Don’t Let Statistics Bog You Down
Posted by Nate Barnett | Filed under Recreation & Sports
Its a statistical fact that fewer than 1% of high school and college athletes ever get the chance to play professionally. Those odds are a bit shocking if your goal is to play professional baseball down the road. And if taken only at a surface level will discourage many athletes.
Its not my intent to share this information with you to try to bring you back to reality if you are attempting to fulfill your own dream of playing professionally. Instead, let me tell you that most high level athletes and success-minded people never look at failures or statistics in this way. Most big time performers see these stats as an extra motivator because they know that many will fall off the path early because they cant get past the odds. This only reduces the competition and increases the chances for themselves. I know this is the attitude I used as I progressed through high school, college, and into pro ball. So lets look at how this attitude is developed a bit more.
For those of you who have played baseball, did you ever step up to bat and think to yourself about the statistic probability that you would hit a home run in any given at bat? Of course you didnt. Why is that? Because when the emotions and excitement are strong enough, statistics never come in to play. For another example of this, look no further than a little leaguer learning how to play baseball. Everything is exciting, the sky is the limit, and statistic reality of becoming a professional baseball player never factors into the equation.
So the real question here is how do we as experienced coaches and athletes prevent the reality of failure to cripple our progress? Its a real challenge and unfortunately is what causes thousands of athletes every year to quit this great game of baseball. The main contributing factor in this is that they have chosen to allow a combination of failures (low playing time, poor performances on the mound or at the plate) to create this false reality that they cannot achieve because of how the past has gone for them. Therefore, instead of fighting through this, they find something else to do with their time.
My recommendation for you is that you never let yourself travel down this path. Never look at past performances in determining your future successes. If you choose to do this, your mind will cease to become creative, you motivation to improve and solve problem will diminish, and youll become another stat of how many athletes quite each year. Instead, develop the habit of thinking about success only and your mind will always expect results from your body. This is how you play baseball without letting stats control you. Its the only way to experience the goals you have set for yourself.
Tags: Recreation & Sports
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