It’s that time of year again when I’m dividing a lot of my time between baseball fields and bowling centers. Madden’s baseball season is in full swing, and I love seeing him shine out on the mound. It’s really where he is in his element.

At one of the games a couple of weeks ago, just after Madden had thrown out a pitch, one of the dads (who happens to be a high school coach) approached me to discuss Madden’s mental game preparation.

As we stood there watching Madden pitch, the dad commented that he had noticed that Madden has a pronounced pre-pitch routine on the mound. Before every pitch, Madden takes a moment to go through this routine and takes a really deep breath. This is something that most kids his age don’t do. You can fully see Madden’s shoulders rise and fall as he grounds himself with that really deep breath. This dad had noticed it right away and was impressed by it. And, I was a very proud mom.

It was nice to hear a fellow parent thinking about the mental game. It’s far too rare.

Instead, you usually hear parents focusing on the technical aspects of their children’s sports training. They hire coaches, sign their kids up for camps and push them to practice specific skills… While all of this contributes to the strength of their physical game, the mental game usually gets overlooked.

When I see parents who are so focused on their kids’ wins and losses, I also feel like they are totally missing the point. So it was refreshing to hear that this parent was paying attention to the process. And hearing that Madden’s mental strength was immediately recognizable was also a flattering moment for me as a parent.

As you know, I have spent a considerable amount of time helping Madden with his mental game for bowling. Paying attention to the details beyond the scoreboard is really where the champion mindset begins. So, I’ve encouraged him to read mental game books – like one of my favorite mental game books, The Inner Game of Tennis by Timothy Gallwey. I have provided a lot of guidance along the way on the lanes. So, when the dad brought up Madden’s mental routine, it really validated the work we had put in. The mental game truly crosses over to every sport.

I have always been proud of Madden, his commitment to his sport as well as his commitment to being a great player and great teammate – in any sport he plays.

I told this dad that baseball has always been Madden’s number one sport, but he has also been developing himself and growing through the sport of bowling. So I clarified that I have not specifically worked with Madden on his baseball mental game. I’m just really proud of the fact that Madden has just naturally carried over into baseball all of the mental game prep we’ve done in bowling. He really has seamlessly integrated the idea of a pre-shot routine into his approach on the baseball mound. He totally figured this out on his own.

In fact, I’m sure Madden transferred his mental game to baseball so naturally that he didn’t even think twice about it when he started adopting a pre-pitch routine. Because mental game training really can be so universally applied.

A strong mental game isn’t something that people know how to do innately though. You do have to learn it. That’s why it stood out to this dad that Madden had a mental focus he hadn’t noticed in any of the others. 

You also don’t get that kind of strength in your game by just thinking about the technical side of the sport.

I started reading mental game books when I was 12. I think that’s why I had so much success at a young age because I was able to understand what is going on inside our minds. Our brains are crazy complex. Understanding what happens inside our brain when I adjusted my focus and my breath gave me so much power in my game. It kept me from getting caught up in external distractions.

Those moments when nothing is going “as anticipated” in your game, and you need to stay focused and in control. That’s not a technical skill. That’s almost all down to managing your mental game.

Regardless of the specific game, athletes face common psychological barriers and demons. Pressure to perform, fear of failure, and self-doubt. No athlete is really immune. When an athlete appears strong, confident, and resilient against these barriers – it’s a sign of their mental preparation.

The mental game transcends any individual sport.

Once you have strengthened your mental game for one sport, you can apply it again and again to any other.

I personally think that when we show up for our kids to support them in their sport, our job is not just to encourage them to get better at their technical game. Part of our job as parents is to help them develop in their sport in a way that helps them become stronger as a person. With that in mind, there’s so much for them to focus on beyond their technical game. When you help your young athlete develop routines and mental preparation techniques, they become equipped with life skills that extend beyond the boundaries of a single sport. That’s so powerful.

This week, Madden is away from the baseball mound again, and I’m supporting him and his team at the USA Bowling Youth Championships in Indiana. I’m there as a parent and a coach. Today was qualifying, and I could not have been more impressed with the mental game of every youth bowler (on my team). The goal for today was “all eyes on us.” I told them if we can intently focus on ourselves, everything will take care of itself. Let’s get lined up. Let’s execute shots. In the end, hopefully, our score will be higher. If not, we did what we could. My team bowled admirably, and I was so proud of all of them. While we are focusing on many technical aspects of the game, the mental game is never far from the conversation whenever I coach.

After Junior Gold next week, when he’s back out on the mound, I know I’ll see all of these valuable mental game lessons continue to give Madden strength on the field.