Injuries and other setbacks can be the best or the worst thing for you as a baseball player. But whether it is the best or worst depends all on how you choose to view it. Many athletes get injured and throw themselves a pity party – “why me”, “this was gonna be my year”, “I may never be the same again”. The list of sob stories goes on.
Injuries are just steps along the journey that most athletes will have to deal. If you look at your injury as a bad thing it’s going to hold you back. Complaining and feeling sorry for yourself will not help you. Negativity and complaining will only waste mental energy that you could use to get better. Very rarely will you face an injury that will keep you totally impaired from improving in some way. An injury can be a blessing in disguise. It will give you more time to focus on improving in other areas of your game. Here are some things you can do to improve while injured:
- Focus on the parts of your body that are healthy and develop a strength train them with intensity
- Spend extra time training your mind.
- Improve your nutrition
- Get excited for the eventual comeback. Time away from competition and full practice can give you the chance to renew your love for baseball.
- Watch mechanics videos and visualize yourself hitting, throwing, baserunning, etc.
- Visualize yourself coming back from the injury stronger than ever and succeeding
You are only falling behind or missing time if you believe that and let negativity hold you down. Adversity situations like injuries are not problems unless you make them out to be. Injuries are opportunities for growth. Grow in mental toughness, develop a more positive outlook and build confidence by researching other players who’ve come back from injuries similar to or worse than yours. Some great examples of the highest level guys who’ve come back to have great careers are Buster Posey, Stephen Strasburg, Chris Carpenter and Tommy John himself. All of these players had serious injuries and surgeries that they didn’t let break them.
Redefine how you view injuries and you’ll redefine your future. And remember, as always, mindset makes the difference.