Be Here Now - Right Here, Right Now!

"What better place than here? What better time now than now? All hell, can't stop us now!" - Rage Against the Machine

In the 1999 movie, For Love of the Game, Kevin Costner plays an aging, once superstar pitcher for the Detroit Tigers. It is the end of a long, lousy season, and he’s pitching one last game - on the road in Yankee stadium.

There’s an awesome scene when he takes the mound to start the game. The crowd is loud and full of jeers and personal insults being hurled his way. He looks around for a while, sort of chuckles, and remarks to himself, “I can always tell when I’m in New York.”

Then, he utters the words, “Clear the mechanism”. The crowd goes silent. Everything goes blurry except home plate.

A little cheesy? Maybe. But it illustrates an ability the best athletes all possess. They are superior at blocking out all outside noise, (and inside noise too, for that matter) to heighten their focus and concentration to execute in the present moment.

The first main objective of the mental game is to play the game with supreme confidence and belief in ourselves and our abilities.

The second primary goal then, is to play the game fully present: this shot; this pitch; this shift; this play.

Lao Tzu, the father of Taoism, stated, “If you are depressed you are living in the past, if you are anxious you are living in the future. If you are at peace your living in the present.”

We want to play the game calm and in control. This is only possible when we are fully present – not thinking about past mistakes, or getting ahead of ourselves.

Renowned, mental skills coach, Brian Cain, talks about ‘the next 200 feet.’ When driving, our headlights show about 200 feet ahead. It’s a powerful metaphor to only focus on what is directly in front of us.

In-game it’s simply: this pitch, this shot, this shift, this play. Happy Sunday!!