During an interview, Eddie Murray was quoted as saying,”baseball should really be called adjustments”, when asked about his success through out his career. Adjustments is hands down the most important thing to understand at any age, about what separates a good player from a great one.
The quicker you are able to make them the more playing time you will find yourself having, and for you professionals the more money you’ll be making.
The question is, how do I know when I need to make an adjustment or when I need to have faith in my approach, stick with it, and wait to get hot or more consistent?
Well a part of knowing this is becoming an expert of the type of baseball player you are.
For me making adjustment was a process. If I made a major adjustment, I had to make sure to remind myself that it may take time for the new adjustment to produce results. Basically I had to have faith in myself as a baseball player and in the game itself.
It’s important for you to realize after an adjustment has been made, it takes time for it to be implemented. Focusing on quick results is hardly ever the way to go after making adjustments.
But what if an adjustment isn’t whats called for? Well that’s where your trust and instincts come in to play. You have to have the knowledge of what your needs are in order to make changes, and then meet those needs. This level of awareness comes with experience, so don’t worry if you feel like you don’t have this level of self awareness yet. You will.
Make sure an issue is actually an issue
As a younger player after a game where I struck out two or three times I would go into panic mode and try to make a change with my swing. Instead of realizing that striking out is a part of hitting and failure is part of baseball, I didn’t trust myself and the process of baseball.
Baseball is truly a process and there are a handful of things you can’t control.
Forget about success and focus on having fun. If you are able to cultivate the feeling of having fun while playing this game, you are expressing your passion for the game. Playing this game with passion will bring whatever adjustments needed on its own.
Can you remember playing baseball as a kid? Chances are you really didn’t worry about making adjustments or failing. You just strapped your cleats on and played your heart out.
That’s why playing baseball like a kid is so effective. In reality we are playing a kids game. Kids can make anything fun, and having fun is what brings success.
Faith, fun, and patience are the key ingredients to any slump, or lack of success.
Having faith that you will and can make the adjustments needed to succeed.
Remembering what is was like playing as a kid, participating without worry and full of pure innocent anticipation and excitement, will remind you how to make baseball fun again.
Bringing awareness into your baseball mentality will help remind you that baseball is a process. Adjustments take time to bring about a positive change.
Keep these truths in your heart as well as in your mind the next time you take the field, and you will be fine. Good luck.