9U USSSA baseball has been such a wild and fun ride so far this year. For most on the team, this is the first year all the rules of baseball (and there are plenty) are in play. Leadoffs, balks, stolen bases, dropped third strikes, and a long list of many other parts of baseball to prepare them for. As we’ve gone from an offseason of a lot of indoor practices to now having finished our first few tournaments, it’s interesting to see how much our coaching approach has had to shift from heavily weighted on the technical side of baseball to still some technical aspects but much more time allocated to the mental part of the game.
Baseball is humbling. At the highest level of baseball, some of the greatest hitters of all-time failed to get a hit 70% of the time. And even the best goes through droughts at the plate failing much more than 70% of the time. Where failure expectations are so high, baseball is a sport that continues to test the mental toughness of a person.
One of the struggles our team first had at the plate was with 2 strikes, our kids were watching the 3rd strike go by too often without swinging. While not much is guaranteed in baseball, it’s relatively certain if you keep the bat on your shoulder with 2 strikes that you won’t get a hit. It was a great lesson learned by our coaching staff that this idea of how to handle various counts as a hitter is something completely new to these boys. To help, we started to dive into the concept of a 2-strike mentality.
2-strike mentality is battling and swinging at any pitch close to the strike zone when the kid has 2 strikes on them. It’s not looking for the perfect pitch or perfect situation but instead, taking an aggressive mentality to the plate to put a good swing on any pitch close to the strike zone. No matter how unfair the situation, how inconsistent an umpire is, how fast the kid we’re facing is pitching, we wanted to stress each teammate had a choice to go in and battle with 2 strikes to make the most of their opportunity.
The 2-strike mentality brings more of a sense of urgency to lock in and be aggressive with the opportunity the kid has at-bat. This concept also demonstrates the need to understand we must find ways to succeed in imperfect situations. Success can come even when the conditions are far from ideal.
Now think of this 2-strike mentality in our growth journey. Whether it’s at work, building relationships, taking control of our health and fitness, or any other area, too often we’re reliant on waiting for the perfect time or the perfect situations. We want to dive in but wait for the ideal set of circumstances. We wait. And wait. And continue to wait because that perfect moment will most likely never arrive.
The 2-strike mentality teaches us the importance of urgency as opposed to sitting back and waiting for the ideal time to strike. Sitting back and waiting will keep us from testing ourselves to take a step forward. If we don’t move with a sense of urgency, we won’t proactively go test to see how we can succeed in imperfect circumstances. But when we do have a sense of urgency and have an aggressive mentality of capitalizing on opportunities, regardless of the hurdles ahead we keep pushing forward to explore what kind of growth and progress can take place.
Now with 2 strikes there will certainly be swings and misses that are followed by disappointment. But there’s value created when we are aggressive and challenge ourselves, and it doesn’t work out. It gives us an opportunity to learn how to adjust the next time and to continue to push the urgent mentality of taking advantage of opportunities. In struggle, we explore more ways to be successful.
Imperfect scenarios yield a wide variety of outcomes, but the key is we have a sense of urgency and aggressiveness with the opportunities that can continue to help propel us forward.
Take your step: find an area you’re working to grow in and take time to reflect on whether you feel like you’re approaching your opportunities to grow with a sense of urgency and aggressiveness. Are you waiting for the ideal circumstances or are you jumping in even though you know it will be an imperfect situation? Assess whether you can create more of a sense of urgency regardless of the circumstances to keep pushing progress and growth forward.