Hey, Coach Justin here…
In my last essay, I discussed three things MLB hitters do before every at-bat — and I recommended you do them too.
One of them was getting yourself mentally ready to hit.
The idea is to study the pitcher, analyze the situation, and create a game plan…
That way, you know what’s happening and what you’re trying to do.
But I warned you about a big mistake that can bog hitters down: “analysis paralysis.”
While thinking is essential, it’s also a double-edged sword.
Depending on how you use it, your mind can either be your greatest strength or your biggest weakness.
And that’s why you need to know the tricky paradox of hitting:
There’s a chance you might be overthinking — OR you might not be thinking enough.
On one hand, legendary hitters like Ted Williams have said things like, “Think. Don’t just swing. Think about the pitcher, what he threw you last time up, his best pitch, who’s up next. Think.”
You should take his advice to heart.
While there’s room for debate about who takes the crown for the greatest hitter ever…
That conversation will always include Ted Williams.
The six-time batting champ notched a .406 average in 1941, making him the last big leaguer to hit .400.
He was a nineteen-time All-Star and won the AL MVP and the Triple Crown twice.
And his .482 career on-base percentage remains the best of all time.
The most impressive part?
He did all this while missing three full years serving his country in the Marines!
There’s no doubt Teddy Ballgame was a big proponent of being a hitter who thinks… and he’s not alone.
Another legend echoed similar advice.
“Baseball is 90 percent mental,” said Yogi Berra. “The other half is physical.”
And, of course, there’s the adage that “baseball is a thinking man’s game.”
But you also hear about the drawbacks of overthinking.
Branch Rickey said, “A full mind is an empty bat.”
And the same Yogi Berra who claimed, “Baseball is 90 percent mental” also said, “You can’t think and hit at the same time.”
So, was Yogi talking from both sides of his mouth and giving contradictory advice?
Or could there be some truth to both of his famous quotes?
What’s the bottom line?
Should you think or should you not think?
Well, here’s the reality:
There’s both a time when you should ratchet your thinking up and a time when you should tone your thinking down.
If you fail to study the game or do any thinking, you’ll be at a big disadvantage.
You’ll feel less prepared at the plate and won’t have an edge with the deck stacked in your favor.
You’ll miss out on vital information you can learn from your at-bats…
Plus, you’ll miss out on valuable insights you could gain from your teammates’ at-bats.
As the game goes on, and the more times you face a particular pitcher, the bigger advantage you should have.
But that only happens if you think!
If you don’t use your noggin, you won’t be better off in your second or third at-bat than your first time up.
And if you don’t think about your failures, how can you expect to learn from your mistakes and improve?
You can’t.
But if you overthink, hitting will be more complicated than it needs to be.
You’ll have more confusion than clarity.
And if you clutter your mind with too many thoughts, you’ll freeze.
It’ll be tough to pull the trigger.
You’ll try to be perfect and be afraid to fail, making failure almost inevitable.
So it’s essential to use your brain and think, but as with everything else in hitting, timing is everything.
Learning to fill and empty your mind at the right time is the secret.
Do you remember using a funnel during experiments in science class?
You know, the plastic tube you use for pouring liquids into a small-mouthed container?
Think about the shape of a funnel.
Funnels are wider at the beginning and narrower at the end.
Your thinking should be the same.
Imagine the top of the funnel being when you’re in the dugout.
That’s when you want to do your most intense thinking.
You want to do some serious homework here. Study the game. Watch the pitcher. Try to pick up any patterns, tendencies, or tells.
Talk to your teammates about who’s on the mound and what he’s got.
Talk to your coaches and try to gather anything they’ve picked up.
As the game continues, your team will work through the batting order, and soon, it’ll be your turn to hit again.
Before you know it, you’ll be in the hole and about to be on deck.
That’s when your thinking should narrow, just like the funnel gets narrower.
Try to distill everything down.
Take all your insights and whittle it down into something you can use.
Solidify your plan and approach a little more.
And before you walk to the plate, right before it’s your turn to hit, you want to go one step further.
Narrow your thinking even more.
At this point, the worst thing you can have is a million thoughts running through your head…
So fix that by focusing on one thing.
That’s all you need is one swing thought.
Simplify.
Pick a simple little mantra and repeat it over and over to yourself.
It could be, “See it, see it, see it” or “Attack, attack, attack.”
Whatever works for you.
But this singular thought will help you drown out the noise and have laser-like mental focus.
So that’s the formula for success.
Soak up as much information as possible in the dugout or at the top of the funnel.
Narrow your focus as it gets closer to your turn to hit.
And finally, leave yourself with only one swing thought before you step into the batter’s box.
That’s how you strike the perfect balance between overthinking and not thinking enough.