Hello Hitter’s, 

 Baseball, at the Major League Level, takes maximum concentration. The pitching is good every night, which requires you to be sharp every night. Day-in and day-out, from Spring Training to the end of October you must be mentally focused. Your job and playing time depend on it.

The player who jumps to mind when I think of concentration is Andre The “Hawk” Dawson. Every season, every day and every at-bat, the Hawk was locked-in and focused. It seemed that nothing could get him off his game. Baseball was his job, and he took every single second of it seriously.

 Even when he struggled (which was rare) he was on top of his game. There is no doubt in my mind that Andre Dawson should be elected into the baseball Hall of fame! To be a successful hitter, you must be able to block out all distractions- all the time. You can’t take a bad at-bat with you into the field, and you can’t dwell on a poor game. Andre could do that better than anyone. He had a very short memory when he made a mistake or had a bad at-bat. He would re-focus and get his concentration back quickly.  Baseball is just as much a mental game as it is a physical game.

 When your concentration is off, your game is off. It’s that simple. Mark McGuire used to say “Focus on one thing when the pitcher is about to throw the pitch, and that focus should be on the ball.” Mark used to take a soft focus on the pitcher and hard focus on the ball and release point.

 A good way to make sure you are locked- in during every at-bat is to step out of the box if the pitcher holds the ball more than 5 seconds. Pitchers will hold the ball on you to get you thinking and distract you.  Ask for time-out and step out of the box. Re-focus, just like a golfer goes through their pre-shot routine.  As I always say, “Stay Focused”  learn to concentrate, and you will have more success at the plate. Good concentration is a huge part of being Conditioned to Hit!

Mike “The Hitman” Easler