USING DEFEAT AS MOTIVATION

"Only a man who knows what it is like to be defeated can reach down to the bottom of his soul and come up with the extra ounce of power it takes to win when the match is even."
- Muhammad Ali

CONFIDENCE

"Confidence doesn't come out
of nowhere. It's a result of
something ... hours and days
and weeks and years of constant
work and dedication."
-Roger Staubach-

YOU CAN'T SIT AROUND AND HOPE THE SAME THING WILL HAPPEN

"I always want to get better," said Tim Lincecum, who had a league-high 265 strikeouts last season for the Giants. "I come into this year, I'm not just sitting on my ass hoping everything's going to be all right because of last year. I've got to come out here and work and become better. That's what it takes to be a good major-league baseball player."

PRACTICE

Prepare for pressure situations by putting pressure on yourself in practice. Have the same high standards in practice that you have for yourself in games. Allot some time in practice to put on your game face and practice with the same mental and physical energy that you would in games. For a pitcher, it could be having a mentally intense bullpen session. Both Nolan Ryan and Greg Maddux use to react to poorly executed pitches in the bullpen in the same manner and intensity they would in a game. In effect, they are also practicing how they mentally handle a poor pitch in a game, and how they plan to fix it and refocus on the next pitch. Lazily shagging fly balls in the outfield or playing home run derby with your hitting group does not prepare you to play a game or handle clutch situations. When it is your turn to practice, whether you are taking a ground balls from a coach or stepping into the cage to hit, put on your game face. Do not practice your practice habits; practice how you will play the game.

from Mental Toughness-Baseball's Winning Edge

PREPARATION

Are you waiting to play or preparing to play?

Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.

John Wooden

Get better every day

The fun of the spotlights on game night are created in the dim lights of off season workouts; the hours of dedication behind the scenes is key!

HOW HARD ARE YOU WILLING TO PREPARE AND WORK FOR THAT TIME?

Preparing to be successful

Boston Red Sox left-hander Jon Lester was always ready for the field, but he got thrown a curve ball that no player can ever anticipate or prepare for. On Aug. 31, 2006, two months after getting called up to the Bigs, Lester was diagnosed with lymphoma, a treatable form of cancer of the lymph nodes.

Lester recalls, “When I was called up in June, I had some success [7-2 in 15 starts]. But come August, I started having a lot of back pain. We were in Seattle, and I went to see my uncle, who’s a doctor. He got me in the ER to get it checked out.

“When I learned it was cancer, the hardest part was those first couple days, just dealing with the fact of not playing baseball and having this new sickness. But once we found out what we had to do as far as treatment, I told myself, ‘Lets move forward and try to beat this.’”

Ultimately, Lester wanted to get back to the Majors, but he took a one-step-at-a-time approach. “I wanted to get back to playing baseball, period, whether in the minors or wherever,” he says.

Lester fought his way back to full health—and eventually back to the Show. “I had to prove myself all over again and show the managers I could pitch,” he says.

His hard work paid off, and the Red Sox eventually named him as their starter in Game Four of the 2007 World Series. The leftie led his team to victory that night, allowing only three hits and no runs in 5 2/3 innings. “It felt like a normal game for me,” Lester says. “I didn’t do anything different—just went out and tried to do the best I could.”

With so many triumphs in his young career, including a no-hitter against the Royals in May 2008, Lester says the secret to his success is preparation: “The biggest thing for me is my work between starts. I do my workouts and know my body is ready to take the pounding every five days. I know when I step on the mound, I will be physically prepared to perform. Knowing your body is ready eases your mind, so I only have to worry about what pitches I need to throw.”

from stack magazine

DOING LITTLE THINGS

"One day during practice, a visitor observed legendary Coach (Paul "Bear") Bryant doing something that aroused his curiosity. From time to time during practice, the coach would reach into his pocket, pull out a crumbled little piece of paper, read it, and then put it back in his pocket. The visitor watched him do this several times during practice, and finally mustered up the courage to ask the coach what was written on the paper. Coach Bryant simply smiled, pulled out the paper, and let the visitor read it himself. It said: It's the itty bitty, teeny tiny things that get you beat."

In sports, the little things can be the difference between a sub par year and a championship season. In baseball, taking those five extra swings every day and taking those ten extra ground balls can be the difference between a good player and a great player. In life, doing the little things can also change our lives tremendously.

"If you take care of the little things, you never have one big thing to worry about." - Cal Ripken Jr.--

PROCESS OVER RESULTS

In September 1980, Kansas City’s George Brett got the baseball world buzzing with the possibility of his reaching .400 for the first time since Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941. The Royals were in a pennant race, and Brett was hitting to win. “Every time up, I was just trying to give out club the kind of at-bat the situation called for,” Brett said. But the night we wrapped up our division, I thought, ‘Hey, I’m close enough. I’m going to go for it. I didn’t have to try to hit .400.’ That was the day things fell apart. I didn’t have many good at-bats when I started concentrating on getting hits.”

HELP YOURSELF BY HELPING YOUR TEAM

"We're OK with guys coming to Purdue expecting to make it to the pros but they have to understand that you get to be a pro by making your team win. Coaches are looking for players who make their team better. It's true for college coaches looking at high school players and it's true for NBA coaches looking at college players."
-MATT PAINTER
Head Coach Purdue University

IT IS ALL ABOUT CHASING PERSONAL EXCELLENCE

“We were down in the Rangers’ locker room and their No. 1 goal is not worrying about winning or losing. It’s all about chasing personal excellence and if you can do that in your life, you’re going to be the very best you can be. The rest you can’t control.” - Dan Hawkins

PERSONAL EXCELLENCE: Doing your very best each day. Giving it your best from when you rise in the morning to when you go to sleep at night.

Do you strive for PERSONAL EXCELLENCE each day????

WANT TO BE SPECIAL?????

"If you want to be special, you have to be different. You have to make a conscious decision every single day to be different.”

-Bo Pelini

You can't be just like the average guy. You have to push yourself harder and longer than those around you. You have to be willing to do the things that others won't.

Self Discipline

"What we do on some great occasion will probably depend on what we already are; and what we are will be the result of previous years of self-discipline."
-H.P. Liddon

GET BETTER EVERYDAY! FOCUS ON THE PROCESS. ENJOY THE RESULTS.

END OF THE YEAR--- What's next?

At the end of each year you must reflect and assess. As Jeter states in the above video you have re continue to work on what you do well and search for ways to improve on what you struggle with.

GOT TO GET READY

These images were taken roughly 65 years apart. What worked for Johnny Pesky in the 1940's is still working for the high school player of today.

Feet, shoulder width apart.
Glove side foot a little ahead of throwing side foot.
Glove out in front.
Knees flexed, head up.
Weight on the balls of the feet.

LOSING CAN BECOME A MOTIVATOR

TO WIN, YOU HAVE TO LOSE, THEN GET PISSED OFF-- Joe Namath

GREAT LIFE LESSONS

Life lessons from John Wooden have become legend. Here's a collection of some of the greatest "Woodenisms."

"Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out."

"Never mistake activity for achievement."

"Adversity is the state in which man mostly easily becomes acquainted with himself, being especially free of admirers then."

"Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are."

"Be prepared and be honest."

"You can't let praise or criticism get to you. It's a weakness to get caught up in either one."

"You can't live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you."

"What you are as a person is far more important that what you are as a basketball player."

"Winning takes talent, to repeat takes character."

"A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment."

"I'd rather have a lot of talent and a little experience than a lot of experience and a little talent."

"If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?"

"If you're not making mistakes, then you're not doing anything. I'm positive that a doer makes mistakes."

"It isn't what you do, but how you do it."

"Ability is a poor man's wealth."

"Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be."

"Consider the rights of others before your own feelings, and the feelings of others before your own rights."

"Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do."

"Don't measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability."

"It's not so important who starts the game but who finishes it."

"It's what you learn after you know it all that counts."

"It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen."

"Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful."

"The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team."

"Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming."

"Success is never final, failure is never fatal. It's courage that counts."

Source: CoachWooden.com