Did you know that less than 1% of the athletes who are currently playing high school and college baseball will ever get an opportunity to play professionally? Pretty amazing statistic isnt it. The odds are stacked heavy against those who have this dream of playing high level baseball down the road. At surface level this is a very discouraging statistic.

I share this with you as you learn how to play baseball as well as coach baseball because all truly successful athletes pay little attention to statistics in determining their future goals. Instead, success-minded athletes see the above types of statistics as a huge motivator. I know I did in my quest to play professional baseball when I was younger. Heres how to utilize this mindset as you develop your capacity in how to play baseball better.

For those of you who have been around a while and played countless baseball games, did you ever evaluate the statistical probability of hitting a home run while you were up at bat? I say that rhetorically because I already know the answer. Of course not. Why? Because when you are concentrating on doing something big, your brain doesnt have time or room enough to factor in your chances for hitting a home run or your lack of hitting home runs in the past. Just look at how Little Leaguers go about playing the game of baseball. To those young kids, everything about the game is exciting, they all have dreams of playing in the Bigs, and the stats I shared in the opening paragraph are not in existence as far as they are concerned.

The question we have to answer is how do we as competitive athletes and coaches keep stats from paralyzing our optimism and work habit? Its a real and evident challenge for athletes of all kinds. Thousands of baseball players quit every year because they are not having the success they have perceived they should be experiencing. They have let past performances beat them up and have projected those failures on to their future years in the sport. Consequently, instead of battling through the frustration, they quit and find something else to do.

My recommendation for you is that you never let yourself travel down this path. Never look at past performances in determining your future successes. If you choose to do this, your mind will cease to become creative, you motivation to improve and solve problem will diminish, and youll become another stat of how many athletes quite each year. Instead, develop the habit of thinking about success only and your mind will always expect results from your body. This is how you play baseball without letting stats control you. Its the only way to experience the goals you have set for yourself.