Mental Game: There Will Always Be Critics

If there's anything I learned during my experiences with softball as a player, as a coach, and as a parent is that there will ALWAYS be critics and people who try to bring you down.   Just remember, the more time, attention, and energy you spend on those people the less time attention and energy you have to focus on improving yourself!

I'm not saying you can't ever get upset by it or ever get mad or frustrated about it.  Those feelings are natural reactions. It's part of being a human being. However, if you let this type of "outside" influence affect you day in and day out, you are never going to reach your full potential.  You have to have enough faith in yourself and what you do and in where you're trying to go to in order to stay focused on what's really important vs getting distracted by the obstacles and challenges that most certainly will arise as you progress through your season and your career.

This is why it's so important to sit down and really think about what you want and where you're going.  Doing so makes it even easier to see things that are taking you away from that direction.  Without a focus and directions it's very easy to get off track and actually end up moving farther from your goals.  Mental game training is not something to be taken lightly. It's a very important part of any athlete's performance, yet often times we spend most, if not all of our time on only training ourselves physically.

Don't forget to train your brain as well as your body. It's definitely a critical element in softball performance and can be difference between being a good player and being a great player.