THE MENTAL DOMAIN OF PERSPECTIVE
Perspective is a mental domain. It is an area of human performance on which a set of mental skills and abilities are defined (Maher, 2011). Perspective involves being able to balance baseball with the rest of one’s life. For a baseball player, on and off the field, balance is essential for coping effectively with the range of demands that they encounter, day in and day out, such as the demands outlined above in the prior section.
Having a good perspective on baseball in relation to the rest of one’s life can be exemplified by the following principle, which is a cornerstone of the Cleveland Indians Sport Psychology Program:
Baseball is what you do, but it is not who you are.
When a baseball player has baseball and life in a good perspective, the individual remains anchored to his values as well as linked to a clear personal vision and purposeful career path. Consequently, the player increases the likelihood that he will cope effectively with the realities of the game, particularly its ups and downs, over the short term and longer haul.
Alternatively, when things are out of balance—not in a good perspective--- the player is more apt to feel stressed and find it more difficult to deal with and overcome the game’s challenges.
GUIDELINES FOR DEVELOPING AND MAINTAINING A GOOD PERSPECTIVE
During the past ten years or so, I have studied major league baseball players whom I believe have had a good perspective; that is, they have had, in my judgment, baseball in balance with the rest of their lives. These high-level performers were not only Cleveland Indians players but those from other major league clubs.
In confidence, and over a period of time, I asked fifty of these players about the things that have been helpful to them in balancing baseball and life. From their responses as well as from empirical research in human performance psychology and the behavioral sciences and my professional work, I formulated a set of guidelines about the mental domain of perspective.
On the next page are guidelines about perspective, which I would like to share--- in summary form--- with baseball players, their coaches, and their parents.
These guidelines are for developing and maintaining a good perspective, and they will be described in the remaining sections of this article. They are the following:
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