Every batter goes through their rough patches. Finding how baseball players get out of a slump is must-know for parents of young players.
In this article, I’ll go through some ways to get your swing back and start performing like you’re used to.
The curious case of the slump
You are going through a period of time when you can’t make any hit? That’s what in baseball we call ‘slump’, and don’t think you are the only one who has suffered this issue, every baseball player, professional or not has ever gone through a bad hitting time.
Or do you think baseball Hall of Famers and legends like Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, or Carl Ripken finished their careers without living an awful slump?
Think again. Mantle’s worst slump happened in 1960 when he had a 0-20 slump, and five years later Willie Mays went through a 0-24 slump, only to recover confidence and winning the most valuable player of that season.
But like every player has gone through a slump, every player has gotten out of it. Here we will show you a few tips to get out of a slump.
Finding the issue
Many people believe the main reason for any player getting into a slump is physical because they consider that a small pain could be causing discomfort in the hitter mechanic. But what really affects players are mental concerns, and in some cases, a player could have an on-going slump because of both, mentally and physically problems.
The most important thing in order to get out of a slump is to find the problem and accept it since there are many pride players who don’t accept their bad moments is caused by a mental or physical issue.
How baseball players get out of a slump?
Mental strength
If an MLB player who is currently living a bad hitting moment keeps poor mental health and motivation, what is left for young minor leagues and college baseball players?
Yogi Berra, a baseball legend once said “Baseball is 90% mental, and the other 10% is physical” and he couldn’t be more right. Having a 5-5 baseball game is outstanding but you have to understand those games have an extreme level of rareness, even Pete Rose who is the all-time hits leader only could achieve 10 5-5 games of 3,562.
Every time you missed contact and are ruled out, do not start feeling sorry for yourself. The only thing it will get you out of a slump is confidence in yourself, confidence that you only need a good pitch to end that slump. All the greater hitters are those who accept failure as part of the game and don’t stop trying.
Hustle like a champion
It doesn’t matter whether you hit a fly out or a groundout, you had no excuse for not hustling into the bases. Aptitude is essential to hitters so when you make a contact and realize it will be an easy out, lowering your head and jogging into first base is proving you lack the aptitude of a champion.
Baseball is a sport played by humans, and we humans commit mistakes, you don’t know whether in that play you give up, infielders could make an error or outfielders could miss the ball and drop it. Always hustle to the bases like you’re playing the game 7 of a World Series.
Watch at-bats videos
When the issue isn’t mentally then you should start thinking about what could be wrong with your hitting mechanic and immediately fix the problem. How can you do that? Watching your own at-bats.
Big leaders have a lot of advantages when it comes to watching videos thanks to the hundreds of cameras are set in every ballpark. But when you’re a young college ballplayer you need someone to record your own footage and later spend several hours to recognize the issue and then fix it.
Focus on every bad at-bat you took, criticize it and go immediately to the batting cage to work on the aspect you need to correct. Remember, practice is the key to success.
Improve visualization
Many studies prove that seeing is having faith in something. It is an effective way to improve your hitting skills. Practising visualization will give you the self-confidence to face every pitch like a professional.
Compliments
Sometimes the only thing we need to gain confidence in ourselves is a little compliment from someone you admire and respect. So if your son or anybody you care about is going through a slump, don’t stop cheering and supporting them.
Finals thoughts
The thing isn’t that every player in the baseball world has gone through a slump but they manage to go out and complete their careers and even making their way to the hall of fame.
Never lose self-confidence and never stop correcting your mistakes. A great player is he who always learns from his mistakes.
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