Mental Toughness

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Re: Mental Toughness

When you go to bed tonight KF, give yourself half an hour to think about what I am about to say.

Batting is a performing art. It should be really natural... fluid; the bat an extension of your upper body. If you watch a first class player in the zone, it is as visually beautiful as a ballet dancer; the movement is easy as they step forward to 'stroke' the ball.

If they have the right training programme, every batting muscle in their body is sprung, waiting for their chance to do what they do best. They know their cue, they do not need to be prompted and when it is time, they leap into action to transfer power. This is what makes the performance 'look' easy.

What you are feeling at the moment is a form of stagefright and I assure you, you are not alone.

However, when you put your helmet on to go in, there is no more time to think. All the thinking should have been done, you should be prepared, you should put trust in yourself. You pick up your bat, don't think about the grip, your hands know where they need to be, leave it to them. Trust your eyes to coordinate with your hands; they know how to do it, they are well rehearsed.

kallis fan said:
One thing I will say is that in order to enjoy myself I want to be hitting the ball - and this can cause loss of technique and shape....

Striking a balance being the key....I suppose.
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You have assumed that if you relax, you will not hit the ball ;)

However, you are right, hitting the ball is by no means as important as keeping technique and shape... any idiot can hit a ball with a stick. Only a true performer, like you, can be a batsman.
 
Re: Mental Toughness

Liz Ward said:
When you go to bed tonight KF, give yourself half an hour to think about what I am about to say.

Batting is a performing art. It should be really natural... fluid; the bat an extension of your upper body. If you watch a first class player in the zone, it is as visually beautiful as a ballet dancer; the movement is easy as they step forward to 'stroke' the ball.

If they have the right training programme, every batting muscle in their body is sprung, waiting for their chance to do what they do best. They know their cue, they do not need to be prompted and when it is time, they leap into action to transfer power. This is what makes the performance 'look' easy.

What you are feeling at the moment is a form of stagefright and I assure you, you are not alone.

However, when you put your helmet on to go in, there is no more time to think. All the thinking should have been done, you should be prepared, you should put trust in yourself. You pick up your bat, don't think about the grip, your hands know where they need to be, leave it to them. Trust your eyes to coordinate with your hands; they know how to do it, they are well rehearsed.

You have assumed that if you relax, you will not hit the ball ;)

However, you are right, hitting the ball is by no means as important as keeping technique and shape... any idiot can hit a ball with a stick. Only a true performer, like you, can be a batsman.
Click to expand...

Wow, thats deep! Fantastic post :)
 
Re: Mental Toughness

Liz Ward said:
When you go to bed tonight KF, give yourself half an hour to think about what I am about to say.

Batting is a performing art. It should be really natural... fluid; the bat an extension of your upper body. If you watch a first class player in the zone, it is as visually beautiful as a ballet dancer; the movement is easy as they step forward to 'stroke' the ball.

If they have the right training programme, every batting muscle in their body is sprung, waiting for their chance to do what they do best. They know their cue, they do not need to be prompted and when it is time, they leap into action to transfer power. This is what makes the performance 'look' easy.

What you are feeling at the moment is a form of stagefright and I assure you, you are not alone.

However, when you put your helmet on to go in, there is no more time to think. All the thinking should have been done, you should be prepared, you should put trust in yourself. You pick up your bat, don't think about the grip, your hands know where they need to be, leave it to them. Trust your eyes to coordinate with your hands; they know how to do it, they are well rehearsed.

You have assumed that if you relax, you will not hit the ball ;)

However, you are right, hitting the ball is by no means as important as keeping technique and shape... any idiot can hit a ball with a stick. Only a true performer, like you, can be a batsman.
Click to expand...

Liz, this is inspirational ;)

I'm going to write down that, and read it before i go out to bat! See if it works!

Your point about the bat being an extention of your arm, the bat being at one with the body is vital, if the bat is used in a relax way, the body will follow!
 
Re: Mental Toughness

Liz Ward said:
When you go to bed tonight KF, give yourself half an hour to think about what I am about to say.

Batting is a performing art. It should be really natural... fluid; the bat an extension of your upper body. If you watch a first class player in the zone, it is as visually beautiful as a ballet dancer; the movement is easy as they step forward to 'stroke' the ball.

If they have the right training programme, every batting muscle in their body is sprung, waiting for their chance to do what they do best. They know their cue, they do not need to be prompted and when it is time, they leap into action to transfer power. This is what makes the performance 'look' easy.

What you are feeling at the moment is a form of stagefright and I assure you, you are not alone.

However, when you put your helmet on to go in, there is no more time to think. All the thinking should have been done, you should be prepared, you should put trust in yourself. You pick up your bat, don't think about the grip, your hands know where they need to be, leave it to them. Trust your eyes to coordinate with your hands; they know how to do it, they are well rehearsed.

You have assumed that if you relax, you will not hit the ball ;)

However, you are right, hitting the ball is by no means as important as keeping technique and shape... any idiot can hit a ball with a stick. Only a true performer, like you, can be a batsman.
Click to expand...

Liz,That is Fantastic.
Exactly;the kind of advice;I was looking forward too.
Spot "on" with the words :)
 
Re: Mental Toughness

Ok, Liz, having given your post some serious consideration, it all makes a lot of sense, and, at the current time it seems that it can be put into practice with relative ease. Though, inevitably, come the time when next batting I will experience the same doubts as previously and although I appreciate what you're saying, take it on board and accept its validity, ultimately nothing will have changed.

How I go about building trust and confidence in my ability is something that is obviously the million dollar question - and I hope and trust that you will have some excellent suggestions in ways to do this.......because until I do begin to play with a 'clear head' I will never realise my potential, something that is at the current time very frustrating, and something later I probably will regret......
 
Re: Mental Toughness

kallis fan said:
...because until I do begin to play with a 'clear head' I will never realise my potential, something that is at the current time very frustrating, and something later I probably will regret......
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That is one thing I can assure you of. ;)

You could do with a few sessions in my consulting room, however, you are a little step further forward than you were; at least your mind is now open.

You need to practice imagery and self hypnosis, this is why I asked you to think about what I said at bed time.

Every night you go to bed, reserve yourself half an hour to visualise how you would like to bat. Relax and close your eyes... you can talk to yourself, as if commentating on what you see. This way you will rehearse what should happen over and over again in your head. Remember what I said and try and put it into practise during visualisation.

Remember, you are not alone. Mark Ricardson (NZ opening batsman) had a great way of dealing with it:

"I've developed a little habit where, when I say something negative to myself - and every batter does it - I pretend it's a little man on my shoulder and so brush him off. There are are times when people must think, "This guy's a lunatic", because I'm standing out in the middle, flicking my shoulder every second ball."

Do not try and brush it under the table, face it head on and deal with it. I have total faith in you, I know you can do it, just give yourself time. :D
 
Re: Mental Toughness

Will do......another question on the way -

What is the reasoning behind only experiencing this when batting and not when bowling?
 
Re: Mental Toughness

There will be a really deep explanation and it would take me some time to get to the bottom of it but basically, it is psychological.

One reason could be that when batting, you are on your own, one mistake and that's the game for you. When you're bowling, one mistake and you get another chance, plus you have your whole team around you.
 
Re: Mental Toughness

I have my own personal view on it......it being that I lack confidence when I play against opposition where I would be forced to play out of my comfort zone in order to succeed - and do my level best to avoid these situations!!

Bowling is something I can enter with little expectancy from around me. If I bowl badly I can call myself a batsmen....simple!!!
 
Re: Mental Toughness

Extremely understandable KF but if you do not push the boundaries of your comfort zone, it will always be restricted and you will never reach your potential.

Comfort zones are there to be stepped out of ;)

Remember: it is not a failing to try and lose, only to never try.
 
Re: Mental Toughness

KF - I can relate to what you think except mine are outside of the sporting arena. There are a few things that I want to do but I keep making excuses because deep down I fear that I'll fail.

It can be very hard to break these thoughts and in a way, until you actually say 'sod it' and just risk it, it builds and builds and builds. The stupid thing is that I do most things without thinking about them and worry about any consequences later but these few things are probably very important to me, hence why such a great weight is placed upon them.

What Liz says is sense, the mind is unable to distinguish between visualisation and reality - if you can succeed in your mind then you'll succeed on the pitch. Sure you may fail once in a while but those failures will be far and away outnumbered by the successes.
 
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