E48: PETTLEP Series - Baseball - Hitting a Pitch

Hello and welcome back to the sports mastermind. Last week we used PETTLEP to break down passing a serve in indoor volleyball. This episode we will be going over the sequence of events leading up to hitting a pitch in baseball. For those of you that are new to the series, see episode 46 for more details on PETTLEP imagery. 

Transcript

Laura Ratto: See the ball focus. What am I supposed to be going through on my checklist? Ugh, a third strike! Hello, and welcome back to the Sports Mastermind. Last week we used PETTLEP to break down passing a serve in indoor volleyball. This episode will be going over the sequence of events leading up to hitting a pitch in baseball. For those of you that are new to the series, see episode 46 for more details on PETTLEP imagery. I will describe a scenario, explain what to focus on, and run you through a sequence that you can listen to while you visualize that has key words and phrases to help keep your focus on track. This is great for beginners and those new to visualization. As you become more comfortable with the skill of visualization, keep in mind that it is important to personalize the images when doing imagery intervention. As with any skill when you first start, you want to start with a few minutes a day and build up benefits can be seen in as little as 10 minutes a session. Research has shown that the range is anywhere from ten to 30 minutes to see significant benefits with a minimum of 3 sessions a week. Imagery can be done any time from when you first wake up, before practice, before competition, or before going to bed. This episode will be going over the sequence of events leading up to hitting a pitch in baseball. Imagery is best done in the environment in which you are going to be competing. If you cannot be in the environment where you normally compete, try to mimic it as much as possible, such as going outside to a baseball field or some other area of dirt or grass, depending on the content of your imagery session. So grab your hat, bat, glove, cleats and uniform and do this imagery session at a baseball field or simulated environment. Are you there? Go ahead and pause this recording. I'll be here when you get back. Now that you have on your uniform, walk into the on deck circle. Feel the hard ground under your feet. Imagine the fans in the stands. See your teammate up to bat. Watch the pitcher as he releases the ball and focus on timing your swing. Your teammate strikes out and it's your turn. Up to bat, you walk up to the batter's box, pausing to check the third base coach for the signal. You unconsciously run through your checklist of things to do before you're up to bat. You walk through your pre-batting routine, tapping both of the insides of your shoes with the bat. You step into the batter's box and touch the far side of the box with your bat, moving into an athletic stance with your feet about shoulder width apart, maybe a little more, you remind yourself that the pitcher is left-handed. You see the pitcher on the mound, ball on his left hand, glove on his right. You like hitting against left handed pitchers. You lock your gaze into the pitcher. You see the wind up and the release. The ball starts to get bigger and bigger. You load and stride, remembering the key elements. Turn using the big muscles (legs) in your approach lower half rotates. Whips your upper half into the position with your hands palm up, palm down and slightly above the barrel. Focus on being in the plane of the ball and getting to and through the ball. Remember to keep a tight rotation and stay compact through the swing. You see yourself drive the ball with backspin to the gap. You take your swing, feel the satisfying solid contact of the ball and see yourself running hard out of the box with your focus on getting to second. This is just one of many scenarios that you can use pet lip imagery to pack just hitting a pitch. While this first example is good to listen to for cues and specifics, as you get more comfortable with imagery, it is important to make it as personal and specific as possible. For example, you can envision hitting off of a right handed pitcher. Be specific as to the details such as the team and the number of the pitcher that you are envisioning. If you have a specific pitcher or pitch that you struggle with, imagine that player and what the pitch and cues leading up to the pitch look like. In addition to changing the individual pitching to you, you can also change the emotional or level of arousal component. Let's say that is the first pitch of the game and you're leading off. How would you be feeling? Now is the bottom of the fourth with no one on two outs and the score is zero zero. What thoughts are going through your head? Now is the bottom of the 9th with two outs. Base is loaded and the score is tied two to two. Is your focus where it should be? How is your self talk? Incorporating self talk when using imagery is important because that is the best time to practice imagining and working through highly stressful situations before you have to be in them. Notice that these changes in situations could lead to different thoughts and emotions going through your head. Think about what you would be thinking and feeling in these situations and incorporate those into your visualization and see what things you can do to help reduce your levels of anxiety so that you're in a position where you can perform optimally. Here's a quick review of things to use when you are creating your own PETTLEP imagery scenarios. First, we start with the physical environment you imagined you were on your home field and wearing your home uniform. Next, we examine our environment. In an ideal situation, imagery should be done in the same location where you are competing or an environment as similar to where you compete as possible. We moved our focus a little more internal to the task. You imagine the details related to the task and your thoughts and feelings while performing the task. How long does the skill take? Imagine yourself performing the skill in real time. Did you slow it down? Which way do you prefer? You imagine yourself performing the skill from an internal perspective, meaning that you see the actions through your own eyes instead of watching yourself through a television. It is also important to factor in emotion in the skill. How do you feel in the specific scenario? As you get better with imagery and the physical skills involved with your movement, the things that you visualize will need to change. For example, when you started playing baseball, maybe you were hitting off of a tee. Now you're hitting off of a live person. Now that you have a baseball hitting a pitch. Example of PETTLEP Imagery what are some other scenarios that you want to try? If you'd like me to run you through a Petlap scenario, email or send me a voice memo to Laura@rattoconsulting.com and yours could be used in this series. If you or your coaches or organization are interested in hosting a workshop or virtual seminar on this or any other sports psychology or performance optimizing topic, please contact laura@rattoconsulting.com or email me at laura@rattoconsulting.com. That's laura@rattoconsulting.com. Special thanks to my friend and baseball consultant Gerric Waller. And remember, high achievers know that it's even more important to visualize themselves at the point where they want to quit and then see themselves working through the struggle. Brendon Burchard.