Success is an ever changing definition that can be impacted in numerous ways and needs to be continuously reevaluated. I see many players get discouraged when they have a tough start to a game and they ride that disheartened feeling for the rest of the game. If you want to bounce back in those situations, you have to understand how and when to adjust your definition of success.
Baseball has many different levels of battles. In the view of a single day, the game is the war, aka the accumulation of all of the battles you’ll fight throughout the day. Going into a game, you’ll have goals set or definitions of success that you will use to evaluate your performance post game. As a pitcher, it might be throwing five innings or only walking two batters. As a hitter, it might be collecting two hits or not striking out.
To achieve your goals, there will be many smaller battles you have to fight. You will need to plan how you will execute those battles to be successful for that game.
I see players become disheartened when they start to lose small battles and evaluate their success while the game is still going on. This deters their performance for the rest of the game. In this case, you have to understand that while you are not pacing to achieve your overall goals, it does not mean that you have failed.
Your next step is to adjust your definition of success to the new situation, and put your focus on achieving your brand new goal. You may have struck out twice, given up three runs on the mound or made an error in the field, but there is nothing you can do about that anymore. You hear coaches and teammates say “forget about it” or “have short term memory.” While it can be annoying to hear, it is valid advice! The only way you are going to move past the mistakes is to create this new plan and commit to it with the full belief you can still be successful.
Let’s say you are a relief pitcher and you want to throw a scoreless inning, but the first three batters reach base and now the bases are loaded with nobody out. Realistically, you are not likely to complete this inning without giving up a run, and thinking about that will only make you try to pitch outside of your capabilities. In this situation, you need to create an attainable, positive goal such as playing to give up only one run, or maybe even two. Attack that new goal, one pitch and one batter at a time.
If you are a hitter and you are 0 for 3 with three strikeouts, you’re not going to make up for those earlier at bats or your goal of notching two hits. Rather than letting your last at bat get away from you, adjust your goal so you have something realistic to fight for. Success in this at bat might be as simple as working a walk or catching a barrel.
Re-locking yourself in, even when the game has been stacked against you, gives your team the best chance to win. At the end of the day, baseball is a team sport and whether or not you achieve your goals for the game doesn’t directly correlate to your team winning. If you mentally check out of the rest of your opportunities, it will negatively impact your team. If you save the evaluation of your goals for after the game, you might find something from your extra effort that you’ll be happy with.
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