Don't Slam Your Glove

Don’t Slam Your Glove. Don’t Throw Your Helmet.

Don’t ever slam your glove and don’t ever throw your helmet. No matter what happened, don’t do it. Your glove didn’t make the mistake, you did. Treat your glove with respect, it’s your closest ally in the field and without it you don’t stand a chance.

When you make an error or strike out don’t take it out on something that had nothing to do with your actions. Instead, process what happened, examine why it happened. Why didn't you make that play when you’ve made it multiple times before? Use the time you have to learn about the play and not to dwell on the past but prepare for the future. Avoid the snow ball effect of sports and life.

Body language is one of the most important things in life and not just in sports. When you get angry and upset and you yell and scream and throw stuff, the opposing team doesn’t just win on the scoreboard but they know they’re dominating you mentally. They know they’ve made it into the most prime one square foot of real estate they can afford. When you throw your glove, everybody knows you’ve been defeated.

Throwing things may seem like you’re showing people you care, that you didn’t mean to do what you did but it’s the opposite. You’re showing that you’ve been beat, that you can’t handle what happened and that you’re probably going to make the same mistakes again. You’re a wounded dear all by yourself at your position and the ball is going to keep finding you or the pitches will keep alluding you.

You may slam your glove to show your teammates you’re sorry, that you wish you did better but they already know that. Trust me they know that, you wouldn’t have grinded your entire life to get to this moment only to throw a ball in the stands or miss a pop fly on purpose. Don’t make your teammates have to deal with your mistakes with you. Treat your glove with respect at all times. Baseball is a game of failure just like life, your teammates know you didn’t fail on purpose. Don’t show the other team that they’re winning. Don’t ever slam your glove and don’t ever throw your helmet.