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Mind Gym: An Athlete’s Guide to Inner Excellence

by Gary Mack with David Casstevens

Amazon tells me that I have purchased over 40 copies of the book Mind Gym over the past decade.  I am not surprised.  I have been giving out copies to athletes and coaches since 2005.

Why have I given out so many copies of this book?  Mainly because it is SO. EASY. to read.   There are other sports psychology books that I love, like Mental Toughness:  Baseball’s Winning Edge and In Pursuit of Excellence.  But Mind Gym is so……digestible.

No chapter is over seven pages long.  The messages are short, to the point and impactful.   Mack hits many important topics, like giving yourself permission to win, how to ride the bench and be ready for your moment, how to visualize success and how to compete in the moment.   Of all of these nuggets, what has stayed with the most is The Law of Dominant Thought.   Instead of thinking to yourself, “Don’t drop my hands,”  think “Keep my hands up.”  As Mack says, the mind works most effectively when you’re telling it what to do rather than what not to do.”  It make such perfect sense and I immediately eliminated all negative correction from my coaching.

Mind Gym is not rocket science.  However, you will find yourself shaking your head repeatedly, muttering “of course!”  Over the past 10 years, more than a few of my players have kept a copy of Mind Gym in their bat bag.  It’s a great book to pop open, read a quick chapter or two and get yourself in the mindset for success!

 

 

 

 

One of the core values of the Sweet Briar softball team is Citizenship.   We want to be trustworthy, upstanding members of our college and of our greater community.

“…we all have an obligation as citizens of this earth to leave the world a healthier, cleaner, and better place for our children and future generations.”
~ Blythe Danner

What does this mean for the members of Team 12?  Well, it means that step forward when we see that help is needed.  It means that we look for opportunities where we see that we might make a difference.  It might be something as simple as hosting a Flag Football event for the enjoyment of the campus.  Or it may be softball team members stepping up to work Games Management for another sport on campus.  A former colleague of mine, who had worked at several other colleges, noted that “nothing gets done in an athletic department without a softball team.”

We also want the members of our program to be the people that stand up in a crisis, step up when they see a wrong or, simply, lend a hand.  The softball program at is an important, positive part of the community at Sweet Briar — and we are very proud of that!

If anyone hasn’t followed what has transpired over the past five months at Sweet Briar, I’m not sure I can ever catch them up on the heartbreak, the grief, the disbelief, the anger, the fight, and the triumph that we have all been through. (I’m sure I’ll share more in future posts.)

But here we are.  About to start a school year that everyone said would not happen.  We aren’t here for one year though.  We aren’t here so that we have a little extra time to polish up the resume.  In fact, many faculty and staff already had other jobs.  Our students had found other colleges to transfer to.  Then we got the keys back to the college, and you know what?  Almost everyone came back!  They came back not to give Sweet Briar one more year, but to continue educating strong women in perpetuity.

I am so honored to coach at this institution at this time in history.  I can’t wait to share our journey with you.