant coaches run the show.

They play according to what their Thoughts and Feelings
tell them.

This is what I call being a Victim.

The true player acknowledges the information his Thoughts
and Feelings are giving him, but he remains in control.

This is easier said then done.

Guess what I'm going to say is vital to being a powerful
Inner Game manager? What do you need to do to be able to be
Master and Commander of your inner ship?

Conditioning. Practice. Training. However you want to say
it.

You take control when you earn it. When you put yourself in
control.

The first thing you need is the awareness that your
thoughts and feelings make a huge difference on how you
play. And that you are not your thoughts and you are not
your feelings.

There is a "skipper" inside who can make choices
independent of your thoughts and feelings.

(Ever feel like hitting someone but didn't do it?)

You've got that awareness to some degree now reading this.

It's another thing to have the skill to over-ride your
Thoughts and Feelings and focus and trust yourself in spite
of feeling bad.

The tools you, your son, or your players need to be a great
manager for their Inner Game is available fr-ee in my
Confidence Conditioning for Baseball program -- when you
join the Baseball Confidence Gym for just one month.

You make the call.

www.BaseballConfidence.com/Join.html

Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson

p.s. This month's Gym CD is getting a lot of positive
feedback. Members are getting more clarity on how to set
and achieve goals.
www.BaseballConfidence.com/Join.html

One Great Night

2007-03-05T14:28:00.000-08:00

-------------------------
Reminder: Register for my free
Baseball Confidence.com teleseminar right now at
http://www.yoursqueezepage2.com/displayPage.php?id=5771
If you've been on the fence about joining the gym, here's your chance to get a better feel for it's power.
-------------------------

I was in Waterford, WI this weekend doing a program for a high school softball team.
Pretty impressive that a H.S. team was able to put together the funding necessary for me to make the trip; a good example of where there's a will there's a way.

Not having enough money is virtually always more of a commitment and confidence issue than it is a money issue.

Anyway, we planned a two part program, Saturday and Sunday, but had to do a full day program on Sunday because their girls hoops team made a run at the state tournament and ended up playing a game Saturday.

I couldn't pass up the chance to go to the game. It felt like I was in Hoosiers. Traveling through the snow to small town high school basketball tournament game.

The atmosphere was everything sports is meant to be. Festive, fun, and a showcase for players putting their hearts on the line.

The gym was brimming with the real fuel of sports: Emotion.

As usual for a game of pretty evenly matched teams, the game rocked back and forth as one of Emotion's leading characters, Momentum, swung from side to side.

One thing was clear early on: there would be tears shed by the losers of this game.
Emotion is a big reason people play, coach, and watch baseball or any sport -- the game makes them feel alive.

People typically don't say it that way, but it's true.

I particularly appreciated how alive the high school guys from our school were who went all out to support their girls team.

They were like narrators of the unfolding drama. But also participants.

At the end of the first half the score was tied and the other team had the ball. The guys pulled the old "count down the seconds ahead of the timer" gag to perfection.

As the guys count down reached 0 there were still 2 seconds left on the clock. But the girl with the ball heard the guys and chucked up a pathetic Hail Mary shot long before she needed to, costing them a legit shot at the lead.

In the end, our girls just didn't have it after an emotional, physical win the night before, and lost.
But the rowdy guys put the perfect punctuation on the game.

After the initial screams from the winning team's fans had died just slightly, our team's guys could be heard clearly through the din, shouting: "We still love you (clap, clap,,clap-clap-clap), We still love you (clap, clap,,clap-clap-clap).

They chanted this for a good while.

It didn't stop the girl's tears, but it summed up the emotional context of the night perfectly.

Aren't sports great?

Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson

p.s. My team's girls could have won had they kept their composure better in a few key spots. You don't have to be like all the other players: powerless to the whims of Momentum. With proper mental training you learn to create your own momentum.

To help it be the OTHER team's players crying at the end of your big game, get the world class mental training available at www.BaseballConfidence.com.

Remember to register for my free teleclass this Thursday evening by going to
http://www.yoursqueezepage2.com/displayPage.php?id=5771

I Stay Sober

2007-02-28T04:21:00.000-08:00

"Once I get behind the wheel I'm fine."

Ever hear a drunk guy say that? It can certainly seem true when you're the guy (so I'm told).

Pitching and hitting can both be like that, too. "I'm fine, let's go," says the spiraling player as he puts his body in position for the next pitch.

The potion that casts the spell?

Emotion.

(I've had some complaints that Tuesday went by without an update on my JCC Fighting Crusaders softball game Monday night, so I'll work that in here.)

I was committed to two things Monday night: having a lot of fun, and using a one-breath routine on each pitch.

One key for me to have fun is to open my mouth. When I get into a Yellow Light I get quiet. I get into my head.

So, powered by the leg exercise I taught the February Gym members (plus the Zumba classes I took last week), I had a spring in my step and was chattering away to my teammates as I toed the rubber.

Even before each warm-up pitch I took a breath and saw my pitch.

I was deadly.

Three times all night I got to 3 ball counts. Never walked a guy. Or a gal.

But as usual Charlie was in attendance (inside my head).

But my commitment to fun and my pre-pitch routine rendered him helpless. They became my force field, defending me from temptation, from the Dark Side. From the Red Light District.

A Charlie deodorant. Charlie-Be-Gone.

Except for twice. Twice I felt the desire to speed up, to hurry up and throw the next pitch because I was frustrated or anxious about the two balls I'd just thrown in a row, making the count 3-1 (we start 1-1).

I got emotionally tipsy.

"I don't need a breath, I'm fine once I put my foot on the rubber," Charlie said, impersonating me.

It's addictive, this emotion. It clouds your judgement. It is not easy to over come it, even in slow pitch softball.

But I did it.

Stepped off. Sobered up.

Since I was sober virtually all night (a designated driver), I was able to help teammates stay focused, even as our 15-8 lead going into the bottom of the last inning became a 15-14 lead with runners on first and second.

Teammates don't let teammates play drunk.

My new intention became "I'm going to make the next play."

There was no way I was going to let us lose. One out to go.

I was willing the next batter to hit me the ball.

I breathed. I pitched. He swung and hit it crisply on the ground to my left. The speeding ball was in slow motion. I was not. I sprang like a cat for a mouse, a lion for a newborn zebra. I was fully stretched out, parallel to the ground, like that photo of Pete Rose diving into third base. I reached my glove out for the ball.

And didn't get it.

It was too far out of my reach.

I landed with an ooof. Dirt flying. Glasses flying.

But I could look up and see well enough as Jeanie, our second basewoman, stopped the ball, picked it up, and flipped it to our SS for the last out.

I surprised myself with the guttural yell I spontaneously let out. I love to win.

I had a lot of fun that night. Playing sober is fun and it is what I want to share with others. Young men in particular, but also coaches and parents and children of all ages.

Like Bob Kapeller, 63. I got this email from him the other day...

Dear Tom: Some months ago, I purchased your "Mental Toughness Training" program. I am playing senior slow pitch softball the past six years, starting at AA skill level and the past two years at the Major level. While I have been blessed with good health and natural athletic abilities, I always felt I was falling short, somehow failing to realize the fullness of joy from the game. I now am committed to actions of proper pre-game preparation that has bolstered my game beyond my personal expectations. I played well enough to receive ALL TOURNAMENT recognition at the most recent tournament in Palm Springs, Ca. I'm a believer. It's never too late too..................... For the love of the game, I am Bob Kapeller

Attaboy, Bob. It is never too late.

And it is certainly never too soon to join my Baseball Confidence Gym. http://www.BaseballConfidence.com/Join.html.

Join the committed group of players, coaches and parents who are leaving the uninformed behind, who are arming their players with the tools they need to fight off their inner critics and play to their full potential.

To have fun!

And to arrive Home safely (parents don't let their sons emote negativity and play).

Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson
p.s. The March CD's are ready to go. Kick my tires for a month in the Gym and get my best-selling Confidence Conditioning program AND the manual Bob mentioned above for a $0 cost.
FYI, people are grabbing all the bonuses and signing on for a year 3x more than the monthly choice.
http://www.BaseballConfidence.com/Join.html

How To Cut a Player

2007-02-26T12:06:00.000-08:00

"It's the hardest thing I do."

Coaches: I'm sure you know what a fellow coach would be talking about if you heard him say this (even if you hadn't read the title of this email).

Parents and players, empathize with a coach for a moment.

I got a message from a Gym member over the weekend, a coach who is carrying 33 players now, and can only keep 20. He's not looking forward to the task ahead.

So, how do you cut a player? What's the "best" way?

Here are some things to think about.

I've got a book on the shelf behind me by Harvey McKay called "We Got Fired: And it's the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me."

It's loaded with chapter after chapter of well-known people such as Joe Torre, Lou Holtz, Bill Belichick, Muhammad Ali, Jesse Ventura and many business people like Donald Trump and Larry King who were bummed out when they got canned.

But looking back it was a key event in moving their lives toward where they needed to be. They were now glad it happend to them.

I was a decent junior high basketball player, but when I made the jump to Moorhead (MN) High I got cut as a sophomore. I just wasn't good enough to play for the Spuds.

Yes, I got cut from a team called the Spuds. A low point.

But that gave me time to get into the weight room to put some meat on my bones. I'd had 3 surgeries on my right (throwing) arm from a 4th grade accident, and I used the time to build my body up for baseball and football.

Although I didn't like failing at something I tried to accomplish, it was way better for me to be cut than to languish on the bench in basketball.

Things happen for a reason. If you don't think a kid is good enough to make your team, then you have to trust that it's in his long term best interest to not be there.

He needs to learn the lesson that you make available to him by cutting him.
But one quick note: feel into your decisions. "Is this player really not good enough? Or do I just not like him for some non-baseball reason?"

You might try talking your tougher choices through with someone else. A woman who will care enough to listen and give you honest feedback is a good way to go.

Women tend to look at things differently and see different things than guys. Another baseball guy of course can be good, but a women will be focused more on you and your thought process instead of the logic of your rationale from a sports perspective.

Ultimately, the best way to cut a player is with your heart. Talk to him, tell him what you see and why he didn't make the team, and wish him well.

Don't lie. Don't give false encouragement.

You've got to model mature, powerful, manly (as in being a man, not macho) behavior.

If it is a one day try out with tons of players it's ok to post names. But if a kid has been coming to practice for a while you owe it to him to talk face to face.

How will he learn to powerfully face adversity if you don't? Put him on his way by modeling the way difficult things in life must be handled.

Much of the worst times in my life stem from when I don't face tough issues head on.
I hope it does hurt you. You're snuffing out a kid's dream.

If it doesn't hurt you're either a jerk or so evolved that you see how much you're helping him.

Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson

p.s. You can get the absolute cutting edge coaching on coaching the mental game of baseball for no charge by joining the Baseball Confidence Gym for one year. Two out of every three people who join the Gym sign up for the full year.

Parents, one of the best ways to help your child is to know what he ought to be focusing on. You can then direct your conversations with him to things you know are helpful. You get that from the Gym. www.BaseballConfidence.com/Join.html

I Hit a Scud

2007-02-20T11:32:00.000-08:00

Another exciting night of action for the Jewish Community Center Fighting Crusaders last night.
And another night of Inner Game fun for me.

I hit a scud missile shot past the second baseman in my first AB, but in my second I swung at a bad pitch, swung too hard, and lifted a fly to the right center fielder.

"Damn."

Charlie (my inner critic) started in on me. I could feel the black ink being released into my system.

Here's what I noticed:

I threw ball one to the first batter I faced the next inning, and as I got the ball back what do you think my mind was on?

Yep.

The fly out.

"That was a stupid pitch to swing it," said Charlie and the feelings you'd expect I'd feel with a thought like that are just what I felt.

But like last week I was able to turn it around. Awareness is key. Most players get invaded by inner pirates that hi-jack their thoughts and emotions but aren't able to

You might say, well, this is almost exactly the same email he wrote last week: Tom fails, gets cr@p from inner demons, then rallies and does well.

To that I say, "Yes, it is."

And you'll get more like it. Because I'm talking about the principle element of the art of success not only in baseball, but in all aspects of life:

Being aware enough of your own thoughts to recognize when you're thinking in an ineffective way and then having the skills you need to turn yourself around and get back on track.
To get back to a "green light" as you Heads-Up Baseball and Confidence Conditioning owners know it.

Thoughts give rise to feelings which predispose us to certain actions.

When you're mad you tend to take certain actions. When you're happy you tend to take certain other actions. When you're frustrated you tend to take other actions, and so on.

We all fly out on bad pitches a lot in life and I want to keep getting better and handling that powerfully and I want to help others do the same.

Parent after parent after coach that I talk to after they join my Baseball Confidence Gym say they want their son/player to be better able to handle adversity.

They want success now, but also see the bigger picture.

They know that if they can help their sons learn mental skills now, through baseball, they will not just have better baseball careers, but better lives all around.

Some also see that listening and watching the stuff I teach themselves not only gives them confidence that they are talking to their son's about the right things before and after games, but they themselves benefit from the steady diet of good thinking coaching.

http://www.BaseballConfidence.com/Join.html

Think Well,
Tom

p.s. We lost the game 21-8. But I competed well and had a blast. I was able to focus on what I could control. If you want more control in your life or you want to help someone have more control and fun in theirs, join the Gym.
http://www.BaseballConfidence.com/Join.html

I Walked a Woman

2007-02-15T10:00:00.000-08:00

The moment it left my hand I knew it was over.

I hadn't walked anyone in 8 innings of pitching (slow
pitch, co-ed), but as the ball arced toward home plate,
well, actually, away from home plate, I knew I'd walked the
batter.

I also knew it was a woman. A women who couldn't hit it out
of the infield.

I also knew we had a 6 run lead.

It felt like a giant hand was squeezing me. I was Faye Ray
to my emotion's King Kong.

"That was stupid," my Inner Critic (Charlie) said. "Don't
walk anyone with a 6 run lead, much less a woman who can't
hit."

"Thank you for sharing that," I said sarcastically to
Charlie.

But he didn't stop.

I wanted to do what I teach pitchers not to do -- speed up.
Just get on with the next pitch. I was conscious enough to
take an extra breath before the next pitch, but I really
wasn't back to "green light" status.

As the ball left my hand I could feel my arm was short.
Tense. Coming off my fingers the ball felt as if I was
trying to hang on to it. Like my hand had let go against
it's will.

Ball 1. Actually, Ball 2 since batters start with a 1-1
count.

The negativity juice was flowing through my veins in full
force now. See, our team is new, full of people who
"haven't played in a long time" (meaning they've never
really played) and we were 0-3. We were playing another
winless team and play a 4-0 team next week, so getting the
W in this game was vital.

It's sort of addictive, negativity juice. In a twisted way
it feels good to feel bad. I get to be sooooo right about
being wrong.

Is it that way for you? Next time you feel the negativity
juice flowing through your veins, notice if you REALLY want
to get rid of it or if are aren't too attached to it to let
it go.

(My next product may be Negativity Juice. Sounds like a
mult-level marketing product waiting to happen.)

Fortunately for the Jewish Community Center Fighting Crusaders
(my team), I did not allow Charlie and his negativity juice
to hi-jack my entire vessel. They'd taken over my body, but
I retained control of the bridge (my brain).

I stepped back and did my "yellow light" routine. I got
myself back on track and starting throwing strikes again.
But it wasn't so easy. Throwing strikes in slow pitch gets
you hit.

The woman I walked scored.

"Damn you," said Charlie.

But my mental skills levee held. I didn't lose control of
the bridge. I stuck with my routine. I kept throwing it
over.

An inning later our shortstop made a running stab on a
bleeder wannabe with the tying run on third to preserve our
victory.

Had I walked one more batter...

As I talk to parents and coaches signing up for my Baseball
Confidence Gym, overcoming adversity on the field is one of
their top concerns. None of the lessons they pay for
actually teach their child how to handle pressure.

You can get a step-by-step method for overcoming failure
and adversity at no charge, just for trying the Gym for one
month.

We're only going to let 14 more of the February edition out
that teaches you how to super charge physical work outs so
you literally condition yourself to be confident and goal
focused (a great program for you parents and coaches
yourself).

Get out of the stands and get onto the field at
http://www.BaseballConfidence.com/Join.html

Tom

This Will Save Your Neck

2007-02-12T13:59:00.000-08:00

Story Time:

A doctor, a lawyer and an engineer were sentenced to be
be-headed by a guillotine.

The doctor was first. "Do you want to face the blade or
face away from the blade?" the guard asked him.

"I'll face the blade!" the doctor said defiantly and the
crowd roared with approval.

He put his head in the notch and stared up at the blade
glimmering in the morning sunlight.

The King nodded his head to the guard who cut the rope,
sending the blade at break neck speed (pun intended) toward
the doctor.

Miraculously, the blade stopped just before the doctor's
neck. The crowd was shocked into silence.

"This is truly a sign from God," said the King, "you may go
free Mr. Doctor." The doctor skipped off happily.

The lawyer was next. "Do you want to face the blade or face
away from the blade?" the guard asked him.

"I'll face the blade!" the lawyer said defiantly and the
crowd roared with approval.

He put his head in the notch and stared up at the blade
glimmering in the morning sunlight.

The King nodded his head to the guard who cut the rope,
sending the blade really fast toward the doctor.

Miraculously, the blade stopped just before the lawyer's
neck. The crowd was again shocked into silence.

"This too is a sign from God," said the King, "you may go
free Mr. Lawyer." The lawyer left immediately to enjoy his
good fortune.

The engineer also chose to face the blade, and now the
crowd was going crazy -- surely God was in their midst
today.

The engineer put his head in the notch stared up at the
blade glimmering in the morning sunlight.

The King raised his chin to begin his now familiar signal
to his guard when the engineer yelled "WAIT! I think I see
the problem."

I find players and coaches (and parents, and corporate
executives) often are so focused on what's wrong - be it
with their swings, their coach, their field, their
teammates, their players, their staff, etc. -- that they
are essentially unwilling to accept good things in their
lives.

Whatever you focus on you attract, so if you want to focus
on what's wrong, you'll get more "wrong."

If you focus on what's right, you'll get more "right."

We all get to choose, regardless of our circumstances.

Are you like the doctor and lawyer who rejoice in their
good fortune, who are able to enjoy their successes?

Or are you like the engineer who will make the worst of a
good situation?

Sincerely,
Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson

p.s. Nothing is more important in your life than the
perspective you take. It's easy to say "focus on the
positive," but it isn't the easiest thing in the world to
do. It does get easier, however, with training. I'll train
you to take charge of your mind in my Confidence
Conditioning program, which you get free just for taking
the Baseball Confidence Gym for a test drive. Go now to
www.BaseballConfidence.com

p.p.s. Note to current Gym members: I broke my record on
this month's exercise, I did 50 in one minute.

Don't Throw Home Without It

2007-02-08T04:48:00.000-08:00

Pitching is the most important part of baseball, so I've devoted a lot of attention to it and I get asked a lot of questions about it.

Questions like:

"How can I constantly be locked in on throwing every pitch and how can I learn how to block everything else out?"
Dan, CA

"I have to talent to pitch at D1, but I could a lot better if I were to be more consistent by being stronger mentally."
Joshua, IA

"I struggle with mental focus and confidence during games.
Am confident in my ability but it doesn't always show on the field."
Kevin, MA

You might also ask:

What do I do if the mound is bad?

What do I do if my team doesn't score any runs for me?

What do I do if my team makes a lot of errors behind me?

What do I do if the umpire is terrible?

What do I do if we get a big lead?

How can I get through the 5th inning we we're ahead and I'm thinking I could get the win?

What should I do if my coach is always yelling at me?

What should I do if my coach is constantly trying to change my mechanics?

What should I do if scouts are there watching and I get nervous?

What should I do if I look up in the stands from the mound and my girlfriend is sitting next to a guy I know is hitting on her?

Well, ultimately all these questions have the same answer:
focus on your pre-pitch routine.

A routine is a set series of physical and mental steps you take each time before each pitch. It's a "success recipe" that you follow on each pitch. Like a food recipe, following the specific instructions repeatedly should give you consistent results.

You really see them in basketball on the free-throw line. Bounce, bounce, bounce, breath, pause, shoot.

You really seem them when you look for them in golf. See the shot, feel the shot, trust it.

Consistency rules the baseball performance world and the way to be consistent is to consistently take the same actions, and think the same thoughts that consistently lead to your best performances.

Your pre-pitch routine: Don't Throw Home Without It.

If you'd like help developing your routine or you want to learn how to teach your players how to develop a powerful routine, join the Baseball Confidence Gym at www.BaseballConfidence.com/Join.html

Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson

How To Keep Your Cool

2007-02-07T14:10:00.000-08:00

I just hung up with a guy who invested in the full year of
the Baseball Confidence Gym. As we chatted he talked about
his son, a pitcher...

"Mistakes get to him. His eyes sort of glaze over.

"Last year he gave up a HR on a change up and he was
thinking about that pitch the rest of the inning. Instead
of giving up 1 run, he gave up 4. If he can get to where
when bad things happen it's just on to the next pitch, just
forget about that last bad pitch -- he'll be great."

That is sooooooooo common. A player gets upset about
something that happened on one pitch and as a result screws
up the next several pitches.

I call it spiraling out of control. If you've read Heads-Up
Baseball you know it as running yellow and red lights.

He may be throwing one pitch physically, but mentally he's
throwing two or more.

To be as good as you can be in baseball, you must learn to
play one pitch at a time.

And the thing I love about my work is that it goes so far
beyond baseball. Dealing with adversity and stress is a
vital part of success in life.

I hung up a few minutes prior to this call with a client
who is a director at a major corporation here in Tampa. He
said they had a "major event" at their company 2 weeks ago
that has turned the place into a fire drill since then.

I simply reminded him of some of the mental skills he's
learned from me (some breathing and perspective shifting)
and he said, "Oh, yes, they've helped me stay above the
fire. I'm actually handling it fine."

That's what a player must be able to do. That's what a man
needs to do when he's done playing baseball. He must be
able to keep his cool when all those around him are losing
theirs.

That's a natural ability for some. But those people are
rare.

That's a learned ability for the rest of us.

The beauty is now you can choose if you want to simply wait
until you pile up enough failures to learn how to deal with it,
or if you want to use the latest, most powerful mental tools available to
dramatically speed up your learning curve.

The guy that just invested in his son did more than just
help him be a better baseball player. He's helping him be a
better man.

How do YOU handle adversity? What happens to you
physically? Emotionally?

Having the awareness of how you respond is a nice first
step toward becoming skilled at performing when the
pressure is on.

Stay Focused,

Dr. Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson

p.s. The price on the Baseball Confidence Gym is going up
tomorrow. I've been in start up mode pricing and now that
this is off the ground and humming I'll move to my real
pricing.

Good news: once you start at one price and stay a member
you'll never have to pay a higher price. So if you're on
the fence I'd get off it and take advantage of the goodies
at below market prices.

Go now to: www.BaseballConfidence.com/Join.html

2007-02-06T09:25:00.000-08:00

Today I'll dip into the mail bag. Here's one from NewJersey:

--------------
Tom,

I have always been a good hitter. I hit .456 as a freshman, .357 as a sophmore (with a broken finger....long story), and I didn't play my junioryear because of injury. My summer team made it to the WorldSeries in New Mexico after winning States and sweepingregionals. The problem is all of my coaches tell me that Ihave to relax, that I have a huge mental problem.

WheneverI am in the field with 2 outs and a close game, I neverwant the ball hit to me, although I know I am a greatfielder. With less then 2 outs, I am excited when a ball ishit to me. When I'm batting, I never want to be up with 2outs because I always make the last out. I would tell myteammates, 'You better hope I'm not up with 2 outs, becauseI always make the last out.' Then I would go out andproceed to make the last out of 3 innings. Going into mysenior year I really want to fix this problem because I amplanning on trying to walk on to a D-1 school (was not ableto play in front of coaches b/c injury).

Chris, NJ
----------

Two-outophobia. That's the technical term for this.

It's an inner dragon that must be slain.

The whole thing is made worse if your coach is telling youto 'relax,' and telling you you have a huge problem.

The short answer is two fold: you need to focus on what youDO want, and you need to condition your mind differently.'Install' a new belief system in a way comparable toinstalling a new software on a computer.

Let's back up a bit.

One thing you need to realize is that what you focus on youattract. If you fear making the last out or making an errorthe Baseball Gods will do everything they can to make sureyou do.

Your mind becomes a magnet for whatever you focus on. It'sas if you are sending out a request to the Baseball Godsthat you WANT the ball hit to you.

Our minds don't do 'Don't,' 'Not,' or 'No' very wellbecause our mind works in pictures. In order to picture'Don't hit it to me' it has to picture the ball being hitto you in order to put a red line through it.

Don't think of a pink elephant.

SO when you are thinking 'don't hit it to me' you are ineffect sending out the message: 'hit it to me.'

Ironically, that's exactly what I do want fielders thinking.

However, you're imagining yourself blowing the play. Yourmind is a great servant -- it takes what you imagine as arequest, just like a genie from a bottle.

If you imagine yourself making an error it is as if you aretelling your mind/genie: 'This is what I want you to do.'

'Yes, Master!' your mind says, and it follows your command.

It not only does everything it can to attract the ballbeing hit to you, it will do everything it can to make sureyou make an error!

So you tell me, what could you do that would be a betteruse of your Genie?

Then the issue becomes conditioning your mind so that youhabitually think effectively, powerfully, positively.

That's done over time.

You've thought these negative thoughts so much now thatyou've grooved them into your physiology. They are a habit.We have habits of thought just as we have habits ofbehavior.
Essentially, you need to imagine over and over what you DOwant to have happen.

Repetition is the mother of skill. It is the creator ofhabit.

When the pressure is on in a game your habits take over.Your conscious mind usually checks out and habits run yourbehavior.

How do you create a new habit?

I think you know.

I hope this helps, Chris. I hope you take action on thesethoughts. I can tell you love the game and it would be atoo bad if you didn't slay this two out dragon you've gotgoing on.

Moral: Use your Genie wisely.
-------------------
Only time for one more letter:

'Confidence Conditioning has allowed our players to putpractical concepts on mental discipline into theirroutines. It has given us coaches a tool to keep our ourplayers more focused and our concentration levels at a peaklevel. All of our players have gained a new insight to howthey respond to different adversities and what they need toto do internally to overcome such adversities. TheConfidence Conditioning program is a great supplement tocoaching our players and a positive resource in getting ourplayers to reach their maximum potential! Our baseballprogram has made some great strides over the years buttying in some mental and confidence training has allowedour team and individuals to raise their level of playbeyond the physical aspects of the game. Thanks Tom!

Doug Wollenburg
Head Baseball Coach Savannah College of Art and Design
--------------------------

No comment on this one other than 'way to go, Doug.'
If you take this stuff and run with it terrific things can happen.

In confidence,

Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson
p.s. You can get Confidence Conditioning free when you trythe Baseball Confidence Gym for just one month. Most peopleare signing up for the full year, but you don't have to.Check it out at www.BaseballConfidence.com

Garrido: "Confidence is What Matters"

2007-02-03T11:43:00.000-08:00

Augie Garrido is head coach of powerhouse Texas University and a source for much of the learning of Ken Ravizza and myself on the mental game of baseball.

He's also a big proponent of our book, "Heads-Up Baseball: Playing the Game One Pitch at a Time."

He has a lot of coaching philosophy lines I like, including this recent one.

"[Confidence] is what matters," Garrido said, as if it were the secret of life. "How the player sees himself probably has more to do with who he becomes, who he actually becomes, than his talent or his skill"

See whole article here:
Baseball prepared for bigger challenge - Sports

Tom

Dr. Tom Hanson
www.BaseballConfidence.com
www.FreeBaseballConfidence.com

Why Pros Fall Short

2007-02-02T08:09:00.000-08:00

An interview on the Huntsville Stars (AA) homepage
underlined for me where most professional teams fall short
in their training and player development...

(Interviewer) Pollock: "The emphasis in the minor leagues is on player
development but there is some importance placed on winning,
how important was it, how much can the players learn from
the battle through adversity in a tough first half that
lead to a second half division title?"

Sandy Guerrero (Hitting Coach): "The minor leagues are for player
development, both physical and mental. When you develop
their physical abilities well, their confidence grows and
along with it, their mental approach to the game is more
focused. It is what is called a winning attitude."

I totally agree with Guerrero on this. When you get better
physically you do tend to gain confidence.

This is the approach most commonly used in baseball. There
is nothing wrong with it, many championships and great
players have been made with it.

But I consider it the "Old School" approach. They get to
some degree that the mental game is important, but don't
focus on it directly.

To me it's like playing Play Station 1 when you could play
Play Station 3.

I don't have PS3, but I see it on the HD TV's in stores.
Wow. Very cool. The images are so realistic (in their
unrealisticness).

It's a dramatic performance improvement from my favs Pack
Man and Galaga. I hit Donkey Kong pretty hard, too.

Adding mental training, what I mostly refer to as
"Confidence Conditioning," to the physical training you
make a quantum leap in performance. Instead of jumping over
rolling barrels, you can be invading far away planets.

Instead of hoping confidence comes along with the physical
training, you can train for it directly.

So please start using the tools you learned it my "5 Steps
to Unstoppable Confidence" program (fr*e) at
www.FreeBaseballConfidence.com.

I want to you to hurry up and get skilled enough that you
see the benefits of going further with it.

Tom
Dr.Tom Hanson

p.s. In the gym this month I tell you exactly what to do
mentally while you physically train to "super condition"
yourself for success. Plus you'll hear Carl Yastrzemski
spill the beans on what went on in his Hall-of-Fame mind.
www.BaseballConfidence.com/Join.html

How Will You Handle This?

2007-01-30T06:52:00.000-08:00

Twins pitcher Glen Perkins had zipped through the Twins
farm system until last year he hit AA. After 13 decisions
at AA, he was 2-11.

I find AA to be the level the big talents can make it to
before they hit "the wall". The mental game wall, where
talent alone is no longer good enough.

All of the sudden everyone on the field has got big talent
and the beauty (and curse) of the game of baseball
blossoms. By that I mean you need all of you -- brains AND
brawn to succeed.

But don't think this is an article just about what happens
to pro players with big talent, there's a huge message here
for players at all levels. I'll get to it at the end of
this message.

For most big talent guys, hitting "the wall" is something
they never quite recover from. Their ego is so big and then
so badly bruised they never make the adjustment to that
next level. They never play with the same sense of magic
they'd always had.

Let's see what happened to Perkins...

Here're a few clips from an article in the St.Paul-Pioneer
Press:
---------------------
A train-wreck start to Perkins' 2006 season might have turned
out to be exactly what the former Gophers All-America left-hander
needed to be ready this year to provide what the Twins need in a
depleted big-league rotation. It doesn't hurt his chances
being left-handed in a projected rotation with only one
other lefty (Johan Santana).

"It's adversity. That's something I hadn't really faced in my career," said
Perkins, who was on a fast track through the Twins system
after he sailed through Class A in 2004 and '05. He
--finished that first full pro season at AA.
[Twins pitching coach Rick Knapp said] "Perkins already was one of
the most talented pitchers the Twins had in the organization
(major or minor leagues), as well as being one of the pitchers
most aware of his ability."

And Knapp agrees that last year's experience has the potential for
channeling both of those traits into a next-level focus this year.

"If you haven't ever experienced any failure ever, you just think
your stuff's good,' Knapp said. "Johan's as good as he is because
he walked a lot of guys in the minor leagues, and then he realized he
didn't have to walk them. And he made the change."

If anything, an extra dose of confidence might go a long way toward winning
a big-league job this spring, especially after traveling
the long and winding road he did in 2006 to finally get to
the big leagues."
-----------------------

Looks like Perkins is on the right path, making the adjustment.

I'm not too surprised, the Twins are a pretty enlightened
organization (I don't know about right now, but for a while
Heads-Up Baseball, the book I co-authored, was required
reading for many players).

How about you?

Are you enlightened? Have you got enough talent to wait
until you get to AA to start working on your mental game?

Actually, most players hit the "wall" much, much earlier
than AA. Like, say, high school. Or perhaps with your
talent level you've been up against that wall since t-ball.

Regardless of your age or talent level, the mental part of
the game is a huge factor. As you reach the limits of your
talent and even hard work advantage, your mental game will
determine if you go forward in baseball or you go play
softball.

Confidence, focus, composure, and the ability to handle
adversity are "tools" you can develop just like you can
develop physical strength, speed, endurance and flexibility.
In other words, you can have you mind be your biggest
weapon for success, or it can be like a 10th player on the
other team playing against you.

With the knowledge available to you right now, you can
choose how you want it to be.

In the February edition of the Baseball Confidence Gym I
lay out for you one of the single most powerful means
available anywhere to super charge you with confidence,
focus and composure.

Get in now and get the full month of Friday emails received
by members only.
www.BaseballConfidence.com/Join.html

In Confidence,

Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson
p.s. you can read the whole Pioneer - Press article here:
http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/16569207.htm

But don't just be a reader. Knowledge does you no good. The
world rewards action. Take action here:
http://www2.blogger.com/www.BaseballConfidence.com/Join.html

2007-01-29T11:57:00.001-08:00

I Feel Your Pain

2007-01-29T10:44:00.000-08:00

Last night, I felt it. I had talked about it for years without experiencing directly.

The sinking feeling in my chest.

My head hanging down into the ground.

The embarrassment.

The disappointment.

The silence.

The anger.

What caused that experience for me?

An error.

Last night was opening night for my new slow pitch softball team -- co-ed. I haven't played on a team of any kind for about 10 years and I've never played on a softball team.

I played Over 30 baseball for 6 years and had a blast.

Because I was throwing so much batting practice for my college team and I could hit when I wanted to I was a dominant player.

Also, most of the other players were really bad. I ended my career on a 30 for 30 stolen base streak.

But after a long drought that featured several moves and a marriage and two kids, I was back on a field at 9:30pm last night.

After we scored 6 in the top half of the first, their lead off guy hit a smoking ground ball right at me at short.

I caught it cleanly, took a shuffle step to first and let it go. As soon as I let go I knew it was low. I watched in dismay as the ball short hopped the first baseman and skiddered away from him.
Damn. Short armed it.

Down went the head, and the emotional black ink flooded my chest.

Then I became aware of what I was doing and took the prescribed course of action toward getting back to center, to getting back to wanting the ball hit to me.

I did alright with it and look forward to practicing it more. Although I want to practice it without making the error.

I actually made two more errors on tougher plays later. But I also made some nice plays and got on base every time up.

Didn't take the glove to the plate.

It was great and challenging to be facing the same challenges the players I coach face:

Keep positive energy going and stay focused despite being very disappointed with my error(s).

Then it was dealing with losing. We gave up a bleeder, two out hit that scored 2 to beat us 17-16.

I don't like to lose.

But I love being back in the game, even in this watered down format. The emotions are the same.

If you play more often than every 10 years (or know someone who does) the Baseball Confidence Gym will help you master your emotions and play the game at the highest level possible.

Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson

Don't Solve Your Problems

2007-01-25T06:47:00.000-08:00

Note:I've got a new site and a new program I'm very excited about. The feedback so far has been terrific.If you want the free program "5 Steps to Unstoppable Confidence" plus a free report I jus added on Jeter's secret to confidence, go to www.FreeBaseballConfidence.com.

If you just want to go to my new site, go to www.BaseballConfidence.com
--------------------------

I remember talking to Rob Thomson of the Yankees one time when he was running their day to day player development about "traps" that players fall into. I listed 8 in our conversation, and one was "poor choices during down time."

Getting into alcohol and partying and other things that disrupted focus and cost them energy. The normal thing to do is to tell a player to not do that. Even ban him from it.

That can work and it may be necessary. But it addresses the symptom instead of the cause. The focus becomes "not partying." The focus is on the problem.

Too often we do that in all areas of life -- we focus on our problems and try to solve them. That sounds good, but there's an important distinction missing. When you focus on your problems you get more problems. If that's the level you're focusing at, all you'll see is one problem after another.

As soon as you solve one problem, there will be another waiting and you'll do little more than hold your ground.

What should you do instead? Not solve your problems?

A more powerful focus is to go after your goal. Focus on your goal and go after it.Doing so either makes the "problems" go way, or puts them in such a different context that they don't occur to you as problems, just things you have to deal with on the way to your goal.

Might sound like semantics, but the energy difference is huge. Your goal should be your North Star. Your compass. Your guiding light.

With a clear, powerful goal you are much less likely to be distracted by things that aren't relevant to your goal, that don't move you toward your goal. The more clear you are on your goal, the better choices you'll make in your "down time."

In the February edition of my new Baseball Confidence Gym, I'll teach you how to burn a goal and the desire to reach it into your brain and body unlike anything you've ever seen. Join now and get some amazing free stuff.www.BaseballConfidence.com

In Confidence,

Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson

by Tom Hanson
1/24/07
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