I did not focus on the mental aspect of the game until after my 2013 campaign, my worst professional season. When I look back, I can see that I was blaming everyone around me instead of the person I really should’ve been blaming...me. I started to take accountability for my actions. I was in the position that I was in because I put myself there. It was nobody’s fault but MINE. It wasn’t my coach, my teammates, the front office, etc. It was all my doing. I clearly wasn’t as good as I thought I was…not as prepared as I thought I was. Acceptance was an instrumental key at this point of my life. I accepted the position I was in, which allowed me to realize that I wasn’t working as smart as I could have been. I did research online and asked THE RIGHT 

PEOPLE for help. In doing so, I came across Ken Ravizza, a tremendously well-known and proven mental skills coach that happened to live in Redondo Beach, 45 minutes away from where I lived in Long Beach.

I obtained Ravizza’s contact info and proactively gave him a call. I was ready to invest my time and money for guidance that would help me for the rest of my life. One week later, I was in Ken’s home office. Our biweekly 1-2 hour sessions that entire offseason, helped me change my perspective and he provided me with mental tools/exercises/actions that I would use, not only for the rest of my baseball 

career, but for the rest of my life. Our meetings helped me learn more about myself, what I had gone through…what inwardly caused the downward spiral…How my inner voice at the time (that I did not share with anyone else) was hurting me...He tought me how to quickly recognize self-doubt and/or pressure and how to conquer it in less than 5 seconds…How to train my inner-voice to foster confidence. In time, I was praised by players and coaches for my perspective, attitude, mindset, and general stress-management. I became a better, more mature player, focused on my process.

Ken sadly passed away this year, but his energy, charisma, and teachings that touched me still live on through everyone that has had the pleasure of working with him.

Trust yourself and enjoy the process.

장문의 글을 올림