The Gift of Death
My friend John Otterness gave me a wonderful birthday present night before last.
He then died yesterday.
I’d picked him up at the cancer center and driven him to his home where the Hospice guy was waiting.
We maneuvered him into a reclining chair.
True to our entire relationship, John was giving to me the whole time, but it’s in that chair that I’ll remember it best.
It wasn’t what he said (he couldn’t say much), it wasn’t what he did (he didn’t do much but breathe), but it was in allowing me to see this great man, a big, strong, Texas man, be so graceful and well-spirited when he knew virtually every thing he did was the last time he’d do it.
He gave me the reminder that that chair is waiting for me.
Someday that will be me.
May be sooner, may be later, but one day I’ll be in that chair (or its equivalent).
So when later that night both my kids, at separate times, woke up and woke me up, I actually enjoyed it.
Because I knew I wouldn’t always be able to get up. Someday they’ll likely help me into a chair.
I doubt I’ll be able to hold that strong of a perspective on life all the time. (You know how when you’re sick you think you’ll never take being healthy for granted again, but then you do?)
But I’ll try.
And so one take away can be one of the core principles of the mental game:
Have a big picture vision of your target, of what you want in the future (what do we want to have for memories while we sit in the chair?) and then pour everything we’ve got into the present moment.
Focus on enjoying and competing on each of life’s pitches as if that chair was waiting for us.
Because it is.
Thank you, John.
Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson
The Day I Robbed Jeter
It was a bright, sunny mid-January morning at the Yankee minor league complex here in Tampa.
I had grabbed a random catcher’s mitt and was sh agging BP for some big leaguers taking some extra hacks with a couple of other coaches.
Posada, O’Neil, Jeter and someone else were taking turns at the dish.
I’m in right center and a light breeze is in my face.
Jeter’s up, and airmails one of his signature drives to right center.
“Too high,” I thought, “he didn’t get it all.”
That means I should catch it.
It had been a while since I’d tracked fly balls from the outfield (or anywhere for that matter) and when coupled with the cloudless blue high sky and four World Champions and three coaches I wanted to build rapport with and gain the respect of made for a compelling moment.
As a highly educated sport psychology expert I immediately had a wonderfully helpful thought:
“Don’t choke.”
Well, the last thing I wanted was the ball to go over my head. That looks the worst. I can always go for the basket catch if I’m too deep.
So I stay put.
It keeps coming and coming. Floating and floating.
I just track it and track it.
I was still leaning forward because I knew he didn’t really hit it (or did he), but darn if it didn’t at least look like it was still carrying.
Yes, it was.
I was already standing on edge of the warning track (remember, better to have balls fall in front), but now I start to walk back.
I want to catch it, but not go overboard. (Perform AND be cool, Tom, that’s mature thinking).
I raise my glove, still walking back.
“Good grief, how far is this ball going?”
Just keep tracking, tracking, tracking.
BLANG!
My extended arm hits the 6-foot chain link fence.
RIP! the ball rips through some leaves on a tree that overhang the fence.
SPLAT! the ball lands in my glove, well above the fence.
So in real time that was: BLANGRIPSPLAT!
“Wow,” I thought, “that just happened.”
So I cooly wing the ball toward the bucket behind 2nd. And walked back to my spot.
TH 1, Jeter 0.
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The point I’ll make off of that is that there were a lot of factors that could be termed “stressful,” including how I was going to look to people I wanted respect from, I got a good result because I stayed focus on what was most important.
The Ball.
I had some bad thoughts. I hadn’t practiced, but I got the result because I stayed focused on the ball.
I spoke with a big leaguer yesterday about a great performance he had.
“It’s a testament to staying focused on the plan,” he said.
The money is in the plan.
And in a mastery of staying focused on it when the forces of evil (like your stats and how you look) tempt you to press for the result you want.
Sincerely,
Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson
www.HansonsGym.com
p.s. You’re way ahead of where I was that day if you practice. I tell you what to practice and take you through practices in all my programs.
Get the one that calls to you today at
http://www.BaseballConfidence.com/Products.html
p.p.s. And please forward this to anyone that enjoys a true story.
BLANGRIPSPLAT!
Baseball Coaching: Are the Rays Choking?
Just a few days after I said the Rays won’t choke they’ve now lost 6 of 7 and there 5.5 game lead is down to .5.
Choking?
I don’t know.
Maybe.
But they’ve run into some great pitching. They’re still missing two of their best players (3B Longoria, CF
Crawford) and their closer is a gunfighter but old and oft injured (Percival).
They’ve thrived this season on winning close games. Gutting them out. Someone comes through.
No one player has had the team on his back. They’ve
There’s been a sense of magic, of destiny.
They don’t seem to have that luster right now. It has always felt they’d find a way to win.
Now it doesn’t feel that way — there’s a sense of doing the math for how many games they could lose and still get the wild card.
I think they’ll get it back.
But typically teams and individuals in this situation (a run of negative results) will wait around until someone comes through, a big hit falls in, the other team gives them a game, something.
Waiting for that is called being a Victim.
A Victim of circumstances.
A Victim lets what happens outside of them determine what goes on inside of them.
I help players and teams learn to be Players. A Player generates their own “state” (confidence, positive energy,
focus) by how they think and move their bodies.
A Player doesn’t wait around for positive results to happen to them.
A Player creates the state they want, when they want.
They’ve learned to do this through practice. They’ve acquired the skills required to feel positive and confident regardless of recent results.
So they Rays need to connect with the magic again. Generate the state of lightness, joy, and fire they’ve had all year.
Regardless of circumstances.
And focus on the process of performance they’ve been focused on all year.
It gets tougher to block out the end result as the end result gets nearer.
This is where the practice intensity comes in. This is where the practice specificity (specifically practicing being confident, being focused on your routine, etc) comes in.
(Typically players and coaches focus just on mechanics and strategy and hope they hold up under pressure — ignoring the fact that you can train your mental muscles so they can hold up heavier weights).
It’s Baseball in the Fall — beautiful stuff.
Go Rays,
Tom
Dr. Tom Hanson
www.HansonsGym.com
p.s. Your version of Baseball in the Fall is coming. Your next tryout, your next showcase, your next season, your next tournament.
Don’t wait until the last minute to say “Oh, I’m nervous, maybe I should get something to help my mental game.”
Does the farmer wait until the Fall and say, “Oh, I should hurry up and plant some seeds, it’s almost harvest time!”?
Popular choices for you include:
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