Each year I work with teams of youth baseball players in teaching them the values of the mental game of baseball. Just as there are skills needed to develop the physical side of the sport, there are skills necessary to build the mental side of the game as well. Unfortunately, teaching the mental game is a bit more difficult to teach because the results arent necessary visible as quickly. Let me assure you however, if you have goals of playing baseball at the collegiate level or above, you will need a sold mental game if you are going to excel.

One of the first things I teach kids is set proper goals. This usually sounds a bit dry and boring, but its important that a game plan is created in order to form a path to follow as an athlete. There are three important steps involved in setting goals that are functional. Broad goals, process goals, and action habits. Let me explain those below.

Broad goals for each season should be something you can measure once the season has finished. Hitting .400, fielding .975, or winning 10 games as a pitcher would all be examples of broad goals you can set.

Process goals are the middle level of goal setting. There are the things you need to solve or improve upon in order to accomplish your broad goals. They should be specific as far as the things you are going to do daily, but they should be areas in your game that need immediate improvement. So lets say you have a season goal of hitting .400. A process goal would be to improve on your ability to hit off speed pitches. Or, it could be that you need to work on what pitches you choose to swing at.

The final part of this process is your daily action habits. These are simply the things that you are going to do on a daily basis to make sure that you are accomplishing your process goals. If we take a look at the example used above of hitting .400, you daily action habits may be to work on hitting a curveball for 15 minutes. This would be something that you could measure daily that would help you achieve your process goal, and then ultimately your broad goal.