The Chicago Cubs have become synonymous with "slumping", "choking", and "pressing". All terms used to describe mental thought processes that create a loser's mindset, loss of momentum and underachievement.
Carrie Muskat / MLB.com wrote a very relevant post entitled "Slumping Soriano aims to clear his mind". In this article Carrie interviewed Soriano, who concluded "Sometimes, you can think too much. Alfonso Soriano says that may be what's happening to him lately."
For many people who are "stuck" and have lost their momentum in life, they sometimes think too much. Usually, however, the problem is not that they are thinking too much.
The problem is that they are thinking "wrong thoughts". As is the case with Soriano, there is a realistic basis to some of his "wrong thinking". Thinking is "wrong" when it programs our minds for failure and underachievement.
Let us look at Soriano's hitting this year. In fact, we can look at most of the Cubs hitters such as M. Bradley, M. Fontenot, K. Fukudome, G. Soto, A. Miles, R. Johnson, A. Blanco, A. Ramirez and K. Hill. All of these hitters are slumping and have been slumping almost the entire season so far.
According to Soriano, he has never struggled for this long. In June his batting average was below 200. Obviously this is not acceptable to him or any major league hitter. Soriano told Carrie he needs to "clean" his mind. He is so right!
Soriano admitted that "I worry". Again a realistic response to hitting below 200 for entire month, but the "wrong" way to think if you want to be successful major league hitter.
Soriano expressed his dilemma. He believes physically he is playing his game as well as he has in the past.
Soriano stated "his swing looks the same now as it did last year and two years ago. He isn't changing his bat, or switching routines, or trying to find the right pregame egg salad sandwich. One good thing is that Soriano is healthy physically."
What has gone wrong? It's how he has been thinking about his abysmal performance!
Two mistakes are evident in his thinking.
- He has been thinking to avoid being hurt rather than maximizing his functioning. "I've been working hard to not get hurt get hurt this year." Playing to not get hurt will result in under achievement.
- Soriano is allowing his "poor hitting performance" to control his mind rather than allowing his "good hitting thinking" to determine his performance. Soriano said. "I'm not hurt physically, but I'm hurt mentally because I'm not hitting well."
From a mental fitness perspective we cannot allow our performance and especially our past blunders in performance to determine how we think about ourselves. As the case with the Chicago Cubs, their failure to hit results in self-doubt, worry, anxiety, pressing, or choking. Filling their minds with these thoughts certainly will kill momentum and guarantee under performance.
If you want to break a "slump" or stop "pressing", change how you think! Don't allow your under performance to determine how you think. No matter how bad your performance has been, detach your thinking from your poor performances. Focus your thinking on your identity as a successful person and focus on playing within your ability.
Remember, Professional Baseball Hitters Live within the Environment Created by Their Thinking about Their Hitting.