For Pitching, Hitting, Everything: A Mental Game “Secret” Revealed
Here’s from today’s St. Pete Times (AP):
[Cardinals WR] Larrry Fitzgerald isn’t going to lie: He has pictured himself making that defining catch on Sunday.
“That would be great to have that kind of impact in the biggest game of my life. That’d be a phenomenal accomplishment,” he said.
“But I visualize myself always making plays. I sit around and daydream, making that tough catch on third and 2. I’m always visualizing.
“A lot of times it comes true for me.”
[and later...]
“Your Michael Jordans, your Magic Johnsons, the guys who want the ball in their hands when it’s time,” he said.
“You see a lot of guys who don’t want the pressure on them.
But look at the pressure as a privilege.”
—————————————-
Pressure as a privilege.
That’s a cool and potentially very helpful way to think.
Reminds me of when Jeter told me “pressure” was fun. “It’s all just like Little League,” he said.
Yet just shifting your mindset like that isn’t often that easy.
The best way I’ve found to make a major shift in your thinking (from, say, pressure to fun or must-be-perfect to playing with passion and understanding or I’m no good to I’m unstoppable is through tapping.
In the next two days I’ll announce the time of my complimentary teleseminar on tapping.
I’ve had a lot of great questions, well over 100, so far.
But I need yours.
—————————————-
Great Offer
—————————————-
For a limited time I’ll give you a recording of a basic intro to tapping class if you’ll ask me a question.
Don’t ask what tapping is, though, please. I’ll tell you.
Forget about tapping and ask me about your toughest mental game challenge.
What would you like to be able to do that you can’t do right now?
What would you like to learn how to do?
Go here and ask and I’ll send you the recording.
You can ask a second question if you have a good one.
http://www.askdatabase.com/campaigns/?af=47278
Thank you,
Tom
Tom Hanson, Ph.D.
p.s. Visualize yourself doing great things “all the time.”
And pay this email forward, please.
www.BaseballConfidence.com
Baseball Coaching: An Amazing Tapping Story
What IS Tapping?
That’s the #1 question I’ve received so far.
Thank you if you send me a question, Tommy.
If you haven’t, now’s your chance.
**NOTE: There’s a long email attached to the end of this short message, PLEASE read it…**
——————————–
What is Tapping?
——————————–
I’m not going to give you a very satisfying answer right now (those that asked already got their thank you gift, a brief introductory audio and handout).
It’s a technique that powerfully (yet often subtly) facilitates the release of negative emotions… and the “installation” of positive beliefs.
So the chance to ask a question and get the first session of “Tap Your Potential” is still there.
But please don’t ask what tapping is, tell me what you’d like it to do.
Here’s the new question: What is the single biggest mental or emotional game challenge you face?
Asked other ways…What would you like to get rid of (say, a need to be perfect)? What would you like to have more of?
Go here to ask:
http://www.askdatabase.com/campaigns/?af=47278
——————————–
Remember This…
——————————–
If you listened to that first tapping class and was underwhelmed, I understand.
I took a similar class almost 5 years ago and thought it was total b.s.
Didn’t do anything for me.
Then I met a guy who practiced it and I sort of mocked him, saying that it didn’t work.
He looked me straight in the eye, almost grabbing me by the collar, and said, “Then you haven’t really done it.”
He gave me a session and I was impressed.
Then I did a session on a young player and was blown away.
For nearly two years now I’ve practiced and learned and there’s no turning back.
If your goal was to help people would you rather have $100 or $1000?
Tapping gives me the power of having the $1000.
And it gives me moments like I had getting this email…
———————————–
After One Session…
———————————–
Tim was anxious about throwing batting practice the next day.
Tomorrow would be the first day of a fantasy camp featuring many current and past pro coaches.
Last year, his first at the camp, he’d had a melt down throwing BP.
Previously a rock solid strike thrower, a couple of bad pitches got in his head and the bottom fell out.
It was so bad another coach had to come out and finish his group of hitters.
For a pitcher to get yanked from a game is tough, but for a BP thrower to get relieved mid-group is total humiliation.
Especially with pro coaches you’d like to impress watching (Tim’s a professional teacher and coach, but not in pro baseball).
So we had time for one session, less than 30 minutes.
Tapping.
Here’s Tim’s email to me after the camp…
———————————-
Tim’s Letter
———————————-
Hey Tommy…. I apologize for not getting back to you with the batting practice report from the camp I called you about.
Well….I walked into the clubhouse the first morning and was handed an outline of the days activities. And there it was in big bold letters “BP for group number 1 and group number 2…..Tim”…I have to admit I about cr*apped myself.
So after the intial “Oh my God” feeling….I became my own suicide negotiator and talked and tapped myself off of the ledge.
As soon as the morning meetings were over we headed to the field for the group stretch. While the guys were stretching I started to get loose by playing catch with Mike Butcher the Angels pitching coach who is a buddy of mine.
After every good throw warming up I told myself “like that”
and after any throw that didn’t go where I wanted it to go I said “not that”.
Then it was moment of truth time…..Kevin Long the Yankees hitting coach positioned himself at the side of the BP roll out cage to talk to the hitters during each round…..and seeing the Yankees hitting coach there I must admit caused me to start feeling a little anxious….
But again I tapped myself down and…..I stepped up on the mound platform took a deep breath and let it go….down the middle.
Then another and another and another.
In between each pitch I was doing the hand tapping technique that you shared with me. And with every good pitch I continued re-affirming like that…..and each bad throw “not that”.
By the end of my first morning of BP several of the hitters said that they couldn’t decide who threw better BP me or Keving Long.
The first day was behind me and I was feeling incredible.
Day 2…..I was to throw to the 4th group. I used the same preparation as the day before and had the same result until the last two hitters of the final round.
That old familiar feeling started to creep in. I started to become very conscious of my nerves.
Orv Franchuk a hitting coach with the Padres started to get on me about not hitting to many bats….my anxiety started to rise…..so I stepped off the pitching platform and did some finger/hand tapping and got back up and finished off the round.
So the second day I left not feeling quite the same as the first day….but still feeling pretty good.
Day 3.….there I was again…..my name at the top of the list. First thrower of the day.
And who to my surprise did I share the field with this time….Brook Jacoby hitting coach for the Cincinnati Reds.
I have known Brook for several years because I coached his son Torrey (who is a Sophmore at Pepperdine) all 4 years of high school.
So now I start to feel that knot in the pit of my stomach.
That familiar anxious feeling starts to enter the picture.
You see last years when I got the yips….Brook is the one who came out and rescued me. And I was determined not to have that happened again.
So while I was warming up I told myself and tapped myself to hit the target. I stepped up on the platform and preceded to throw the best round of BP I have ever thrown.
In fact more than one guy from the group came up to me after and told me that I threw the best BP in the camp.
Cloud 9 Baby!
So I owe you a big debt of gratitude.
And I have to admit all of that came just from our short phone session because I didn’t have time to go threw your Yips Course that you had sent me.
But I am going to complete it right away because I want this BP success to continue right into my season.
Thank you soooooooooo much……you tapping son of a bitch! (Sorry)
My confidence has grown just from those 3 days of success and I owe it all to you!!!
Keep up the outstanding work…..I am all in!!!!
Tim Haubursin [google him for more info]
—————————————
Questions?
—————————————
So what question do you have? Try to avoid asking technical ones about tapping, but focus on what results you’d like.
I’m all about results, actual changes, than technique. I’ll teach you the techniques.
*So here’s the question(s) I’d like you to respond to again:
What is the single biggest mental or emotional game challenge you face?
Asked other ways…What would you like to get rid of (e.g., a need to be perfect)? What would you like to have more of?
Go here to ask:
http://www.askdatabase.com/campaigns/?af=47278
————————————-
How I’ll Answer Them
————————————-
I’ll do a no cost teleseminar very soon to respond to your question.
Please forward this email to people, with a little bit of effort on their part it will be enormously valuable.
Thank you.
Tom
http://www.askdatabase.com/campaigns/?af=47278
Baseball Training: How to Rid Youself of Negative Emotions Fast
I was on the phone yesterday with someone I know a bit but not really great, and we were joking and bantering a bit.
But then I said something that just went too far.
Like my five year old trying to joke with me by hitting me on the butt but hitting too hard (so it really hurt me), I just went too far with a jokey comment.
I’m hoping you can relate to that?
After I hung up I felt it in my chest. Sort of a buzzy, yuky feeling.
“How could I be so stupid?,” I thought to myself.
After a moment I went on to my next task, but still felt it.
Then it he me just what to do….
————————————
Call the person up?
————————————
Nope. I’d essentially apologized and to call back would have dug me deeper, in my opinion.
Hmmmm. What could I do to get rid of this feeling? The event was over and done with …. other than my bad feeling.
Feeling bad has its place, but I’d gotten the information from it that I needed (Don’t cross the line when joking with someone you don’t know well) so it was only going to hurt my performance the rest of the day.
————————————
Enter Tapping
————————————
So I tapped on it.
“This embarrassed feeling, this embarrassed feeling, this cruddy feeling in my chest, this buzzy bad feeling in my chest…”
And darned if it didn’t go away in a couple of minutes.
I wasn’t happy about what I’d done, but I was feeling good again and went on to have a good feeling, productive day.
————————————
Baseball Ap
————————————
Ever do anything in baseball that made you feel cruddy?
Make an error? Strike out? Walk in a run?
Leave a pitcher in one batter too long?
Once it’s over, it’s over.
Negative feelings only make it worse, affecting the next pitch.
How great would it be to be able to get rid of negative feelings super fast?
Imagine screwing up, then coming back with a great play.
That’s what the Great Ones do.
That’s what scouts are looking for. They don’t expect you to be perfect.
I’ve heard scouts say they want to see a guy make a mistake so they can see how he comes back.
THAT’s the time they can see what he’s really made of.
——————————–
Special Offer
——————————–
In my Tap Your Potential course I cover the fundamentals of how to tap and how to apply it to all aspects of baseball.
It takes you from knowing nothing about it to having a solid understanding so you can use it any time, any place, on or off the field.
Remove negative feelings and beliefs, replace them with positive ones.
Fast.
Best tool I’ve seen in 25 years of tool researching.
Here’s the special offer….
I want to add to the course recordings of me working with players and coaches.
So, for the next 4 people who choose to step their game up by getting the program, I’ll give you one free session of working 1-1 with me as long as you give me permission to record it and share it with others.
At least a $175 value.
You won’t have to give any identifying info on the recording, you could even use a different name.
Get the program and we’ll set up a time.
But hurry, I greatly value my time and rarely give it away these days.
Here’s the link:
Thanks,
Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson
www.FreeBaseballConfidence.com
p.s. I’m getting slammed with people with the throwing yips. I keep getting better and faster at working with it.
Please send anyone you know my way (www.YipsBeGone.com)
p.p.s. And please forward this email to anyone that seems pretty stuck in a mental game issue (perfectionist, angery, negative attitude, lets one mistake ruin their game…)
How to Tell if Your Baseball Coaching Performance is a Joke
Three guys walk into a bar.
The fourth guy ducks.
…………………
That’s not laugh-out-loud funny. But funny enough to make my point.
Most humor involves a sudden shift in perspective. The first part of any joke sets a context, perspective, or point of reference.
The punch line then comes in at a right angle, something not expected, and changes our perspective suddenly.
It create a switcharoo in our heads and instantly we see the situation differently.
For some reason, that makes us laugh.
If you want to make 2009 a season you look back at and laugh (in a positive way), you need one of these switcharoos in your head.
It is this change in perspective, or change in paradigm (defined as “prevailing mindset or way of looking at a
situation”) that creates the greatest performance improvement.
Yes, the pre-pitch routines and breathing techniques are great, but for major changes (go from last place to first place types of changes), a major paradigm shift is needed.
I’ve also referred to this as self-image: How you see yourself.
Who you see yourself to be determines how you will play.
If you see yourself as a “joke,” for example, that’s what you’ll be.
If you see yourself as a champion, you’ll play like one.
I’ve worked a lot these past two weeks with “yippers.”
People with the “yips” throwing problem.
(See www.YipsBeGone.com)
Lots of players and coaches have made great progress. It’s some of the most rewarding work of my life.
One of the major obstacles we need to overcome is their seeing themselves as having this problem.
They’ve come to identify themselves as a person with a throwing problem.
So it isn’t just a matter of clearing out the problem, we also have to clear out their new identity as someone who has this problem.
They need a paradigm shift. They certainly don’t find anything funny about the paradigm they are in.
———————————-
Here’s the Punch Line
———————————-
REGARDLESS of your current level of success, you too are in a paradigm.
You too are locked in a box of your own making that limits the amount of success you allow yourself to have.
Now I, or anyone else, can talk to you til you’re blue in the face about this and it may do some good.
But nothing I’ve done or seen in my 25 years in performance enhancement can help you make that shift to the next paradigm or next level the way tapping can.
I don’t understand why I’m not hearing more about it from my colleagues. In my experience it dominates any other single method of performance enhancement.
Plain and simple. If you want to find out what is possible for you in baseball, as a player or coach, I believe you should be tapping.
And that’s no joke.
Thank you,
Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson
www.BaseballConfidence.com
p.s. I’m in the middle of teaching a course right now on how to get the most out of tapping (and therefore yourself).
It takes you from novice (no experience) to solid understanding and ability to use it with yourself and others in just 5 sessions.
Sign up now and you’ll get instant access to three hours of step-by-step instruction on how to use the power of this technique.
As with all my programs, if you don’t think it’s worth it I’ll give you your money back.
Is this program for everyone? No.
Not now any way. But I think it is sort of like the early days of the computer. It will go from obscurity to daily usage.
You can choose to be on the front end of the wave if you want, or join in when everyone else is.
If you are ready for a paradigm shift to the next level and would like to join this class (and get coaching on how to use tapping to get what you want), …
p.p.s. and please forward this email to anyone you think would like to be on the cutting edge.
Baseball Training: Adds the Magic of Disney to Your Game
“Oh Tooooooo-dles!”
Ripper, if you have a child under 5 you might recognize that call from The Mickey Mouse Club House show.
At the start of the show a goal is set (like have a picnic or throw a surprise party for Minnie), but before they start out they told about the 4 “tools” they will have at their disposal on their adventure.
(Things like a mini-trampoline, a wagon, and a blanket.)
Then they head off to complete their task.
Of course they run into obstacles along the way, and when they get stuck they yell:
“Oh, Toodles!”
And Toodles the magical wheel (or whatever the heck it is) shows up with just the right tool for the job.
That problem solved, they move on, only to encounter a different obstacle (e.g. kite stuck in tree).
And dog gone if that Toodles doesn’t just happen to have provided the perfect tool for THIS obstacle.
Somehow, through the magic of Disney, Toodles knows BEFORE THE ADVENTURE BEGINS which tools Mickey and co. are going to need.
Of course, that’s actually not so amazing since the writers make the whole thing up.
What does this have to do with baseball performance?
You are about to set out on your adventure through the 2009 season. You have your dreams and goals — your task is clear.
I say you’re just like Mickey at the start of the show.
And just like the writers of the show — you KNOW what obstacles are coming.
Umpires. Pitchers. Hitters. Errors. Losses. Stupid coaching decisions. Rain. Snow(!). Curveballs. Bloop hits. Slumps. Botched run downs. Botched bunts. Amazing comebacks. Big time chokes. Lucky bounces. Bad hops. Line drives right at people. Injuries.
And much, much more.
So wouldn’t it be nice if you could hit an an obstacle and
yell:
“Oh Toooooodles!”
And have just the right tool show up to help you through the situation?
You can.
It’s called mental skills training. You can load it up now and be ready when those obstacles hit you.
Just like on the Mickey Mouse Club House, it isn’t a question of whether or not you’ll get hit by obstacles this year, it’s WHEN and HOW MUCH.
So now you get to choose. Do you want to have Toodles on your side this year bringing you confidence, focus, and the ability to quickly let go of negative events?
If so, go to one of the options listed below and get going.
If you want to go on your adventure un-armed, good luck.
Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson
www.BaseballConfidence.com
1. Great offer: www.FreeBaseballConfidence.com
2. Scroll through loads of other powerful programs:
www.BaseballConfidence.com/Products.html (including a
program for youth players)
Please forward this to anyone you know in baseball (and high school and college coaches with children under 5 on their teams).