Self-Talk…

Mantra…

Inner Dialogue…

Whatever you refer to “this” as, ultimately it is “you” taking control of your mind and feeding it the correct words.

The human brain is extremely powerful…

The mind, specifically the subconscious mind, as known in hypnotherapy does not differentiate between positive and negative language. In simpler terms, the subconscious mind does not differentiate between “yes” and “no” or “do” and “don’t”.

Why is this important to a pitcher? Or for any human for that matter?

According to modern neuroscience, 95% of the activity in our brain is unconscious…

What this means is that the majority (if not all) of the decisions we make, or the actions we take, or our emotions and behaviors are made by the 95% of brain activity that simply lies beyond our conscious awareness…

Our subconscious mind controls each physical movement…voluntary or not.

Thought experiment:

For the next 30 seconds, repeat only the following words to yourself internally…this will become your “mantra” for the next 30 seconds.

Your mantra is: “Don’t think about pink elephants”

…30 seconds is up.

I would guess that you are most likely thinking about pink elephants and nothing else.

How do these words apply to pitching?

(Common Inner Thoughts)

“I can’t walk this guy”

“A base hit ties the game”

“He hit a homerun off of me last time”

Your brain (subconscious mind) processes these thoughts (words) as:

“walk”

“base hit”

“homerun”

So if the words (mantra) that we feed our mind is so valuable to humans (pitchers), then we should be feeding it clear and positive directions…

“Up and In”

“Down and Away”

“Strike at the Knees”

“Fastball at the Letters”

“Filthy Slider”

You are in control of what you feed your mind…in baseball…and in life.

Keep it positive…keep it clear…and allow your mechanics to do the rest.