By Jill E Wolforth

It’s often interesting to me how timing works.  Yet, I shouldn’t be surprised.  There’s a common saying “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.”  Sometimes I’m the teacher but more often I’m the student.

Lately we’ve been having discussions with our son as to the importance of the thought process he has and uses.  We’ve been relating it mostly to his baseball.  We talk about and actually practice being clear on exactly what he wants to have happen during both his practice and game settings with specifics such as when he’s hitting or when he’s catching.  It’s a challenge but it is SO important.

I also just finished reading “As a Man Thinketh” by James Allen.  It’s a very quick read and the message packed into these few pages is powerful.  As I was reading the book (it’s free online), I would stop on different occasions and say to my husband, “Listen to this” or “Here’s a great line”.  After a couple of times, he said to me “That is really good.  Please write those down for me.”

That’s exactly what I did and when reading through the list, I decided to make it the content for this week’s newsletter.  See if you can find one or two of the following that resonate with you and one or two that you can share with someone else.

- A man cannot directly choose his circumstances, but he can choose his thoughts, and so indirectly, yet surely, shape his circumstances.

- ALL that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts.

- As he thinks, so he is; as he continues to think, so he remains.

- A man only begins to be a man when he ceases to whine and revile, and commences to search for the hidden justice which regulates his life.  And as he adapts his mind to that regulating factor, he ceases to accuse others as the cause of his condition, and builds himself up in strong and noble thoughts; ceases to kick against circumstances, but begins to use them as aids to his more rapid progress, and as a means of discovering the hidden powers and possibilities within himself.

- A strong man cannot help a weaker unless that weaker is willing to be helped, and even then the weak man must become strong of himself; he must, by his own efforts, develop the strength which he admires in another.  None but himself can alter his condition.

- Victories attained by right thought can only be maintained by watchfulness.  Many give way when success is assured, and rapidly fall back into failure.  All achievements, whether in the business, intellectual, or spiritual world, are the result of definitely directed thought, are governed by the same laws and are of the same method; the only difference lies in the object of attainment. He who would accomplish little must sacrifice little; he who would achieve much must sacrifice much; he who would attain highly must sacrifice greatly.

- To desire is to obtain; to aspire is to, achieve.

- Dream lofty dreams and as you dream, so shall you become.  Your Vision is the promise of what you shall one day be; your Ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil.

- And you, too, youthful reader, will realize the Vision (not the idle wish) of your heart, be it base or beautiful, or a mixture of both, for you will always gravitate toward that which you, secretly, most love.  Into your hands will be placed the exact results of your own thought; you will receive that which you earn; no more, no less.  Whatever your present environment may be, you will fall, remain, or rise with your thoughts, your Vision, your Ideal.  You will become as small as your controlling desire; as great as your dominant aspiration.

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Someone reading this is most likely saying “So if what you’re saying is true and my goal is to lose some weight, I can sit on my couch, drink a Dr. Pepper, eat some potato chips and as long as I have a clear thought about losing weight I’m golden.  It’s sure to happen.”

I am in no way saying that and neither is James Allen.  I think that point will be negated as you read the following which I’ve saved for last as it is my favorite:

- The thoughtless, the ignorant, and the indolent, seeing only the apparent effects of things and not the things themselves, talk of luck, of fortune, and chance.  Seeing a man grow rich, they say, “How lucky he is!”  Observing another become intellectual, they exclaim, “How highly favoured he is!”  And noting the saintly character and wide influence of another, they remark, “How chance aids him at every turn!”  They do not see the trials and failures and struggles which these men have voluntarily encountered in order to gain their experience; have no knowledge of the sacrifices they have made, of the undaunted efforts they have put forth, of the faith they have exercised, that they might overcome the apparently insurmountable, and realize the Vision of their heart.  They do not know the darkness and the heartaches; they only see the light and joy, and call it “luck”.  They do not see the long and arduous journey, but only behold the pleasant goal, and call it “good fortune,” do not understand the process, but only perceive the result, and call it chance.

In all human affairs there are efforts, and there are results, and the strength of the effort is the measure of the result.  Chance is not.  Gifts, powers, materials, intellectual, and spiritual possessions are the fruits of effort; they are thoughts completed, object accomplished, visions realized.

The Vision that you glorify in your mind, the Ideal that you enthrone in your heart – this you will build your life by, this you will become.

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As the occasional (actually more than occasional) glass half empty person, I find it really important to have resources like this book to help keep me on track.

Don Mattingly, former 1^st baseman for the Yankees and now Manager for the Dodgers, once said that he’s got a very clear picture of exactly what he wants and everyday he works at coloring it in.  Let’s all invest in some Crayolas!

By Jill E. Wolforth

What do you think when you hear the word focus?  As a parent or coach, how often do you find yourself saying it?  As a player, how often do you find yourself on the receiving end of it?

Personally, I’m not a fan of the word as it’s used by most.  I guess that’s due to the fact that when I hear the word it’s usually a coach or parent saying it (and more often screaming it) about 10 times in a 20 minute period and I think to myself with a bit of sarcasm “That seems to be really helping”.

Now, do I think one’s ability to focus is important?  Absolutely!  I just believe it sometimes becomes a catch phrase for any time things aren’t going well.

There’s also the question of what exactly am I to focus on when I’m told to focus.  If an entire team is being reprimanded and told to “Focus” does that mean that everyone is supposed to focus on the same thing?

I believe what most people mean when they say something like “C’mon, You’ve got to focus”, or the synonym “Concentrate” they’re meaning “Be here.  Be in this moment.  Lock In.”  I get that.  I think there is even more that can and should be added.

At Ron Wolforth’s Baseball Ranch and Pitching Central you will frequently hear us saying, “Focus on the PROCESS and the outcome will follow.”  This is a crucial point in development.

For example, a hitter is constantly falling to the plate or dropping his/her hands and getting under the ball.  Instead of simply saying “Focus” we can do all our drill work to help correct the problem such as hitting off a high tee, having the hitter swing with eyes closed and feeling where the body leans, or even playing a game where 10 balls are thrown and every ball hit in the air is 1 point for the pitcher and every ball hit on the ground is 1 point for the hitter, winner being determined by who has the most points.  Now, you might be thinking, the last one I mentioned is outcome, isn’t it?  To a certain degree you would be right.  Remember though, it’s any ball hit on the ground including a weak roller to first base, which is certainly not our long term outcome goal.

Would each of the above drills cause the hitter to focus?  I think you would agree the answer is yes.  And although, in essence, the hitter is focusing on the same thing (maintaining posture/controlling the barrelhead), each drill does it in a slightly different way which actually allows for the focus to reboot.

It’s important when we want someone to focus better, (and by the way, that someone can be ourselves) that we are more specific on the request.  For example, if I’ve got one of my softball pitchers and she’s struggling in her workout, appearing not to be locked in to what she’s doing, I would say, “For the next 3 pitches all I want you to focus on is your posture, staying tall.  That’s it.  I don’t care where the ball goes.”  Followed by, “Now for the next 3 pitches all I want you to focus on is your lift”.  That’s much more specific and easier for someone to do then simply telling her “Focus” or “Concentrate”.

Please know that as a parent and a coach, I can relate to this not being always as easily said as done.  When the frustration starts to build up and you are thinking about the valuable time that seems to being going to waste, it’s seems far more efficient to get the player’s / players’ attention(s) with a good harsh “Focus”.  And yes, you and I might feel a little better in the short term but it’s not as effective in the long term.

Some final thoughts:

There are a couple other components that I believe relate to one’s ability to focus.  These could be topics all their own and I will look to expand on them in the future.  For now, I’ll briefly mention them.

If you have followed us at the Baseball Ranch / Pitching Central very long, you know the emphasis we place on our warm-ups.  We always say the body cannot use what is not awake.  This holds true for the brain as well.  When we warm-up, we need to also engage the brain.  One way of checking on this is seeing the quality of a player’s warm-up.  Is it done crisply with purpose or haphazardly?  Is the player “into” the warm-up or more interested in what’s taking place on another field?  As a player, if I ever found myself not quite “wired in”, or starting to fade, I would immediately go do a couple short, quick sprints in the outfield or if in the middle of a game, down the foul territory between innings.  This quick jolt sent a message to both my body and my brain, “Let’s get going!”

Of critical importance and often overlooked, is the role nutrition plays.  When blood sugar levels are all over the place, so will be one’s attention.  Especially with our active, growing athletes, more attention needs to be given to pre and post workout nutrition routines.  Rest and recovery are also very important.  Both the body and the brain need them.  I will be the first to admit that these last two areas can be difficult to manage but they are critical to maximizing our athletes’ success and worth paying attention to.

In closing, if you find yourself having to remind others to focus, do so with specifics.  Let them know exactly what to focus on at this moment and then challenge them to do even more.  You and they might be just surprised at what happens.

By Jill E. Wolforth

One of my responsibilities with Ron Wolforth’s Texas Baseball Ranch and Pitching Central is that of Director of Marketing.  Each year around this time I attend a 4-Day Marketing Conference.  I just got back from Dallas, the site for this year’s event.

Each year the hosts bring in a “celebrity” speaker, someone well known and more importantly successful in business.  Past celebs have included Ivanka Trump, Gene Simmons, Joan Rivers and of special interest to us, Cal Ripken.  Sticking to their Country Western theme and being in Texas, this year’s celebrity speaker was country music singer/songwriter John Rich of the duo Big & Rich.

His story is one of rags to riches.  He grew up in a trailer park in Amarillo, TX and now has a home in Nashville with a pool on the roof.  On the surface you might think, “Wow, how lucky is he!”

Yet, once you listen to all he did on “his way up” there’s no doubt he deserves every bit of his success and it certainly wasn’t about luck.  For example, he wrote 500+ songs before he had one become a hit.  That’s right, 500+.  There are a lot of aspiring songwriters who have written 50, 75, 100 songs with no success.  They then throw up their hands saying, “It’s just not meant to be” or “I’m not getting any breaks” or “I’ve worked so hard and people just don’t appreciate my talent.”  We can always come up with excuses.  John Rich did not.

He shared many things about his business and career but the most interesting comments to me were his thoughts on what you do once “the ball starts rolling”.  You know, when you get over the hump and things start to go your way.  When you’re seeing and reaping some success.

For a lot of us, we give a big sigh of relief.  We’re pleased. We take note of what’s going on and work at staying on course.  Other people (and what I often see with many athletes) have the attitude “I’ve arrived.  I no longer have to work as hard.  I don’t need to prove myself”.  This as Zig Zigler says is “Stink’n Think’n”.

John Rich took the concept and catapulted it.  He said, “Don’t watch the ball roll, KICK IT!  After you’ve kicked it, strap on a rocket and light it.”  In other words, supercharge it.  Use the momentum and go to overdrive.  When hearing this I thought “of course”.  Yet, I realized, I personally can do better in this area.

He also made another point related to this that I believe is critically important.  He said, “Once the ball is rolling and YOU can’t keep up to kick it, GET OTHERS to kick it for you.”  Again, I believe this is very important and a lesson I’ve had to learn. As you grow and expand, you’re going to have to ask for help to continue that growth.

Let me be absolutely clear though.  First, you’ve got to do all that you can do.  Remember, it’s your ball that’s rolling.

So, here’s to all of us getting some really good leg workouts!

By Jill Wolforth

I was very fortunate growing up that my parents demonstrated and constantly reminded my two sisters and me that i f we were willing to work hard and work smart, we could succeed at anything we set our minds to.

They never said it would be easy, as our life raising cattle on a ranch in Nebraska frequently demonstrated.  As I often tell my athletes, if it were easy, everyone would be able to do it and then the rewards would not be as great.

This week, I’d like to share with you a poem that my parents had me memorize at a young age.  It hung in the house we grew up in and today you can still see it, framed and hanging in my parents’ ranch office.  I have referred back to its message on many occasions.

The Man Who Thinks He Can

If you think you are beaten, you are,

If you think you dare not, you don’t,

If you’d like to win, but you think you can’t,

It’s almost a “cinch” you won’t.

If you think you’ll lose, you’ve lost,

For out in the world you’ll find,

Success begins with a fellow’s will;

It’s all in the state of mind.

For many a race is lost

Before ever a step is run;

And many a coward fails

Before his work’s begun.

Think big and your deeds will grow,

Think small and you’ll fall behind,

Think that you can and you will;

It’s all in the state of mind.

If you think you’re outclassed, you are,

You’ve got to think high to rise,

You’ve got to be sure of yourself

Before you’ll ever win a prize.

Life’s battles don’t always go

To the stronger or faster man,

But sooner or later, the man who wins,

Is the fellow who thinks he can.

On our copy the author was listed as unknown but I’ve since seen credit given to Walter D. Wintle.

Remember, I said my parents taught me if I worked hard and worked smart I could do anything I SET MY MIND TO.

What will you set your mind to?!

Here at Ron Wolforth’s Texas Baseball Ranch we work with SPECIAL baseball and softball athletes.  What does SPECIAL mean?  Well, to us, SPECIAL is a unique combination of things:

• ABILITY – The athlete must have a solid overall athletic ability
  
• APTITUDE – The athlete must have a natural love of baseball or softball
  
• ATTITUDE – The athlete must be eager to learn, listen experiment and try new things
• WORK ETHIC / DEDICATION – The athlete must habitually do his/her homework
• COMMITMENT – The athlete must be persistent and typically be resilient to temporary failures, challenges and set backs
  
• GOALS – The athlete must have a burning desire to play past his/her current level of play.
• PARENTS WHO ARE SUPPORTIVE BUT NOT INTRUSIVE – The athlete’s parents mus be helpful but not attempting to live their life again through their child or attempting to save their child from ‘failure’ by manipulation, coercion, or influence.  They must view their child as a capable, responsible, honorable young person who is ultimately accountable for his own failures and successes.

SPECIAL to us is someone who has a burning desire to play baseball or softball AND is exceptionally eager to find out how to improve his/her skills.

If this describes you or your athlete, then you would be a good fit for one of our training programs.  Please check out our various training programs at www.TexasBaseballRanch.com.

Take a look at the video below from a young man that trained with us at the ranch this past summer.

To learn more about the products and services we offer, please visit our website at: www.TexasBaseballRanch.com.