Finding - and keeping - your motivation

by Wayne Mazzoni/
“Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.”
— Henry Ford

Just about everyone would like to be more motivated in the way they prepare for the upcoming season. This is never more important than in
the winter months when the weather turns for the worse
and the days on the field can seem distant.
However, this is the time when you can make the most improvement both in your strength and in your skill. During the season, generally you are what you are and it becomes time to compete with what you have. The sport shifts to more about mental improvement than picking up speed on your fastball, or improving your home-to-first time. Yet we all can face challenges staying motivated during this time.
Here are a few thoughts that can help you stay on track throughout the winter.
“There is nothing noble in being superior to some other man. The true nobility is in being superior to your previous self.”
— Hindustani proverb

Measurement

Let’s face it, baseball is a numbers game. Batting averages, fielding percentages, ERAs, 60 times, radar readings, etc. So you should make your training the same way; it should have something you can measure. This can be strength related, velocity related or even some creative way. For example, if you have access to a medicine ball and a gym, you can measure how far you can throw the ball from a side toss, overhead, etc. As you gain in strength and technique, you will be motivated as you see the improved results. The same can be said of your body weight/fat. The results are trackable and measurable to let you know if you are doing the right things.
“We cannot do everything at once, but we can do something at once.”
— President Calvin Coolidge

Accountability

It helps to have a coach or a friend or friends to help keep you on track. So if you can find a strength trainer or nutritionist, hitting or pitching coach, this can help hold you accountable to your improvement. Further, having a hitting group, throwing group, sprinting group, any group, can help make you feel more responsible for showing up and giving your best when you are there. If you don’t believe me, see how much weight you push around in the weight room alone, then with a friend, then when you are with a group of friends.
There is energy with people, so use it to your advantage. You can take that further by creating some prizes and a competition among friends.
Could be a speed outcome goal, strength, batting average, strikeouts, etc. You name it. One thing our strength coach at Sacred Heart University does is have players pick weight and body fat goals and then post those goals along with a shirtless picture as their Facebook profile picture. Talk about accountability.
“The rung of a ladder was never meant to rest upon, but only to hold a man’s foot long enough to enable him to put the other somewhat higher.”
— Thomas Henry Huxley

Habits equal change

The fact is the habits we create lead to who we are. Smoking, a bad habit, often leads to physical illness. Whereas the habit of doing yoga three times a week leads to wellness. Getting rid of bad habits or creating ones is often a step-by-step process. For example, if you get a bagel smothered with butter as your daily breakfast, it may not work to go to egg whites, fruit and water just because you know you should eat better. Try making small changes each week. So first week, make the bagel whole wheat. Second week, turn the butter to low fat. Third week, butter half of it. Fourth week, eat half the bagel and fruit. And so forth until you are eating the breakfast you want.
“If the power to do hard work is not a skill, it’s the best possible substitute for it.”
— President James A. Garfield

This article originally appeared in the January-February 2012 issue of New England Baseball Journal.
Wayne Mazzoni, the pitching coach at Sacred Heart University, is the author of two motivational books: “You vs. You: Sports Psychology for Life” and “Athletes Instruction Book: 500 Tips on Sports and Life.” For more information, visitWayneMazzoni.com. He can be reached at feedback@baseballjournal.com

Stack Article on College Recruiting Intro Letters

Click here for the Stack article.

Giving Back

It is fairly typical of athletes at any level to be self-centered.  After all sports has a winner and loser, stats, playing time, etc.  It can create an environment where all you think about is yourself, your role on the team, your performance, your next game, your workouts, etc. 

It is nice to step outside this tiny world to take the focus off yourself and put it on others.  Recently our team at Sacred Heart did this through an elementary school read a loud and a youth baseball camp.  I'm no dummy.  Given the choice, I am sure they would all rather do something for themselves, sleep being high on the list.  But if you ask every play involved if they enjoyed the experience, grew because of it, and felt good about themselves for doing so, you'd get a yes across the board. 

So when you can, try to set up something for yourself or for your team where you are in a situation where the focus is off you and on others.

Coach Mazz
www.WayneMazzoni.com
www.GetRecruited.Net

Can You Build Mental Toughness?

The answer is a resounding yes.  The fact is, it's simple.  Simple, not easy.  Let me give a personal story and then relate it to your situation.
One day a week a do a distance run on the beach.  I like it because I can be outside, take my dog, and it's the beach!  However, without really being aware of it, I have built in expectations that certain things will happen.  Here are some of them...

• My laces will stay tied
• I won't get a blister
• My ipod will stay charged and the headphones will work.
• The tide won't come up and soak my feet.
• My dog will not run off and chase other dogs or horses (yes, horses).
• The weather will be nice, especially a lack of wind.
• But most of all, I hope it's low tide.  At low tide, the sand is firm and I can run sort of like I do on teh street.  At high tide, it's not quite quick sand, but close.  

I found that I always expected things to go my way and I would get frustrated and defeated if things didn't.
What I did was make a few changes in my attitude.
First, I stopped expecting everything to go perfectly.  I still want things to be ideal, but I don't need or expect them to.  I prefer them to, but again, don't need them to.
Secondly, when things don't go as planned, I simply chalk it up to a challenge that I can overcome.  I want low tide, but if it's high tide, rather then be bummed, I say "oh yeah, you think you can slow me down- - doubt it!"
Next time you find yourself frustrated with a coach, teammate, equipment, umpire, referee, instead of being defeated by it, add it to your challenge pile.  Then after you handle them, look back and congratulate yourself with your behavior.  Additionally, it can also help to visualize or plan for these things ahead of time.  Sure you want to envision success and everything going right, but to also plan for facing challenges is a great way to be prepared for trouble when it will inevitably come your way.
All athletes, all people, all humans, have challenges and when we deal with them in a reasonable manner we increase our mental toughness.
Good luck.
Coach Mazzoni
Coach Mazzoni has recently launched www.getrecruited.net which is a program for high school athletes and their parents that need guidance on the athletic recruiting process.

Get Recruited Website

Lesson Learned From Theo Epstein and Brian Cashman

I had the good fortune of getting to meet Theo Epstein and Brian Cashman last night at a Sacred Heart event.  Prior to their appearance on stage I had some time to talk about some things as it related to their careers which was further stated once they took the stage.

What I took away was how patience and long term thinking are often rewarded.  First off, both men started as bottom of the barrel interns and advance to GM's.  That alone shows their patience, intelligence, and perserverance. 

Further, both view their roles and their organizations in the same way.  They have long term values that they will not trade for the short term.  A good lesson for us all.

Some Thoughts for the Week

I hope all is well and that this blog finds your new year off to the start you want.

Three messages for the week.

1)    The first is my take on the best way to be in the classroom during high school and college.  There are really three types of people in class.  Those that feel that they are in prison.  They would rather be anywhere else in the world.  They truly feel chained to the chair. They are a prisoner of the room.  The second type of person is the vacationer.  Basically there to goof off, pass notes, just sort of hang out and let the time and world go by.  The third is the explorer.  That is the person, who even though they may not be engaged with the subject, figures there might be something to learn, some way to better themselves, some nugget to get from the class.  I think we all know the best route to be taken.

2)    The second is another motivational video I found on which I think is just awesome.  Check it out here. 
3)    Lastly, is some social media that I have set up for Coach Wayne Mazzoni Recruiting .  Check them out when you have some time and I'd love to hear your feedback.

Three Amazing Stories/Websites

Having had some nice downtime over the holiday’s, I spent some time looking for motivational information online.  I found three amazing websites/stories.

1)      What I found was an amazing website called Ted (www.Ted.com) that has talks from all around the world from all sorts of people.  Here is a quick link to one of the talks (all have to be 18 minutes are less, this one is only 5 plus).  http://www.ted.com/talks/ric_elias.html

2)      This is a story from 60 minutes about Alex Honnold who climbs huge rocks walls without a rope.  http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7393496n&tag=contentBody;storyMediaBox

3)      Last one, and stay with me on this, is a death meter.  Meaning, you answer the questions and this site predicts when you will die and then counts down to it.  To me, this is a terrific reminder of what you need to make of each day.  http://www.findyourfate.com/deathmeter/deathmtr.html 

Happy New Year and I hope these sites affect you the way they have me.

Coach Mazz
wayne@waynemazzoni.com 

WFAN Shows on Recruiting

If you have some time, I was lucky enough to be on WFAN for the past two weeks and they have given me a link to share those shows as podcasts/mp3's.

http://podcastrss.play.it/rick-wolff-the-sports-edge_mp3_128.xml

College Basball Coaches Camp

For those of you interested, here is a short clip from our recent College Baseball Coaches Camp.  Here coaches address players in regard to their school and athletic program.

Live Life Like My Dog

Having just ended a recent college season, I was taking some time off and playing with my dog, a two year old Black Lab, named Moxie.  We were up at an area near my house called Lake Mohegan.  Basically it is a series of trails around a river and like.  Big spot for dogs in the summer.  Moxie loves it as she can be off the leash, chase squirrels, scents, yet at the same time know her master is there with her.  She always runs off and comes back.  I get some exercise and she runs a marathon.

It struck me how she, like many other dogs, is hard wired to chase sticks and balls and bring them back to me.  This particular day I found a really good stick and I was throwing it in the water, around the trail, and no matter what she had to do, she brought this stick back to me.  She was built to do this.  It was like Peyton Manning under center, like a Maserati on the highway, she was singularly focused and nothing, NOTHING, would get in her way.  Current in the river?  No big deal.  Another dog going for her stick...are you kidding me..."that stick has my name on it, get your own", she says.

It struck me that this is a great way to go through life.  To know exactly what you want and to go full bore, 100% dedicated to getting it.  It's the way I want my college kids to be, my own kids to be, and myself to be.  It doesn't matter what stick you chase, as long as you chase it like Moxie.

SHU Baseball at Clemson NCAA Regional

Thanks to those of you who took the time to follow us during our NCAA Regional.  A great experience for all of us.  Being outmatched we needed to play perfect baseball and get a few breaks, neither of which happened.  However, the picture below give you somewhat of an idea of the kind of experience it was.

The Recruiting Author and Speaker Wins Championship

Sacred Heart Univeristy Baseball Wins 2011 NEC Championship

2011 NEC Champion Pioneers

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Sacred Heart (34-21)	0	3	0	0	2	4	0	0	0	9	11	1
Monmouth (36-19)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	6	4
@ Norwich, Conn. | Dodd Stadium

Pitching
Win: Kody Kerski (2-4) - Sacred Heart
Loss: MCDONNELL, Andy (5-1) - Monmouth

Sacred Heart Batting
2B: Steve Tedesco
3B: John Murphy
HR: Dave Boisture

Monmouth Batting
2B: PERRET, Chris
3B: none
HR: none

full stats

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full gallery

(Norwich, CT) – The Sacred Heart University Pioneers are the 2011 Northeast Conference Baseball champions.   The Pioneers beat the Monmouth Hawks 9-2 Sunday afternoon at Dodd Stadium for their second NEC title on program history.  Kody Kerski (Waterbury, CT) pitched a complete game to earn the win, and Dave Boisture (Highland Mills, NY) went 3-5 with a key two-out homerun to ignite the offense.  The Pioneers took an early lead in the second on an RBI groundout by Derick Horn (Valatie, NY), but Boisture made it a three-run inning with a two-run homerun to right.  Kerski never looked back, shutting out the Hawks through eight innings before they scratched two across in the ninth.   However, after an RBI fielder's choice and sacrifice fly, when Josh Boyd's fly ball to right landed in Boisture's glove for the final out, the celebration was on for the Pioneers and their fans.
The Pioneers opened up a 5-0 lead in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Rob Griffith (Lake Ronkonkoma, NY) and a two-out RBI triple to right-centerfield by John Murphy (Seymour, CT).  Murphy was named the tournament MVP, going 5-13 with a homerun, four runs and five RBI in the three-game NEC Tournament sweep.
SHU tacked four more on in the sixth, highlighted by an RBI single by Boisture, who scored two runs with three RBI, and a two-out two-run double by Steve Tedesco (Mission Viejo, CA).
Kerski pitched his first career complete game and earned his second victory of the season, scattering six hits with a walk, three strikeouts, and one earned run.
Troy Scribner (Washington Depot, CT), Nick Leiningen (Millwood, NY), and Horn were all named to the all-tournament team with Murphy.  Scribner and Leiningen both pitched complete game victories in SHU's first two wins of the tournament, and Horn went 5-11 with five RBI and two RBI.
Sacred Heart advances to the NCAA Tournament in two weeks with a record of 34-21 in a program-record setting for wins.  They won their 11^th consecutive conference game, finishing the NEC season with a record of 24-9.
The NCAA Baseball Tournament Selection Show will be on Monday, May 30 at 12:30 p.m., when the Pioneers find out where and who they will play in the NCAA Division I Regionals beginning June 2.

168

What's 168?  168 hours?  Answer:  The number of hours in a week.  Take a few minutes and see if you can determine how you spend your time each week.  Sleep.  In school.  Practice.  Homework.  Strength Training.  Eating.  Socializing.  Online.  TV.  Etc. etc.  Then you go convert it to percentages.  You might find that spending 8% of your week texting is not going to get you where you want to go. 


Feel free to email me your results.  Mazzoniw@SacredHeart.edu. 

Some Inspirational Quotes

“There is nothing noble in being superior to some other man.

The true nobility is in being superior to your previous self.”

“I am an optimist. It does not seem too much use being anything else.”

“What one approves, another scorns, and thus his nature each discloses;

You find the rosebush full of thorns, I find the thornbush full of roses.”

“The rung of a ladder was never meant to rest upon,

but only to hold a man's foot long enough to enable him

to put the other somewhat higher.”

“The world cares very little about what a man or woman knows;

it is what the man or woman is able to do that counts.”

“We cannot do everything at once,

but we can do something at once.”

“Everyone is trying to accomplish something big,

not realizing that life is made up of little things.”

the opportunity in every difficulty.”

“Big jobs usually go to the men who prove their

ability to outgrow small ones.”

“If the power to do hard work is not a skill,

it's the best possible substitute for it.”

“I am more afraid of an army of 100 sheep led by a lion

than an army of 100 lions led by a sheep.”

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed

in overalls and looks like work.”

“Two shoe salesmen…find themselves in a rustic backward part

of Africa. The first salesman wires back to his head office:

“There is no prospect of sales. Natives do not wear shoes!'

The other sales man wires: 'No one wears shoes here.

We can dominate the market. Send all possible stock.'”

One of the secrets of life is to make stepping stones

out of stumbling blocks.”

“If you want a track team to win the high jump,

you find one person who can jump seven feet,

not seven people who can jump one foot.”

The best way to appreciate leisure is to work for it.”

“The first man gets the oyster, the second man gets the shell.”

If you can't change facts, try bending your attitude.”

Don't let life discourage you; everyone who got

where he is had to begin where he was.”

“If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.”

Whether you think that you can, or that you can't,

you are usually right."

“Those who say it can't be done are usually

interrupted by others doing it.”

“Every man's work is a portrait of himself.”

The haves and the have-nots can often be traced back

to the dids and the did-nots.”

“There are two kinds of men who never amount to much - those who

cannot do what they are told and those who can do nothing else.”\

“Experience is not what happens to you;

it is what you do with what happens to you.”

“Wisdom consists in knowing what to do with what you know.”

“I love the winning, I can take the losing,

but most of all I love to play.”

“Do what you love to do and give it your very best.

Whether it's business or baseball, or the theater, or any field.

If you don't love what you're doing and you can't give it

your best, get out of it. Life is too short. You'll be an old man

before you know it.”

“A widely prevalent notion today seems to demand instant

achievement of goals, without any of the wearying, frustrating preparation

that is indispensable to any task. As the exemplar way of life,

the professional - that man or woman who injects every

new task or duty, no matter how small, with discipline of mind and

spirit - is a vanishing American, particularly among those

who too often believe that dreams come true because they

ought to and not because they are caused to materialize.

The pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity;

the optimist, the opportunity in every difficulty.”

“You stop worrying about what other people think about you

when you realize how little they do.”

“To be nobody but myself, in a world that is doing its best, night and

day, to make you everybody else, means to fight the hardest battle

which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting.”

“Those who strive for great goals must risk rejection from their peers”

We do not stop playing because we are old.

We grow old because we stop playing.”

“You are the only person on earth who can use your ability.”

“Sometimes when I consider what tremendous consequences come

from little things, I am tempted to think there are no little things.”

“If we have no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant:

if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity

would not be so welcome.

Accept everything about yourself - I mean everything.

You are you and that is the beginning and the end -

no apologies, no regrets.

“If you make every game a life and death proposition, you're

going to have problems. For one thing, you'll be dead a lot.”

“Even when you’ve played the game of your life, it’s the feeling

of teamwork that you’ll remember. You’ll forget the plays, the shots,

and the scores. But you’ll never forget your teammates.”

“Keep on going and chances are you will stumble on something…I

have never heard of anyone stumbling on something sitting down.”

You can make more friends in two months by becoming

interested in other people than you can in two years by

trying to get other people interested in you.”

What counts is not the number of hours you put in,

but how much you put in the hours.”

“The dictionary is the only place where success comes before work.”

“Most people have the will to win, few have the will to prepare.”

“Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.”

“The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.”

“It is better to wear out than to rust out.”

“If you don't run your own life, somebody else will.”

“I will act now. I will act now. I will act now. Henceforth,

I will repeat these words each hour, each day, everyday,

until the words become as much a habit as my breathing,

and the action which follows becomes as instinctive as the

blinking of my eyelids. With these words I can condition

my mind to perform every action necessary for my success.

I will act now. I will repeat these words again and again

and again. I will walk where failures fear to walk.

I will work when failures seek rest. I will act now for now

is all I have. Tomorrow is the day reserved for the labor

of the lazy. I am not lazy. Tomorrow is the day when

the failure will succeed. I am not a failure. I will act now.

Success will not wait. If I delay, success will become wed

to another and lost to me forever. This is the time.

This is the place. I am the person.”

TOMORROW POEM.

This is a great poem by Edgar Guest

He was going to be all that a mortal should be
      Tomorrow.
No one should be kinder or braver than he
      Tomorrow.
A friend who was troubled and weary he knew,
Who'd be glad of a lift and who needed it, too;
On him he would call and see what he could do
      Tomorrow.

Each morning he stacked up the letters he'd write
      Tomorrow.
And thought of the folks he would fill with delight
      Tomorrow.
It was too bad, indeed, he was busy today,
And hadn't a minute to stop on his way;
More time he would have to give others, he'd say
      Tomorrow.

The greatest of workers this man would have been
      Tomorrow.
The world would have known him, had he ever seen
      Tomorrow.
But the fact is he died and he faded from view,
And all that he left here when living was through
Was a mountain of things he intended to do
      Tomorrow.

And lastly, Lincoln’s Road to the Whitehouse

1. Failed in business in 1831.
2. Defeated for Legislature in 1832.
3. Second failure in business in 1833.
4. Suffered nervous breakdown in 1836.
5. Defeated for Speaker in 1838.
6. Defeated for Elector in 1840.
7. Defeated for Congress in 1843.
8. Defeated for Congress in 1848.
9. Defeated for Senate in 1855.
10. Defeated for Vice President in 1856.
11. Defeated for Senate in 1858.
12. Elected President in 1860.
13. Remembered forever.

Sacred Heart University Athletics

Sacred Heart University Athletics

THE ABC’S OF COLLEGE RECRUITING

STEP A

Start figuring out a list of colleges based on your academic level/interests, your athletic ability, and your personal preferences about college.  Lots of people want a time line when you should start doing this.  The answer, whenever you have time and interest.  Soon enough you will run out of the free time.  I know many motivated 9^th graders researching (without stressing out) college.

·         Searching schools by academics.  This is easy to do if you can access College Board or Noviance through your guidance department.

·         Determining Your Athletic Talent:  Talk to your coaches, go to camps, go watch college games and soon enough you will know if you are DI, DII, or DIII.

·         Personal interests.  There are no wrong or right colleges.  The best way to figure out what you like and don’t like about schools is to visit as many as you can.  The more you go see, the more you will know what you like and what you don’t.

Take all of the above info and plus into the College Coaches CD-Rom Search Tool.  You can buy this unique search and recruiting tracking tool at by clicking this link. 

STEP B

With the list of 10-30 schools you have doing your homework in the previous step, you are now ready to move to the evaluation stage.  Notice I did not say recruiting stage, but evaluation.  The fact is most kids never get as far as a coach looking at them and saying no.  They just sit around and hope and wait to get found, which doesn’t happen unless you are elite.  So how do you get college coaches to know about you and evaluate you….

·         Send out your schedule for hs and summer teams and invite them to see you.

·         Sign up for camps where you know they will be going.  How do you know where they will be going?  How about calling or emailing them to ask?!

·         Make a video.

·         Get someone a college coach trusts (coach, alum, scout, etc) and have them make a call or email on your behalf.

That’s it.  Nothing else to do.  My example always is, if I tell you I play guitar and you need to hire a guitar player for a party you are throwing.  If you don’t know me, all the stuff I tell you (or my mom or dad) won’t convince you.  You either need to see me, watch me, or hear me play live or on video or someone you trust needs to refer me.  Same in recruiting.

Again, my books and videos have all of this in more detail.  Click here to view my books and videos.

STEP C

If you have made it this far, it means coaches are actively recruiting you!  Congratuations, you are in the small percentage of athletes who have a chance of playing in college.  There are however several things you need to do now to prepare yourself.

·         Learn and follow the rules of the NCAA Clearninghouse.  Click here for the NCAA Clearinghouse Website.

·         Ask questions of each coach, school, program so as to gain the information you need to make a final choice (academic support, cost, playing time, coaching staff, methods of travel, facilities, etc. etc.).

·         Admissions.  What do you need to do to get into these schools and can the coach be of assistance in this area.

·         Scholarships/Financial Aid:  Are you a scholarship player?  What other forms of financial aid can you get.

·         Making your final school selection.  Partly based on the academics, team, coach, cost of the school, but usually comes from your gut after an extended visit to campus.

Coach Wayne Mazzoni has been an NCAA College Coach since 1992.  He currently coaches at Sacred Heart University.  He has written several books on recruiting and is a frequent speaker at high schools in the tri-state area.  He has appeared on ABC, Fox, WFAN, News 12, and many other media outlets.  For more information visit www.WayneMazzoni.com.