Secrets of Sports Psychology Revealed by Rick Wolff

Author:Rick Wolff [Wolff, Rick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Published: 2017-12-07T00:00:00+00:00

7

“WHEN YOU THINK … YOU STINK”

THROWING WITH ACCURACY ISSUES

One of the more puzzling situations in sports occurs when—seemingly overnight—either an infielder can no longer throw accurately over to first base, or a catcher can no longer throw the ball back to the pitcher when there are men on base, or for that matter, a pitcher who has excellent control can suddenly no longer find the strike zone.

I’m sure, as a sports fan, you have heard, read, or even seen video of such notable players as Steve Sax, Chuck Knoblauch, Steve Blass, Mark Wohlers, Mackey Sasser, and many others who have been afflicted with this unusual predicament. For years, during their major-league careers, they were excellent fielders, catchers, or pitchers with fine arm strength and no issues with accuracy. But then one day, like being cursed overnight, they no longer can execute good, solid throws.

It’s one of the oddest phenomena in all of sports.

I should also point out that this problem is not a new one. It’s been around for a while. Clint Courtney, a big-league catcher for several years in the 1950s once confessed to my Dad, who broadcast the original Washington Senators during that era, that he was deathly afraid of throwing the ball over the head of the pitcher when there were opposing runners on third or second base. It was a real concern for Clint. Hal Woodeshick, a Senators pitcher, had immense difficulties in fielding bunts and throwing them accurately to first base. Even though Woodeshick had no problem throwing strikes to the plate, any time he had to field a bunt and throw to first, he had little idea where the ball would land when he heaved it.

And of course, much more recently, look at the mental struggles that Chicago Cubs ace Jon Lester suffers in trying to throw to first base to keep runners tight. As was evidenced especially in the 2016 major-league playoffs and World Series, opposing baserunners would take massive leads off first, knowing that Lester—for some unknown reason—would simply not try to pick them off.

Longtime major-league catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, when afflicted with issues in throwing the ball back to the pitcher, apparently developed a method of “tapping” his fingers in an attempt to transfer any anxieties or worries about making a throw into another part of his body. It may sound a little unusual, to be sure, but when an athlete falls into this kind of psychological chasm, finding any kind of solution becomes a top priority.

What many people may not know is that these mental concerns about making seemingly simple throws are not only somewhat routine in baseball, but they have been around the game for years. In fact, I will also confide that in my years working with the Cleveland Indians there were several players who I worked with who also had throwing fears, but they never wanted to go public about it in the worry that it would derail their career. In other words, this issue of throwing with accuracy is a lot more common than many baseball people or fans really know.

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