Too often people take what happened in the past, and presume it will happen again the future. In turn, they skip over the present moment.

The present moment is the only time when fear and doubt and physical tension does not exist. To get into the present moment, a player must envision the next pitch (the future), then direct his attention to what is most important while the next pitch is occurring (the present).
The result is getting out of your head and into your body. Pre-pitch routines, especially a breath, can remind the player to come back to the present moment.

If you really, really, really want to play baseball well, then…
In the beginning,, to be a baseball player who reaches their potential, you must start with this concept: You really, really, really have to want to play baseball well. If this is not the case, your game will be lacking and then you’ll always get what you get, and you can’t get upset.

If you really want to play baseball well, then:

• You must play and practice in the moment.
It is well agreed that thinking about what happened in your last at-bat, or about a school test tomorrow, makes playing baseball difficult.

• To do that, you must pay attention (have focus) and not have any gaps between what you think is happening, and what is really happening.
Paying attention is taken for granted, but being in the moment is essentially simply paying attention to what is really happening – not just what you think is happening, but what is really happening.

• What to pay attention to? To how things feel and your senses.
It is a physical game, and paying attention to the physical world is essential. There is a distinction though: For practices, it is fine to pay attention to the physical aspect of how things feel. But in games, it doesn’t matter how you feel – it’s how you sense the world around you: the ball, the bat, your body and the field. Basically, get out of your head, and into the game.

• But, we get distracted all the time.
There are so many distractions in baseball, that is very hard to stay focused in the moment. Distractions cover everything from opponents, umpires, teammates, the score, your batting average, errors, strikeouts, great plays, great hits, the crowd, the weather.

• So, create a plan:
1) Dream big! Choose a brilliant future;
2) Choose what to feel and pay attention to in order to make it happen.
There is your overall plan where you ask yourself these questions: What is your reason/purpose for playing baseball? What kind of team do you want? What kind of player do you want to be? There is also your game plan, where you ask yourself what you specifically want to do on this pitch (hit a liner in the gap; throw a slider low and away on the black).
Then, you choose what to pay attention to in order to achieve it: I want to be all-state! Then I have to lift more, fix my load, have better pitch selection. I want to hit a liner in the gap! I have to look for a fastball belt/thigh and attack with my swing.

• Then, trust your plan and let it happen. Remember to recognize distractions and come back to your plan.
Once you have your plan, direct your attention to action. You must get out of your thoughts, and just let the action happen. Notice when distractions try to pull you away, and then come back to your plan (this might be the absolute most important mental game skill).

• After a play, get feedback but without judgment.
Don’t beat yourself up, or celebrate too long. We all know the game is too humbling for that. The key is to evaluate, but without the judgments of “That was good,” and “That was bad.” Instead, a late swing is not bad and makes you a bad person, it just is a late swing. Ony then can you move on and pay attention to the moment on the next play.

Then, and then will there be the possibility to play in the moment, with confidence, relaxation, competitiveness and greatness.