The Raleigh Reds Team

Archive for March, 2009

Jack D. Elliott asked:




Confidence in your Baseball Pitching can be a very fickle business. Some days you can feel like you are rolling along fine. Then, suddenly one bad thing happens. Then, another happens, and then another. Then, things really start to snowball. Other times you may feel that you can do no wrong. In this state, everything happens very easily for you and, you are able to do just about whatever you want. You are in what athletes call “the zone”.

The challenge for every pitcher is to try to get most of his starts into this zone range. One reason pitchers have difficulty getting into or remaining in the zone is due to a lack of concentration. A pitcher can improve his concentration during a game by following this simple ritual:

Block out Background Noise: Before every batter, make a point to block out all the background noise and to focus your attention only on the catcher’s mitt. You do not want to be thinking about the fans, the backstop, the umpire, the batter, or anything else. All your focus is on the catcher’s mitt. State, “Focus on the glove”: You should let any thoughts that come into your head pass right through. Do not try to think about those thoughts, just let them pass. Your focus remains on the glove and it is a good idea to even state this mantra under your breath, “focus on glove” or some similar type expression. If Difficulty Focusing, Re-Focus Again: If you are still having difficulty focusing, consider bringing down the bill of your baseball cap to make even more of a tunnel for your eyes to follow to the catcher’s mitt. Also, feel free to restart this process again and again until you feel you have reached the desired state. Begin Your Pitching: Once you feel you have blocked out the background news, you should begin your pitching.

If you would like to see an example of this exercise, go rent the movie, “For The Love Of The Game”. In this movie, Kevin Costner’s character goes through this type of ritual when he uses the phrase, “Clear the mechanism” before pitching to the batter. Ultimately, you would like to get to a point where you have this level of concentration.

A second challenge some pitchers have is confidence in their pitching when a mistake is made. A smart pitcher must recognize that mistakes will happen. He could throw a hanging curveball that gets hit for a double to the wall or maybe the second basemen boots an easy grounder. Regardless of how frustrating this might be, a good pitcher must have a short term memory for these errors. Much like a quarterback who just threw an interception, he must immediately forget that error and move onto the next pitch. This type of short-term amnesia ensures the error doesn’t get you twice by dwelling on it with the next batter. Here is a basic thinking ritual that can be performed to help with these situations:

Breathe In and Exhale After the Error: Take one deep breath and then exhale deeply. This will help you address the situation constructively. State, “Oh, well. Nobody’s Perfect”: After you exhale, state under your breath, “Oh, well. Nobody’s perfect.” This step will help you compartmentalize the error. Perform Focusing Ritual: Finally, start going back into the focusing ritual mentioned above. This will allow you to shift your focus away from the error and direct it toward a ritual that you have practiced again and again.

This type of thinking ritual is good because it gives you a ready-made response for a stressful situation. It allows you to address the problem right away and compartmentalize it. Once you are able to do this, it is much easier to turn your attention to the next batter. As you advance in your baseball pitching career, you will begin to notice your success in baseball pitching tends to focus more on how you handle these situations more than any other aspect of your game.

Damien Cronley asked:




There is one newspaper that football supporters look forward to reading more than any other. Most towns and cities up and down the country have a Saturday night sports paper. These newspapers are bang up to date with all the latest news from the day’s football action. They are full of match reports and contain articles and coverage of all the local football teams.

In terms of football news, the Saturday evening sports paper has everything a football fan needs. It includes a full rundown of all the football results, detailed match reports as well all the latest league tables. The fixtures for the following weeks are also included. If your team is enjoying a good run of form and results, it will make enjoyable reading.

Many of these sports papers are printed on coloured newspaper such as green or pink which makes them easily identifiable. It is no surprise that because of their colour they usually end up with names such as the Sports Pink or the Green Un. As soon as these publications hit the streets you can see football fans swarm around the street seller, kiosk or newsagent eager to get their hands on a copy. In terms of sports related newspapers this is as fresh and up to date as it gets.

For many supporters, it is all part of attending a football match on a Saturday. The sports papers are usually on sale around one hour after the games finish. Some people even refuse to go home until they have a copy. Once they are armed with their soccer news fix they will enjoy mulling over the events of the day and reading expert football analysis in print.

In recent years some regional newspapers have decided to scrap their Saturday night sports paper. This was due to the growth of the internet and football news websites. Newspapers also have their own websites which can publish everything digitally instead of in print. Not everyone has access to the internet and even those that do would prefer to read their sports paper in a traditional printed format.

Despite the loss of some Saturday evening sports papers, plenty of others are still going strong. For the latest post match football news, reports and analysis they simply cannot be beaten. These sports newspapers are traditional among followers of the game who will not welcome their demise. Regardless of digital alternatives the vast majority of football fans will always be keen to keep their favourite sports paper.