Your mind matters. When we think about player development, we tend to focus on improving a player's skill set, physical growth, or potential to improve their launch angle, spin rate, etc. More teams throughout Major League Baseball realize there is much more to developing a player than the physical side. With the growing increases in stress and anxiety in baseball and life, many teams have started to rely heavily on Mental Skills Coaches to help players handle the mental needs of the game. These coaches have become increasingly more common across both Major League and Minor League Baseball. In February 2021, the Phillies announced they expanded their mental performance department by hiring a Director of Mental Performance who would work closely with Manager Joe Girardi to provide mental performance training for all players. Moves like these will help teams focus more on helping players handle the stresses of trying to perform at an elite level every day.
The anxiety that comes with the grind of developing as a minor league baseball player are ever increasing and can feel like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders. Most recently in an article in The Athletic, San Diego Padres top pitching prospect Mackenzie Gore said, “ Trying to get to the big leagues, it’s stressful. It doesn’t really work. It hasn’t worked for me, anyway. So, I’m just going to try to get the most out of myself, and I think if I do that, some good things will happen”.
Players are constantly putting pressure on themselves thanks to constant pressure from outside sources. Trying to live up to these pressures can make the game a lot more complicated than it is and potentially hinder the development of a player. That is where the abilities of Mental Skills and Performance Coaches come in.
What Do Mental Performance Coaches Do?
Hannah Huseman, a Mental Performance Coach (MPC) with the Phillies, recently said that the best way to describe the role of a Mental Skills and Performance Coach is to look at a Strength and Conditioning Coach. Instead of working players' bodies physically, Mental Skills and Performance Coaches work on the game's mental aspects. These can be tools like meditation, ways to increase your confidence, goal-setting, managing anxiety, developing routines, or approaching your emotions that come with the game to help players feel like they can go out and perform every night.
We also had the opportunity to ask a few questions, including about the role of MPCs to Derin McMains, who spent nine years as a mental condition coach with the San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, and Arizona Diamondbacks. “An MPC is with the team every day teaching the principles of high performance and helping build pregame, in-game, and post-game routines to help players perform each night," McMains said. MPCs play the important role of making sure that players are mentally ready to compete on the field day in and day out.
Mental Performance vs. Mental Health
It is always important to remember that mental performance battles are not the same as mental health battles, even though there might be some overlap. The difference between what an MPC versus a certified behavioral health care professional can provide can compare to the relationship between a certified athletic trainer and a doctor. “If the MPC starts to hear or see signs that the player could benefit from a different level of care, then the MPC would communicate first with the player about their concerns and loop in the behavioral health care professional and let them handle that situation,” McMains said. This concept is similar to what a certified athletic trainer would do with a doctor regarding physical injuries. Trainers track a player's physical health, and then if they continue to see downward trends, they refer them to a doctor for a different level of care.
How Have Mental Performance Coaches Played a Role in Today's Game?
McMains mentioned that one of the most important tools he had to help players break down some of their mental barriers was to help them "develop a solid pregame and in-game routine." In a game full of ups and downs, MPCs have helped many players develop routines to help them give them a solid foundation. Having that solid foundation to fall back on can help players stay the course during their player development. A good MPC knows also knows how to achieve on field results, too. McMains excelled at weaving his role with that of in-game minutiae. “I worked with a pitcher where he started pitching to the thread of the catcher’s mitt, instead of the mitt. Or the nike swoosh on the catcher’s mask, instead of the catcher’s mask. And then in all of his scouting reports we blurred out the other parts of the zone, except for the parts where we wanted him to attack hitters. And then on the video prework, we blurred out everything except the small target he was pitching to. His BB rate decreased from that point on and it’s still great today,” McMains said. “When I saw that, it was gratifying, but more importantly, I was proud of the commitment he made to lock it in at that level.” With a game full of variables that are sometimes out of your control, those routines and foundations are the one thing you can control.
Confidence is generated by having a sense of control. Mental barriers develop when you try to control what is uncontrollable in baseball. Former New York Mets starting pitcher and current MLB free agent Marcus Stroman has always been entirely open about the mental side of the game and the importance of having a calm mind. He said that what helps him keep a quiet mind is not worrying about what he can't control (things like free agency, the potential for a trade, etc.). It helps him stay grounded and focused on the mission to go out there and compete every single day to help his team win.
Lack of confidence can play a huge role in holding back a player's development. MPCs can genuinely change the course of players' development. It can be as simple as helping them develop daily routines like journaling which can help them focus on the main goal at hand and not let the distractions of what they can't control overtake them. We often tend to overlook the importance of the mind in a player's journey through professional baseball. The simplest change to a player's mindset can make all the difference in how they develop. Incorporating the development of the mind will hopefully lead to many more players breaking down these mental barriers that come with baseball. The good news is more teams throughout the Major Leagues are starting to recognize the significant role the mind plays in young developing players.