In a sport where getting a hit just 30 percent of the time is considered success, mental toughness can be the difference between winning and losing. Ask any major league baseball club.
“More and more are employing sports psychologists,” says Dr. Peder Piering, president of Ignite Your Life, a sport psychology consulting clinic in Milwaukee. “They see that mental training really does work.”
Dr. Jack Curtis worked as a mental skills coach with the Brewers from 1987-1992 and again from 2002-2004. He would do a group presentation during spring training and then consult with interested players individually.
In Curtis’ view, the key difference between success and failure is mental, because physically and mechanically, players are mostly equal. They must be tough enough to survive a long apprenticeship in the minors and the 162-game schedule. If a player has a bad game, he has to forget it and wake up the next day ready to play.
Vinny Rottino, a 30-year-old Racine native and former catcher/utility man for the Brewers, was one player who sought Curtis’ services. “Dr. Jack sets up a program that takes about 20 minutes per day. He helps you with visualization, relaxation and being confident on the field,” Rottino explains. “It really does work.”
Volunteers like Rottino can be rare, though, depending on the culture of the clubhouse.
“You’d be surprised that not a lot of players seek this service,” says Rottino, who was traded last year and is now with the Florida Marlins. “Some guys view it as being weak.”
And some managers used to resist it. “If an organization wants to support players as human beings, it will develop mental skills training,” says Matt Krug, an assistant professor at Wisconsin Lutheran College and a sports psychology consultant. He estimates that 60 percent of major league clubs now have some form of psychology program.
The hiring of pitching coach Rick Peterson signals a progressive attitude by the Brewers. A coach at various levels for more than 25 years, Peterson has a psychology background – he graduated from Jacksonville University with a degree in psychology and art – and in the ’90s was co-director of a sports psychology program for the Chicago White Sox.
“The key is to integrate mental skills into the daily routine,” says Peterson. “One skill is meditation. To get the benefits, you have to practice it. You have to be aware of goals, you have to be aware of visualization, but the key is to practice.”
Because many players don’t know what to expect, Krug begins by allaying fears – players won’t need to “lay on the couch and tell me about your mother,” he says.
“I teach players to focus on process goals – like how many pitches they threw for strikes – rather than results, the W or the L,” Krug adds. “Even a five-to-10-minute conversation can have a huge impact.”
Not all players need mental coaching. Rottino says the great ones prepare themselves. “You never hear Ryan Braun or Prince Fielder say, ‘I can’t.’ Those words are foreign to them.”Likewise, Rottino says pitcher Yovani Gallardo is “blessed with a cool, calm demeanor that allows him to succeed.” Rottino recalls when Gallardo was promoted in 2007. Rather than spend the bus ride to Milwaukee calling family and friends, he got ready. He slept.
