Strong Mind, Strong Game: The Psychology of Baseball Performance

When you make an error on the field, spectators and coaches will often attribute mistakes to something you did wrong physically. Maybe you didn’t get low enough to scoop up a ground ball, or you dropped your elbow and threw it over the catcher’s head. Maybe at bat, you didn’t see the ball when you took a swing and struck out. 

These are real scenarios that can sometimes be credited to bad habits or poor training, but there’s another critical factor to consider. Sometimes, these errors aren’t due to a lack of skill but rather a deficit in mental training. 

What is going on between your ears when you make a mistake? Are you focused? Are you confident? Are you ready for the next play? 

In this three-part series, we’ll discuss mental training and share tips from sports psychology experts to enhance your mental game. First up, let’s talk about confidence. 

Confidence is Key… or is it? 

Is confidence the key to success in the diamond? Whether you are on the mound, in the batter’s box, or anywhere on the field, you’ve probably been told that all you need is a little confidence.

According to Dr. Javier Martin-Fernandez, Director of Behavioral Health and Performance and head of the Sport Psychology Department for Wake Forest University Athletics, achieving confidence means understanding the controllables. 

As a starting point for discussing confidence with athletes, Dr. Javi asks two questions: 

1. Have you ever had a game where you didn’t feel confident going into it, but you ended up playing well? 

2. Conversely, have you ever gone into a game feeling very confident, and then it went poorly?

Many athletes answer yes to both questions. According to Dr. Javi, this means that the feeling of confidence isn’t what baseball players should seek. Instead, they should work on developing “stable confidence.”

“When I’m with an athlete, I’ll have my board and I’ll write down, ‘What makes you feel confident?’” Dr. Javi said. “I’ll list out all these things, and I’ll ask them, ‘Of these things, what are 100% in your control?’ And they’ll circle those things, and that’s what I want them to feel confident in—everything else is just distraction.”

This focus on controlling what’s truly in your power is a key part of mental training. But not everyone defines confidence the same way.

Mental Performance Coach Adam Carter challenges the term “confidence,” preferring instead to talk about self-belief. Carter, who works with athletes from multiple sports as part of the Consistent Elite Performance (CEP) Mindset team, emphasizes the importance of the language used in mental training.

“Confidence is a word that’s very emotionally charged,” Carter says. “It creates highs and lows for athletes, and it’s an umbrella term that doesn’t help us get to what the actual mental block is.”

According to Carter, the way you talk to yourself matters. It’s important to acknowledge dips in self-belief and combat negative feelings with positive self-talk. Negative self-talk after an error only reinforces the mistake, while positive reinforcement helps players move forward. Carter encourages athletes to celebrate the good plays and stay neutral toward the ones they wish they could redo—removing the emotional charge and keeping their focus on the next opportunity.

The Practice Starts Now

There’s no time like the present to start building confidence (or self-belief). You will feel more acclimated in high-pressure situations if you put yourself in those tough moments before you get older and the stakes get even higher. 

Long-time college pitching coach Gordy Nordgren said that during his time as a player, he built confidence by playing on championship teams and having early success. By the time he got to college and was pitching at Florida International University, he was ready to face any batter that stepped in the box.

“When I was little, I had the confidence because I’d been a city champ [and] I’d been a conference champ,” Nordgren said. “So, by the time I stepped on the diamond in Miami, I had a pretty good idea that I could compete against Texas A&M, Oklahoma State, and University of Miami because I felt like I was on the same level as those guys.”

Dr. Windee Weiss, an Associate Professor at the University of Northern Iowa specializing in sport psychology, has seen the same pattern in her own sons—both pitchers. She said they thrive in game-on-the-line moments because they’ve been doing it since they were nine years old. 

“They got used to that feeling,” Weiss said. “The high arousal. The pressure. And they had a few really good experiences where they were successful, and they started thinking of themselves as ‘that guy.’”

Weiss deemed it a privilege that they faced that type of pressure early. “They were able to practice that situation, and even if they failed, they were [young], so it was little mistakes that lead to little consequences.” 

Perfection in Practice is a Trap

But what happens when you get older, the stakes are higher, and failure feels bigger?

According to Dr. Javi, many college players he’s worked with—especially pitchers in the bullpen—fall into the trap of believing practice has to be perfect.

“Training no longer feels like training,” he said. “Training is a game. They can’t take risks, even though training is where they’re supposed to make mistakes.”

Here’s the truth: practice is the time to fail, no matter your age or level of play. It’s not about chasing perfection—it’s about taking risks, learning from mistakes, and improving. You fail. You adjust. You do it right. You do it right so many times that you can’t do it wrong.

That’s where real confidence comes from. Not from hype, not from a feeling—but from knowing you’ve put in the work, taken your lumps, and come out better. You’ve trained for the big moments. You’ve failed, you’ve learned, and you’ve grown.

So believe in yourself. You’ve earned it.

In the next part of this series, we’ll break down what it means to have a process—both mentally and physically—and how training within that process can help you master a specific skill. We’ll also challenge you to reflect on your why. Why do you play baseball, and how can that drive your approach to training?

We’ll dive into all of this in the next installment. Stay tuned.