Evan Longoria's mental emphasis

all right everyone let's get it going Jeremy what do you got a guy who 16 months ago had never played in the major leagues but now he's been elected to two all-star teams won the Rookie of the Year award of the American League unanimously and many people in baseball are saying that he has the potential to be the best ever at his position well was he a year and a half ago that's the thing that makes evan longoria in a lot of ways so special I mean he really did come out of nowhere in a sense not only was he not drafted out of high school not only was he not recruited by a single Division one baseball program he was barely recruited by Division three which doesn't award scholarships what changed for him well he'll tell you the most important thing to change for him was his mental maturation walk slow to the plate remember your breathing stick with the approach keep the routine going way back get into the game don't worry about those old what goes on in the mind of Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Evan Longoria has helped him emerge as one of the game's highest profile young stars the focus the sense of calm the faith and process they're all essential components of his makeup everybody says the same thing to me they watch him go up to the plate holds a bat like he's sleeping until he explodes at the ball at the age of 23 Longoria is already a two-time all-star his highly developed mental approach to the game not to mention his willingness to discuss it distinguishes him from his peers it also gives him an edge to us it looks like it just happens naturally but there is a method his ability to be in the present moment makes him one of the best when the pitcher is being thrown he's already forgotten about last at-bat and all that exists is this particular pitch and this particular pitch is coming to me right now I see a lot of guys who have a lot of physical ability but don't have enough up top to you know be able to control certain situations or you know some guys don't really buy into the whole mental training side of baseball I guess but for me I've been doing it for so long and it's it's something that I trust Longoria has been doing it for five years before then there was no reason to believe he'd develop into a major leaguer in 2003 when he graduated from high school 1480 players were selected in the Baseball Draft he wasn't one of them nor was he recruited to play Division one college baseball did you deserve to be overlooked when you were coming out of high school definitely yeah I was I wasn't good I mean I I knew the game I enjoyed playing the game as far as ability and talent I wasn't a professional player at that time to continue to play the game Longoria enrolled at Rio Hondo a junior college just a few miles from his hometown in Southern California after hitting 4:30 Longoria transferred to Division one Long Beach State there he was introduced to the theories of Ken revision a professor of kinesiology and author of several books on sports psychology the essence is the idea of learning to be comfortable being uncomfortable and having something to go to when the garbage hits the fan because the garbage will hit the fan and let's be ready for it more than anything else revision preaches the gospel of mental preparation and structure he teaches Clair's recognize failure as an unavoidable part of the game and how not to dwell on it in the last two decades he's been a paid advisor to several college and major league teams at Long Beach State his most apt pupils included Longoria and his teammate Troy Tulowitzki now in his third season with the Colorado Rockies can visit he's done a lot of good things for for me and and Evan it's all about relaxing taking your breaths and just making sure that the game is not moving too quick when you first were exposed to Ken's teachings even you said come on this stuff can't really work what was the turning point you think we started playing in a lot of stadiums where it was a packed house or you know the pressure was on and that and that's when I started to realize when the game becomes more of a mental grind I needed something to go to how do you think those theories helped him they could calmed him I think the mental game really helped him and how he was way balanced after bad at-bats or bad games as longoria matured physically his mental training allowed him to maximize his talents he emerged as a top prospect in the summer of 2005 when he was named MVP of the Cape Cod lean a traditional breeding ground for high draft picks in the 2006 draft three years after failing to be selected at all Longoria was the third overall pick the Tampa Bay Devil Rays select Evan how did he get so much better so quickly I think his openness that it didn't come easy that he went through the rejection and he was willing to take the risk to grow versus playing it safe all the time Longoria's mental maturity helped convince the race that he could be the cornerstone of the franchise just six games into his major-league career they signed him to a nine year contract worth up to forty four and a half million dollars who incidentally Longoria had found another true believer in Ray's manager Joe Maddon a longtime proponent of the revision method what Ken does is it's an attempt to make you think in a different or more clear way controlling the controllable aspects of playing this game every time I see Evan you know it's hello and what do you got for me today cut when you're putting on the batting glove put on the batting gloves and you step into the box being the box be where you need to be when you need to be roll warning track there is a zen-like quality to Longoria's focusing techniques Ken talks a lot about the focal point if I make an error in the field or if I swing out a pitch in the dirt at the plate and I really feel like you know I've lost control of you know either my emotions or the at-bat that's when I step out I always look at the left field foul pole at the top of the left field foul pole just wherever you are just yeah just because I know there's always going to be a top of the left field foul pole so and it works for you it works for me even when he's not in the lineup Longoria follows a mental routine he'll slide on his batting gloves and imagine himself at bat when he is playing rituals help him relax in focus but let's say for example here comes his pitch he fouls it off he will step out of the box he'll undo his gloves release that pitch grips the gloves back on steps in the box and he's back where do you draw the line between what you think is superstition what is habit and what is really about focusing there are so many weird things that US baseball players do that may be classified all as superstition but you know I think superstition would be you know if my mind was all messed up when I got to the plate if I didn't do that and it's not that no no it's not that at all not everyone who tributes Longoria's success to his mental focus there's his work ethic his bat speed and another undeniable factor your buddies out in California that we spoke to said that they thought it was actually a big moment in your career and development when Eva Longoria became famous it seemed like everywhere I went I mean that was the only thing I heard for two and a half three years now but it kind of got my name out there you know whether it was Eva or Evan I mean obviously they remember the last name what I understand last year she got you a bottle of champagne when he made the all-star team what did she get you this year now she gave up she gave up on me in the 2008 World Series the chant Eva Eva floated through the air in Philadelphia whether or not the tonton bothered him evan longoria went 1 for 20 against the Phillies it could have been the pressure that I was putting on myself it could have been the outside distractions that I let get to me and I look back now and kind of kicked myself in the butt for that things kind of sped up on me I think that was part of the whole experience for me too it's just learning learning those feelings I mean he that's upset but he's got some tools that he uses and he knows that's part of the game and then this goes back to his background where it didn't come easy he had to struggle at times from undrafted and unrecruited to the all-star game and the World Series it's been a quick trip for Evan Longoria now comes the hard part maintaining focus do you think there will be a day when you don't need a focal point when you don't need mental exercises that you do I know I don't think there will be because as soon as you start believing that in this game you'll get humbled in a heartbeat I'll always have that to to kind of keep in the back of my mind and when I need it use it prepared to get in

Channel: Mental Training, Inc.

Views: 69,096

Rating: 4.958271 out of 5

Keywords: instructor, coaching, coach, mental trainer, mental training, sport psychology, sales training, mental sales, online mental trainer, mental training inc., dallas sports psychologist, mental toughness, sports psychology consultation, performance anxiety, performance evaluations, mental skills, dallas visualization, mental imagery, mental fitness

Id: eCH4zelZFNk

Length: 11min 3sec (663 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 06 2011