Baseball is known as America’s national pastime, and has been played for over 100 years. Baseball can be a lot of fun, but is also extremely challenging to play, especially trying to hit a 90 mile per hour fastball. I am a very devoted baseball player myself, and over the years I have learned numerous key things about the game. Baseball does not only require physical strength to hit and throw the ball, but it also requires a great mindset, such as, mental preparedness, concentration, and a positive attitude. Mental preparedness separates the average baseball players from the elite ones. A dedicated baseball player shows up ready to play and succeed in whatever situation may arise. Baseball is a mental game, and concentration is key to keeping a player mentally prepared. Baseball is both a fast and slow sport, for it is slow between pitches, but very intense during them. During pitches, it is a players time to regroup himself and think of all the situations that could arise during the next pitch. During the play, everything happens fast, and there is no time to think about what to do, it is all instinct, so the ability to avoid mental errors is crucial. Mental mistakes often lead to physical mistakes, which is when everything goes sour. Mental confidence plays such a critical role in how a person physically plays. When a player is mentally down on himself, it is extremely hard to raise his confidence back up, and most of the time he cannot. A determined baseball player’s mind is totally different, an error is a learning experience, It not only demands physical strength, but a great mindset as well. A great mindset includes qualities such as mental preparedness, concentration, and a positive attitude. These qualities show significantly when a baseball player is playing his best, and without them, he cannot play to his full potential and must change his mindset in order to reach
The game of baseball can be divided into three broad categories: hitting, pitching, and defense. No other facet of the game gets as much attention as hitting. For example, every year the MLB puts on a home run derby. No other part of the game draws as much attention. The traditional statistic that measure hitting ability is batting average (BA or AVG). To find a players batting averag...
Baseball is a unique game in which, though it is a team sport; it consists fundamentally on individuals and confrontations between those individuals. From the moment the pitcher gets his sign from the catcher, comes set, and delivers the pitch, it's all between the pitcher and hitter. Present are many fielders in set and ready position on the field, base runners creeping off their bases, and players and coaches watching from the dugout, but during those few seconds, baseball evolves into a two player game. Likewise, on nearly any play - a fly ball, a ground ball, a popup, etc. - all the attention is focused only on the fielder and perhaps the base runner that he will attempt to throw out. Every play that is, except for the squeeze.
The researcher has chosen to write this paper on hitting because she has played softball for twelve years and the perfect softball swing has always eluded her. The softball swing is one of the most difficult softball skills to achieve greatness in. There are a number of great hitters all with different batting stances and styles, each one comfortable to them. There are many different tactics and coaching ideas out there to help improve hitting. In fact, there are several videos now on the market to help the softball player perform better. Coaches often teach hitting drills to improve batting techniques and ability. Confidence is an important factor in hitting. If the player lacks confidence then she will not be a good hitter. Softball is not only a physical game but a mental game.
Baseball has been of the longest living sports in our world today. The game started with the idea of a stick and ball and now has become one of the most complex sports known in our society. Several rules and regulations have been added to help enhance the game for everyone. Although baseball has endured several issues during its history and development of the game the game has still been a success throughout the world.
Baseball is not a difficult game to comprehend, but it can a very long time to achieve a high level of performance. Usually one starts playing this game at a very young age and the first thing they start out with is throwing. Throwing a baseball involves exploiting all major muscle groups in the body to generate a large torque on the arm that will in turn create a high potential for speed when it is released.
Derek Jeter, one of the most respected and admired players and leaders in baseball, is driven by the personality trait conscientiousness. Conscientiousness is defined as “ a character in which the individual values and obeys order and duty, performs with competence, and perhaps, values achievement.” (Mayer, 2007 pg. 284). It is also further defined as a “tendency to show self-discipline, act dutifully, and aim for achievement against measures or outside expectations.” (OED, 2014). Jeter’s hard work, tenacity, and demand to get better and better have helped build his strong, inspiring character, which many players, coaches, and fans look up to him for. An example of Jeter’s conscientious personality shines through from a quote he gave to a newspaper in 1999; “I don’t think you’ll ever sit around and say you’re good, until you bat a thousand with no errors.” Derek Jeter is a positive role model for the young and old, and as Michel Jordan said, “reflects a positive image”, making him an iconic athlete in America (Leung, 2010).
Through college Eric Davis was a baseball player who was forever looking for a way to improve his pitch, or how he could train better for longer without consequences to his body. “I was constantly looking for new ways to improve my body, or the way I did things. I was always interested in finding how much I could do without causing injury.” (Davis)
Baseball is considered America’s past time. Legends like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jackie Robinson, and many more have come and gone. Throughout baseball’s history certain players have excelled more than others, and like any sport they were successful by exploiting their strengths. It isn’t the rules, uniforms, stadiums, and fan base that make baseball a beautiful sport; it’s the players. Anyone competing, whether it is at a professional level or not, has their own unique mechanics that allows them to perform the best they can. No pitcher throws the ball the same way as another and no batter hits the ball the same way as another. Every baseball player has a routine in everything they do that makes them special. It has been said that hitting a baseball is the hardest task in all of sports. To accomplish that task, all factors come in to play; the type of pitch being thrown, the release point of the pitch, the break of the ball, etc. All those factors occur before the batter’s swing is fully initiated. As mentioned earlier, no batter swings the same way as another however, the mechanics of a swing is a different thing entirely. The mechanics of one’s swing begins when a batter enters the box and ends when a batter exits, what happens in between is up to the batter. By perfecting a batter’s mechanics while in the box, their chances of making contact increase greatly.
In conclusion, baseball is a beloved American sport that is fairly simple to understand but is quite hard to play because of the long periods of time, extreme focus, and quick millisecond choices. Because of these difficulties, rules have been added to make it easier on some teams in younger divisions to have more even scores and a smaller playing time. Over time, rules and equipment have been changed or added to make the game fairer to both teams.
"Understanding the Mechanics of Throwing a Baseball May Help Protect the Shoulder and Elbow ." Baseball Pitching. Web. 30 Apr. 2014. .
The sport of baseball in the United States exists in a dynamic social world. Although the sport of baseball has evolved as an international game and other popular sports have emerged, baseball remains America’s national pastime. The sport of baseball has a long history and has experienced numerous cultural changes.
Practicing meditation daily or before a game builds mental strength. Scientists have proven that meditation improves many cognitive functions not only in athletes, but in everyday life, “Emerging scientific literature further suggests that mindfulness meditation is a productive method for improving self awareness” (David and Hayes 198) Another way that athletes can mentally prepare themselves is by visualizing the outcome that they would like before an event. This makes that outcome seem more realistic to them and closer in reach. This is called imagery. “Imagery has been described as a mental event that recreates actual experience and is frequently adopted by athletes as a covert rehearsal technique to aid both motoric and psychological performance.” (Parker et al. 22) . If you go into a game or match with the mindset that you are going to lose, you will not play to the best of your
Baseball has always been America’s natural past time. Many fans love watching baseball but do not realize how hard it is to prepare for a season. Most fans think the players just show up on the first day. I think this belief is completely false. I feel that preparing for a baseball season requires much preparation. The preparation I use includes working on my swing, working out, and studying other people’s ideas on hitting. These steps are necessary for me to have a successful season. These steps have proven to be a valuable aid in helping me to prepare for the season. I believe these steps are the basic steps to becoming a great baseball player.
Many people don't understand the point in playing baseball. Why would someone swing a stick, hit a ball, and try to get back to where they started before the ball returns? What pleasure is there in that? Why not participate in a sport like wrestling or track where there is an obvious level of individual improvement and therefore pleasure. Well, I play baseball because of the love I have for the sport, and because of the feeling that overwhelms me every time I walk onto a baseball field. When I walk onto a field I am given the desire to better myself not only as an athlete, but also as a person. The thoughts and feelings I get drive me to work hard towards my goals and to be a better person. The most relevant example of these feelings is when I stepped on the field at Runyon Complex in Pueblo, Colorado during our high school state playoffs in 2003. This baseball field will always be an important place to me.
Baseball is America’s past time. All it takes is one crack of the bat or the smell of peanuts and cracker jacks and you’re instantly hooked on the game. One reason fans love baseball so much is because they play more games than any other sport which brings the fans even closer.