Individual athletes

While working with the whole baseball team I also provided individual work to athletes. There was a specific pitcher who was really fun to work with especially. He was one of our relievers, and originally started out not getting a lot of play time. So when we started our work together our primary focus was discussing what his goals were and he wanted to achieve them. He always put in a lot of time during practice working on his mechanics. Even off the field he was always trying to find new ways to improve. So my focus wasn’t on his motivation, he had tons of that. I wanted him to develop a sense of direction and focus with his work. Ideas to strive for, turning that motivation into focused and directed practice. 

Early into the season he was given the role of our closer. This was a big deal to him and he took that role seriously. With the new role his focus changed, he had a direction. The motivation for general improvement became motivation to be the best closer he could be. So for us the new focus was developing a plan for him to fully step into this new role. Unfortunately the same motivation that meant he was always thinking about baseball also led to him overworking himself. During conversations I would always ask “How’re you feeling” and as the season went on I would get a response from him that showed he wasn’t happy with his level of performance. He kept wanting to ramp up how much practice he put in, always assuming he wasn’t putting in enough work. So my focus again shifted with him to help him learn how to moderate his practice. If he injured himself from overworking his arm then it didn’t matter how much practice he was putting in.

He unfortunately did suffer a small injury that took him out for most of the final few weeks. Our conversations turned to injury recovery, and everything that entailed for not just this year but the next. Through our work he started developing a mindset that helped him find a focus and start understanding moderation and listening to his body. We also worked through injury recovery, how even when we are doing what we need, injuries can happen. We also focused on what he could carry into next year.