Adapted from: Wrestling Through Adversity

The Mental Game of Baseball

The great Babe Ruth said: “You can’t hit the ball, if you don’t swing the bat.” His wisdom played out with the story of a preteen boy who did not believe in himself but later bounced back to win in his own mind and then in reality on the field of his dreams.

It was the end of the recreational youth wrestling season in March when George,12, first visited my office with his mother, who wanted to help her son to help himself. He was disappointed that he “gave up” on the mat and did not qualify for the State Championship. He said, “I suck at wrestling. I can’t believe I got pinned.”

We focused on wrestling to prepare for summer competitions in freestyle and worked on moves. He learned Breathing Easy to help him calm down to improve focus and to get muscle ready. In addition, I taught him mental rehearsal to gain confidence and to get in the Zone, as well as positive self-talk and mental recall.

However, since George had other priorities, such as playing baseball and getting on the honor roll by improving his science grades, we worked on these skillsets as well. George was already on a baseball team. He wanted to try out for third base, but he did not have confidence in himself. We worked on mentally rehearsing this position by throwing and catching the ball, and on what his role would be, and how he had to react to impress the coach. On the next visit, he was happy to announce that he reached his goal of being a third baseman.

A swing as smooth as silk

I based the imagery I used on the book, Home Run by Robert Burleigh that is all about Babe Ruth, the baseball legend, where Babe’s bat, and body, and ball were in complete sync. Babe’s swing was as “smooth as silk” and “easy as air on the face.” The author wrote that Babe understands this feeling, he waits for it and wants it again and again.

George and I practiced mentally what to do while preparing to be “at-bat,” that is, imagining putting on his batting helmet and gloves, gripping the weighted bat, and swinging it on-deck. We envisioned how to set up in the batter’s box. As the Babe did, George imagined himself swinging big through the ball, coming around powerfully to hit a home run out of the park. I gave George a CD recording for the road after the completion of nine one-hour sessions.

How George showed resilience was awesome as per his mother’s account through personal communication. George was not hitting well in the beginning of the season. As he struggled, he was really “down in the dumps,” felt nervous, and was sure he would strike out. At this point, his mother put my recording on his phone so he could listen to it. From then on, he hit multiple home runs. The coach said he never saw him so confident at-bat.

Becoming a Hall of Famer

Some weeks later, the team played at Cooperstown, New York, the home of the Baseball Hall of Fame. George had been looking forward to this moment for two years. The team played six games in their pool but lost five of them. George was doing worse each game, as described by his mom, and constantly thought of how he was not going to reach his home run goals. He was disappointed and came off the field in tears, saying, “I suck at baseball.” His mother and the coach made sure George listened to the recording the night before the last game and in the morning George’s coach remarked that he was extremely focused while listening.

During the last game of the series, George sat out for the first three innings, and his parents were nervous for him when he finally got up to bat. However, much to their astonishment, George became the Babe and hit a grand slam out of the park. On the next two at-bats, he hit two homers, adding up to three home runs in three at-bats. “You couldn’t wipe the smile off his face,” his mom gleamed. His coach said his entire body language and posture changed while heading out to bat that day. After this experience, George’s mother and his coach became staunch advocates of Mindful Toughness ® training and recommended me to other team members and to football players, too.

Home runs in science

George hit some home runs in the classroom as well. After working on study and test-taking skills with me as his peak performance coach, he scored 100 percent on a science test, his “worst” subject, and got on the honor roll to reach his academic goals. His prize to treasure was a souvenir frame that encased his “home run baseballs.”

In this story, the great Babe reminded us that we should work on ourselves to improve our weaknesses on and off the playing field. He told us to swing hard whether we strike out or not, and to never let the fear of striking out keep us from playing ball. However, you do not have to believe Babe Ruth. In fact, you don’t have to believe me, a hypno-coach, when I remind you that teaching children how to succeed by using the simplicity of natural imaginative processes like Mindful Toughness® skillsets, such as Breathing Easy and mental rehearsal when you know how to do it.

To view the animated version of George’s story, click here and visit my websites: idealperformance.net and drchristinesilverstein.com, buy my book, Wrestling Through Adversity: Empowering Children, Teens, and Young Adults to Win in Life  on Amazon and subscribe to my YouTube channel The Young Navigator.