The Peak Performance Expert

Okay, so we lost the last 2 games against the Tampa Bay Rays but Monday night (9/8/08) was different.  Jon Lester shut out the Rays in a splendid performance, demonstrating his increasing confidence and maturity on the mound.

For the purpose of this blog, what especially impressed me were his comments after the game.  He said, “I didn’t have any bad thoughts to waste energy.”  Translated, this means that he has managed the art and skill of shaking off negative thinking.  “Bad thoughts” don’t disrupt his focus because he has learned how to either stop them or he reframes them into positive or neutral thoughts. 

And negative thinking does “waste energy,” energy that should be directed to the task at hand - in this case, pitching.  A while back, Josh Beckett pitched terribly in a game and later complained of tingling in his hand and fingers.  Apparently this had been bothering him for a while.  So what accounted for his bad outing?  Was it the symptoms or his thinking about the symptoms?  We all know how preoccupying it can be to have physical symptoms and not know exactly what might be wrong.  Typically, most people think the worst.  The worry removes the focus from the task at hand and affects performance.   Once Beckett discovered there was nothing serious (and he had a few days rest) he returned to pitch effectively, including last night with the talented Rays. I suspect relief in knowing there was no serious medical issue allowed him to devote full focus to his game.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 11th, 2008 at 7:42 pm and is filed under Mental Toughness, Negative thinking, Red Sox. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.