“FREEDOM!” said William Wallace at the end of Braveheart.

That’s what it was all about for him.

In my conversations with players these past few days we’ve talked a lot about freedom.

Although they wouldn’t say it this way, a prime reason Little League baseball players play is to experience freedom.

Research has shown this to be one of the prime reasons people play any sport.

Seems funny that to experience freedom you’d enter a realm where there are way more rules than regular life (athletes have to abide by our regular laws plus the rules of their game when they play).

But paradoxically, when you confine yourself to the rules of a game, you come alive.

The focus that the rules provide make more things black and white. Score or no score. In or out. Win or lose.

And that clarity brings an intensity.

Clarity is power.

One of the fundamental characteristics of being in the “zone” or “flow” is having a clear goal.

When your goal is clear you get freed of other concerns and can focus your energy more purely.

Much of my work is around helping players be free and just play.

And helping coaches create the environment where the players are free to play.

Aren’t they always free to play?

Yes, but…

Define too many rules and you lose freedom.

Keep players from having any say in the rules and you lose freedom (no more “ghost runners”).

Put too much focus on the outcome and you lose freedom.

Get tied up in thinking about your mechanics and the “right” way to do something and you lose freedom.

Associate your parents love for you with how you play and you lose freedom.

Link your self-worth with your performance and you lose freedom.

Bob Rotella, my Ph.D. advisor, has helped tons of athletes by helping them “free it up and let go.”

I paid UVA a lot of money to hear him say that over and over and over.

But when I really get it — when I “free it up and let go”
– it’s worth every penny.

All my programs help players win the “mental game” by giving them clarity about what to focus on.

In my “Winning the Mental Game of Youth Baseball” I provide two concrete “goals” for players and coaches to focus on.

(More accurately, I teach you how to help a young player create those two things for him/her self. It’s much more powerful to co-create the goals than for you to assign them. I give you a step-by-step system for it).

Doing so frees them up. The fun returns. The tension goes way down. The distractions disappear.

If you want to be happier, have more fun, and be freer, pick a clear goal and go after it.

It will give you a brave heart, too.

Sincerely,

Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson

p.s. For sure closing the coupon at midnight: That link
again: http://www.baseballconfidence.com/youth.html

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