Jaeger Sports is a Los Angeles-based organization dedicated to helping athletes develop both their physical and mental skills, both on and off the field. Founder Alan Jaeger is an accomplished coach, trainer, author, and consultant, and has worked with hundreds of professional players over the past 30+ years…
Inside Pitch: Albert Einstein is often attributed with a quote, “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” How simply can you explain mental training?
Alan Jaeger: I like to categorize mental training into two major pillars. The first is game management, which comes down to being immersed in what we call “the process.” Most players at the highest levels have developed a succinct, specific process that they have optimized over their careers.
The second is mental practice, which centers around dedicating time each day to develop mental skills, some of which include relaxation, clarity, trust, presence and awareness. Mental skill development is no different from physical skill development— it’s applied practice. For me, mental practice is really where the rubber meets the road, because mental skill development actually has the greatest upside and yet, is the least tapped into resource in a player’s development. And the irony is, practice plans generally place such a huge emphasis on physical practice.
In short, our two pillars are to establish a process and to incorporate mental practice as part of a daily practice plan.
IP: What are some specific examples of the process?
AJ: We teach our players to focus on identifying their process with “constants,” or the steps that each player pre-determines would lead to executing their plan in the most optimal way. For example, a pitcher’s may be, “take a breath, have a focal point, attack the focal point.” For a hitter it could be, “breathe, see the ball well, hit the ball hard.” Once in place, everything else that is not one of these constants is a variable, also known as drama or distraction! This approach can give the individual clarity and peace of mind, knowing they only have to focus on their three, pre-determined constants as opposed to countless uncontrollable variables.
IP: It’s safe to say coaches have become much more proactive regarding the mental game...what’s a tip you would give them to apply these practices and principles off the field as well?
AJ: Coaches spend countless hours doing everything in their power to impact their kids’ future, both in baseball and life. I have so much respect for how selfless they are, and for how much time and effort they pour into their kids and their programs. And we both know that a great deal of what coaches do to prepare their players for the performance arena also translates into the life arena.
What I’d love to see is coaches spending time each day talking about how certain principles that are part of their on-field approach can be applied off the field. Encourage their kids to try meditation on their own, or remind them that they can also have a process away from the field. Because mental health has become a hot button topic worldwide, if we could help our players get a little bit better at navigating their lives, we know the result would be an all-around healthier human being, which would then translate into all avenues of life, including baseball.
IP: What’s one tool coaches can give their players to incorporate off the field to help with their process?
AJ: One suggestion I’d make is to give players one specific tool for off the field, called neutrality, which happens to be quite effective on the field as well. Being neutral is possibly the most important tool I would teach someone for their mental health and well-being for sports, and most of all, for life. It’s about learning how to be neutral to your thoughts by bringing a newfound awareness to the messages your mind may be registering.
Thoughts are almost always about the past or future and can be distracting, disruptive and generally destructive in nature. According to research, we can have up to 70,000 thoughts a day, with 95 percent of them being repetitive and 80 percent being negative (National Science Foundation).
Thoughts can become a precursor to and amplify the emotions that come with stress, anxiety and worrying. So in order to learn how to be neutral to your thoughts and keep from engaging them is the core of this approach, and can help get you in a calm, relaxed and present state.
Since coaches are in a very influential position, simply having a conversation with players about learning how to be neutral to any thoughts that aren’t supportive, instructive, or constructive could actually make the biggest impact on their players’ lives on, as well as off the field.