Gedman Baseball: Presence and Confidence

My second year in pro ball, my manager told me that in any relationship there is a dominant person and a passive person. He compared it to two Bucks coming up to a Doe in the woods at the same time. 9 times out of 10 one Buck looks at the other and knows its his time to go. He related the story to baseball and said, "let the pitcher know who is dominant without saying a word" Hitters don't realize how important their body language, presence and confidence are to their success at the plate. Josh Donaldson just had an awesome quote the other day on twitter, "you can't pimp a home run if you can't pimp a strike out." I like to say, "when you fail act like you did it on purpose and when you succeed act like it was inevitable. Everyone talks about the importance of the mental game, but half of being mentally tough is just being able to act different then how you feel. There is no rule against acting like you are a stud. You don't have to say a word but act like you are the best player out on the field and everyone is at the game to watch you play. When a defender lays out and steals your hit, smile even chuckle to yourself and jog off the field like it wasn't a big deal. When you hit a huge RBI double to break a tie game in the 8th, just act like its whatever. Most hitters think they have way more control over the outcome then they actually do. Just remember that you try to see the ball well, try to have good timing and try to hit it on the barrel. Whatever happens after the ball hits the barrel is out of your control. A dominant players realizes that success and failure are just a part of the game. My dad always told me, "You're not a good as you think you are when you play good and your not even close to as bad as you think you are when you are playing bad" There is no rule against acting like you would act if you went 4-4 with 4 home runs the game before. A great quote from the book "mind gym" is, "act like the player you want to become until you become the player you act like" My favorite guy to watch in the big leagues when it comes to presence is Miguel Cabrera. One of my favorite at bats of all time is the home run he hit off Mariano Rivera. The full ab is above but I wanted to point out a few different things from the ab. The first GIF is the 0-2 pitch, its a good pitch but Miguel lays off and takes a peak out at Mariano to let him know he's not swinging at that. The second gif is the 1-2 pitch that is easy to lay off of but then watch Cabrera's reaction: just backs away like its no big deal. The third GIF is the home run. The 4th Gif is my favorite, Miguel Cabrera just jogs around the bases like its just another home run. I also love Mariano's reaction just smirks as if to say you got me this time, whatever. Then the last clip shows Cabrera just walking off the field after the home run but if I just showed you that last clip you would have no idea if he struck out or hit a home run. The way Miguel Cabrera acts is one of the reasons why he is one of the best hitters in the world.