Go Take a Hike!

by admin on July 28, 2009

Last Friday the girls completed the Puma tradition of hiking 8.5 miles over the mountain that separated the valley from the beach.

This is a hike that takes about 3 hours and the entire team participates. (Even some former team mates.) The girls got dressed up in some bright colored clothes in case they got lost, search and rescure would have NO problem finding them.

This is a very big accomplishment as well as an endurance test and possibly a time to connect spiritually withing their inner mountain climber. The good news is, they all did it. Congrats Pumas! You made it to the other side.

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Weekly Mental Skills Tip

The mental is such a big part of our game. It's often the determining factor between success or failure.

Tip #1 Overcome fear of failure. Fear of failure might be what is holding you back. Dare to be great by taking risks, chances. Nobody has ever achieved greatness without facing hardship first. Failing is a good thing if you learn from it. Instead of seeing problems or obstacles, see challenges to overcome. The most successful people on the planet are risk-takers. You will never achieve anything by risking nothing.

Tip #2 - Make no excuses and take full responsibility for all your failures and all your successes. The world’s most successful people never make excuses and they hold themselves accountable. Achieving success and making excuses are mutually exclusive, wholly incompatible.

Tip #3 - Accept the fact that you will fail, make a lot of mistakes and learn from them. Failing is a big part of the game. If you succeed only 30% of the time at the plate, it’s excellent. That means that you will be failing more often than you succeed. Failing is part of life and sport in general. You actually learn more by failing than by succeeding. The key point is to look at mistakes and failures as learning opportunities. Ask yourself: “What didn’t go well and how can I do things differently next time to be successful?”

Tip #4 - Be here, now. Play one pitch at a time, confident and focused on each pitch as it is played with disregard for past or future pitches. Ignore the emotional baggage of scores, innings, and pitch counts; just focus on the next pitch. Playing a full game in the present is to ultimate goal and the best way to ensure that you perform at your best.

Tip #5 - Focus on the process rather than the outcomes. You have much more control over the process than the outcome. For example, when hitting, focus on having a good at bat (proper mental approach to the plate, selecting the right pitches, using your best swing, hitting a line drive, etc.) rather than focusing on getting a hit or not striking out.

Tip #6 - Develop routines to help you get in the zone. The use of routine is one of the most widespread practices among elite softball players. They perform routines before games, between innings and between pitches at the plate and on the field. A routine integrates both the mental and the physical aspects. It is a specific way of doing things to stay focus, block distraction and put you in the ideal mindset. Routines are powerful and you should definitely use them.