The Most Important 20 Seconds in a Game

The most important 20 seconds in a game is repetitous, because it occurs between every pitch in a game. I was at a game recently and overheard a coach tell his outfielders, "You need to make quicker decisions of where to throw the ball after you catch it." I disagree. Great outfielders tell themselves where they are going to throw the ball before the pitch is even thrown.

Those 20 seconds between pitches are used to analyze where the potential plays are going to be so when they catch the ball, they already know where they are throwing and are adjusting their bodies accordingly. For example, a right fielder may look to see that a runner is on second base with no outs in the middle innings of a close game. That runner will look to tag-up and advance on a flyball to right and may try to score an a single to right. The outfielder will think, "On a flyball at me or in front, I am going to throw thru the cutoff towards thirdbase. On a deep flyball that I catch running away from homeplate--where I cannot throw the runner out at third--I will hit the cutoff lined up to home." The scenarios can also be planned for singles and extra-base hits.

This sounds like a lot of thinking, but once routine, a player can easily recognize the situation and prepare in seconds. It is also important to know if the base runners are fast or slow. So, take advantage of the 20 seconds between pitches and prepare to react quickly.

John

Energy and Focus is a Mindset

An incredible article written by Jason Stark on ESPN.com (3/29/2010) titled, "Ingredients for a winning require rare mix," highlights a core ingredient to MENTAL FUNDAMENTALS: energy and focus is a mindset...a decision.

In this article, Jason Stark writes, "Anybody can crank it up for a day. But baseball is a game you play every day. So to play with energy every day, to maintain concentration every inning, to hustle on every play requires a level of excellence, commitment and competitive inferno that most human beings can't even comprehend, let alone reach."

Derek Jeter adds in Stark's article, "It's a mindset. You know what I mean? I'm not one who believes you can turn on and off a mindset. Either you have the mindset or you do not have the mindset. That is the difficult thing with this long season. If you lose focus, you are in trouble."

In our MENTAL FUNDAMENTALS dvd, Yankees outfielder Nick Swisher discusses his attitudes for playing hard all the time. Jeter calls it a mindset, but IT is an attitude that anyone can disipline themselves to have. Swisher says in our dvd, "I don't want to be sitting in a rocking chair (late in life) saying I wish I would have done this, or I wish I would have done that." That is just one attitude that motivates him to play with energy and focus. Swisher goes on to say that he does not want anyone to outwork him, and that he disciplines himself to to do the things that help him prepare to play, like taking extra groundballs and flyballs.

Check out our MENTAL FUNDAMENTALS dvd to learn more on how to develop winning attitudes and how to prepare to focus better in games and practice.