This MLB manager believes in the magic of open discussion. His players love him for it.

By Matthew Gutierrez

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/08/20/this-mlb-manager-believes-magic-open-discussion-his-players-love-him-it/

August 20, 2019



Clint Hurdle (Gene J. Puskar/AP)

PITTSBURGH — Pirates Manager Clint Hurdle urges his players: Tell your dad you love him. Give him a hug. Call someone else you love, offer your support, and ask them how you can help. He knows all of his colleagues and players are going through something, constantly trying to rebuild, tweak, stay upbeat and plod along.

Here is where Hurdle believes he can fulfill his responsibility as an MLB manager, instilling an atmosphere of trust, guidance and transparency: For several years, he has led one-on-one meetings with coaches and players he calls “ups and downs.” Hurdle shares one, two or three things going well in life — and a few things not going so well. The other person does the same, with responses ranging from a good month at the plate to the rigors of minor league life to the death of a family member.

“The main idea,” Hurdle said, “is it eliminates distractions and helps them play more free.”

Every week, the 62-year-old chats with Pittsburgh’s minor league coaches. Meetings with players occur less often, usually a few times per season. They are akin to a professor’s office hours, with a few twists. They can last 60 seconds or 60 minutes. They happen virtually anytime: after a bullpen session, pregame in Hurdle’s office, on the phone during a bus ride. Central to his approach is knocking down the walls between himself and the people he works with. In his office last month, he illustrated how he might do this: He got up off the chair behind his desk and sat on a couch instead.

Hurdle believes in the magic of open discussion, where anything goes, and unplugged conversations during which he rarely dictates direction. It’s a thoughtful approach to feedback that provides players an indication of the type of teammate and person they are, and the type of player and person they can become.

“Some guys say: ‘The first time I was here, it was like a trip to the dentist. That was horrible. That was hard,’ ” Hurdle said. “I say: ‘Look, this is going to be uncomfortable. We have to work through this together. It’s not malicious. If you get to a point where you truly love somebody, you’re going to tell them the truth.’ ”

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/08/20/this-mlb-manager-believes-magic-open-discussion-his-players-love-him-it/

5 Ways self-talk will help you now!

By Courtney Thompson
https://www.positiveperformancetraining.com/blog/5-ways-self-talk-will-help-you-now

“You should exercise unrelenting discipline over your thought patterns.  Cultivate only productive attitudes… You are the product of everything you put into your body and mind.”  -I Ching

In my experience, it’s pretty safe to assume that everyone wants to be confident.  No matter what you are doing: Playing a game, giving a speech, on a date, or taking a test at school, it’s going to be infinity more enjoyable when you feel good about who you are in that moment. In other words, confident in your own skin.

I know from personal experience how painful it is to NOT be truly myself in a given moment. It’s a feeling, in my opinion, significantly worse than losing or failing or any of the things we spend time worrying about.

What I want for you

This is my challenge to the athletes I work with: Fight and work towards being your true self, nothing more and nothing less, in every environment you walk into. You deserve that, but you also have to work for it.

Confidence comes from a few places: Hard work (which I wrote about in 8 reasons no one cares you are tired), and from our inner belief about who we are. One of the most powerful ways to influence our inner belief is by controlling the voice in our head that only we can hear: Our self-talk.

Believe it or not, your brain is a muscle; this means we have to train it like any other muscle in our body: with intention, with repetition, and with a relentless approach, because change is never easy.  I believe (because I’ve experienced it myself) that improving your self-talk will not only take your game to the next level, but make your entire experience of competing significantly more enjoyable.  And most of all, it will allow you to bring your true self in anything you are doing. So with that in mind…

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Here are 5 reasons investing in your self-talk is worth it!

1)  You are not your thoughts!

Despite what it feels like at times, you are not your thoughts.  But your thoughts can effect your entire experience if you are not aware and intentional about their direction.  What’s really exciting about this is that this enormous power allows us a great opportunity; with mindfulness and intention we can train our brain to help move towards becoming a better version of ourselves. As one of my sports psychologist (Micheal Gervais) says, the discipline is making a choice to react to a situation in a way that is in line with our values. 

We do that by choosing how we perceive a situation, which comes from what we tell ourselves.  Let me give you an example:

In volleyball, it’s inevitable that at some point an athlete will miss a serve. The player that chooses to respond with positive self-talk such as “I’m loose, aggressive, and I will hit the next one” has a better chance of nailing the next serve than the player that responds with “SHOOT!  I felt terrible in warm ups and now I can’t hit anything, my coach is gonna take me out.”  That player might start making more mistakes, get down on their teammates, have poor body language, stop working hard, or a number of negative reactions that don’t line up with how they really want to behave.

Every day we have opportunities to ‘correct’ our thoughts or choose how to respond to small failures like missing a serve. If we value courage and hard work we can choose thoughts that help us behave with those traits.  This takes a constant effort, but will have limitless positive effects on not only your skills, but how much fun you have while playing.

Click on the link below to read the rest of the article:

https://www.positiveperformancetraining.com/blog/5-ways-self-talk-will-help-you-now