Is baseball the toughest sport mentally?
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Anonymous
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I've been watching my kid and others play baseball for about a decade now and geez it's just brutal. The individual moments of being up to bat in high pressure situations, umps with unpredicatable strike zones, fielding errors, injuries . . .
All sports are challenging, but I wonder if baseball is the hardest to master the mental aspect. Which team sport do you think is the most challenging in terms of the mental aspect? |
Anonymous
| I think so. My kid doesn’t get nervous up to bat but I do. He recently was up bases loaded two outs tied game. You are either the hero or it’s your dusty |
Anonymous
| Your fault. |
Anonymous
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I have no idea - I imagine all are hard in their own way. I was an endurance/strength sport athlete and that was its own hard. But the pressure of baseball is different.
Last night I watched my pitcher son get absolutely shelled. The batters were just teeing up off him, and he only lasted 2 innings. That’s hard to watch. And he’s good! He’s a college player - but the sport is unforgiving and there is a ton of failure. |
Anonymous
It can be for sure. Also there many toxic/abusive coaches. |
gkahpaul
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Yes, because it's a mano a mano duel between the batter & pitcher for the entire audience to see and no one can save you (coach teammates etc) if you're in over your head or in a slump.
Personally, I consider baseball to be both a team and individual sport due to the fact that rarely can a teammate assist you fielding, or catching a difficult pop fly that gets lost in the sun or requires one to sprint full speed to grab...only the individual can make that play - The team aspect comes into play when it requires 6-3-4 double play for example. Only sport where succeeding 1/3 times makes you great and it's very competitive at even the youth levels. |
Anonymous
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I guess if you want to look at it that way.
One of the things I kind of like about baseball is that the player has to be accountable and there really isn't a way to bail out to another teammate like other sports. ie if the ball is coming their way, they need to make the play as well as know where the play is supposed to go to. And like you said, when they're up to bat it's just them and the pitcher. But I don't know if it's the most stressful out of all sports. In some sports, sometimes the supposedly easiest plays becomes more stressful because you don't want to mess it up. ie if you're going in for an open layup, free throws, etc. Most sports will put players in high pressure situations and is a part of sports. |
Anonymous
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It’s almost like an individual sport for the battery and the batter inside a team sport. But there are plenty of team sports where individual players have to perform as individuals under pressure.
One of my favorite things about going to a baseball game is there is no clock. People just sit around in the dugout while other people play. Lots of faffing about in baseball. |
Anonymous
| Any sport that has an aspect of individual performance is highly stressful - golf, gymnastics, any goalie, |
Anonymous
| You definitely need to be mentally strong to stay with baseball. My son's are pitchers and the pressure can be high. I'm thankful for the sel that was taught at their private school in the younger years. They seem to handle setbacks better than others. My more serious player keeps reading a book called The Mental Game of Baseball |
Anonymous
| In baseball you don't really have to deal with endurance effects like high cardio sports. EG your body accumulates lactic acid which makes your brain want to quit. Then pushing past into actual physical pain of acidosis. |
gkahpaul
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Yes, but aside from a goalie, the difference is there are three individuals (Pitcher, Catcher, Pitching or Head Coach) working in coordination to ensure you're unsuccessful.
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Anonymous
| I can see where baseball can be tough as pitcher or hitter. DS used to play baseball. For the last 10 years he’s played soccer and for 8 of those he’s specialized in GK. It is brutal. Every mistake you make is on display and remembered. Every other player on the field can make a mistake that will be forgotten by game's end. It requires a very tough mindset to be a GK and I’ve seen it break kids mentally and ruin their love for the game, especially when coaches and teammates’ parents are looking for a scapegoat. So I would say it’s more about specific positions than any one sport. |
Anonymous
| The correct answer is no. No more or less stressful than other sports. |
Anonymous
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LOL.
Let’s review all the sports off the top of my head where the athletes are far more likely to be seriously injured, perhaps for life: Football Figure skating Gymnastics Rugby Diving Skiing Ski jump Luge Bobsled Surfing Get real, OP. |