Baseball Pitcher Before a Saturday Game
Ritual / Activity | Desired Effect | Plan B |
Night before – listen to CD of relaxing music | Relaxed, at ease, no worries | Watch a movie; play a video game |
Morning – wake up late, smile, repeat positive statements, such as “I feel good, I’m ready to go.” | Maintain relaxation, feel good, feel awake, not thinking too much about the game | Read morning comics, listen to “pump up” CD |
Check equipment bag one last time | Put mind at ease Build sense of preparedness | List things practiced since last start. List improvements since last start. |
20 minutes alone for positive imagery and mental rehearsal of specific pitches | Confident, clear about pitching strategy for each batter, mental practice of pitches | “STOP” spiraling and TIC-TAC to regain positive focus Rewind and adjust as needed |
After arriving at competition site, start slow warm-up routine in OF 30 minutes prior | No stiffness, feel loose, feel strong, getting prepared | Find other suitable location as needed; Adjust routine to focus on unexpected stiffness, long toss |
Complete bullpen routine | Develop feel for every pitch in wind-up and stretch; command | Positive self-statements, Nobody wins in the bullpen |
Put jacket on, drink water, sit in dugout, visualize pitches to opposing lineup, breathing exercises | Short rest, relax heart rate, mentally rehearse first batter, inhale positive energy- exhale negative energy | Adjust breathing technique |
Pre-inning warm-ups: | Feel for the mound | Adjust mound as needed, Positive self-statements |
During game – use positive self-statements “Throw low strikes” “Way to pitch” “You’re doing fine” | Maintain focus, maintain confidence, stay in the zone, adjust | “STOP” spiraling “TIC-TAC” when needed * STOP & TIC-TAC are strategies to address spiraling |
No comments:
Post a Comment