Kyle DiEduardo  "Reach Out for Advice"

Kyle DiEduardo • Winthrop University Pitching Coach • University of Cincinnati, '02
 

BEING GOOD vs. BEING GREAT

Your mental approach can determine whether or not you will be successful in life or in sports.  How you approach each day is totally up to you.  Your attitude on life is what matters most.  That is the major difference which turns athletes from being just a good athlete into a great athlete.  All the great athlete’s in the world today have one trait that is similar.  They all have broken out of their comfort zones.  They all raised their bar.  Too many people want to set standards, set expectations, and make you feel as though you where only meant to be average.  That is where self determination comes into play.  You have to motivate yourself on a daily basis to be successful at what you are trying to accomplish.  I would rather take a guy with a little less talent who is extremely self motivated than a stud who is lazy.  I will put my money on the self motivated guy any day of the week.

Being Comfortable
Well, let’s first talk about the word comfortable.  We hate to use and to hear a player use the word comfortable.  Sometimes when you are working with a player on his mechanics and are trying something that he has never tried before he’ll immediately say, "It doesn’t feel comfortable!"  Of course it’s doesn’t.  The only reason your mechanics feel comfortable to you is because you have been pitching that way your entire life.  Just because something doesn’t feel comfortable doesn’t mean that it’s not right.  In order to make a change it takes a lot of hard work and repetition.  It takes about 1,000 reps of something in order to change it.  I truly believe this.  Once you do those 1,000 reps then your new mechanics will eventually feel comfortable to you. 

What is your comfort zone?
If you hit .333 your first three years in college, what do you think people are going to think you’ll hit your senior year?  .333  Why can’t you hit .400?  Why can’t you go from being a walk-on to being the ace on the staff?  Who are the people holding you back from accomplishing things that you never thought you would accomplish?  Do not let others hold you back from being the best you can be.  I personally think pep talks and pre game speeches are overrated.  If you are unable to self motivate yourself than you are just going to be a mediocre player.  The ones that break out of their comfort zones are the one’s that don’t settle for where they are today.  They are the ones that strive on a daily basis to be better then they where the day before.  They are the ones that can motivate themselves to work hard even when they are playing at the top of their game.  

Taking Control of your ATTITUDE!
There is a quote that I read a few years ago that really touched me.  It has stuck with me since and I truly live my life by this quote on a daily basis.  The quote is on one’s attitude by Charles Swindol.  It says:

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.

Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.

And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes."

There is nothing more to say on this topic.  This quote says it all.  You have a choice each day you wake up in the morning whether to have a good attitude or to have a bad attitude.  The one’s that choose the first will succeed more often than not.  Be enthusiastic in whatever you do.  Enthusiasm rubs off onto others.  John Wooden once said, "Your energy and enjoyment, drive and dedication will stimulate and greatly inspire others."

Conclusion
It is very easy to be good at something.  When you are good at a particular task, it is easy for everyone to fall into a comfort zone.  It is easy for people to take things for granted.  It is extremely hard to motivate yourself when you are good at something.  That is the main attribute that the great players have.  Too many people just accept being the #2 starter or they accept that they are just going to get 20 innings a year.  You CAN NOT fall into the trap of getting boxed in to that mind set.  And that is what it exactly is.  It is a mindset every minute of every day, that you will not accept just being good at something, that you will not just accept being mediocre.  You have to change the way you think.  Your mind is a powerful tool that can be pushed far beyond your beliefs.  Once you realize how far you can push yourself you’ll begin to understand that you can raise your own bar.  You can break out of your own comfort zone!