This page contains instructional videos by Personal Best instructors, article about Personal Best and about Mental Toughness Training, photos of Personal Best in action, and much more!
Read what Tufts University Men's Hockey Coach said about Personal Best's training sessions with his team: "Personal Best gave our team specific and easy to understand tools to help us improve our mental game. Pete and Scott inspired our players to be better prepared and more competitive. I know the experience will give us an edge. We are a better hockey team because of Personal Best!!"
-- Brian Murphy, Head Coach Tufts University Men's Hockey
In the photo below, Personal Best instructors teach Tufts Hockey players how to visualize effectively. They are vividly imagining themselves performing specific plays to a positive, successful end.
-- Brian Murphy, Head Coach Tufts University Men's Hockey
In the photo below, Personal Best instructors teach Tufts Hockey players how to visualize effectively. They are vividly imagining themselves performing specific plays to a positive, successful end.
Introduction to Personal Best
Performance: Mental vs. Physical
Players need Mental Toughness because peak performance in athletics is hard.
Hitter's Pre-Pitch Routine
Personal Best presents at "MIAA Sportsmanship Summit" at Gillette Stadium
"click on picture for article"
Moscariello Mastering Mental Game at Reading
By: Brian M. Cain, MS, CAA
Reading, MA
Reading Memorial High School Baseball Coach Peter Moscariello has been the Rocket’s skipper since 1977. One of Massachusetts’ most successful coaches, Moscariello has learned that it is not the best team that always wins; rather it is more often the team that plays the best.
Moscariello, like many coaches, started off his career by immersing himself into the Xs and Os of baseball, but has since come to the realization that the Mental Game is as critical to championship baseball as any other component.
“In the mid 90s we had some great teams and we introduced our guys to The Mental Game of Baseball by Dorfman and we would go over chapters and talk about the material, but I never really felt like our guys were able to grasp the information as well as we wanted them to,” Moscariello said. “A few years ago I saw some mental game articles in Collegiate Baseball and then went to Brian Cain’s website and bought some of his DVDs and it really came to life for us.”
Classroom Sessions A Success
Moscariello held regular classroom sessions for his players on the mental game. Since he was dealing with time limitations, Moscariello had to maximize his time and get his players centered and focused for a quality session.
“We were able to show our players a visual and they were able to understand it. We were able to take it to another level. The Mental Game is now a part of what we do everyday. Whether it be watching one of the DVDs or listening to one of the CDs, or sharing a One Minute Motivation lesson, our kids have really bought into the concepts and things that we teach them about peak performance, self-control and playing at your best everyday.”
“We would watch the DVD, have discussions and then have our players would research a topic such as confidence or performance routines and then present to their teammates on how those various mental skills can help you play your best when it means the most.. I think that process has given them ownership of the material and it has helped them tremendously. We would meet for the season, about 12 Tuesdays, and would end up getting players from other teams that would come in and watch and learn with us.
“We are at the point where the athletes have learned the mental game information, and realize that it is not what you know, but what you do that counts and are really apply the information we talk about in the classroom to the field. They have really bought into and are applying the K-A=O principal. Knowledge minus action gets you nothing.”
Mental Game Meets Math Classroom
Moscariello is a math teacher as well as a baseball coach. He decided to bring some of the mental game skills he was experiencing success with on the diamond into the classroom to try and increase the motivation and enhance the learning experience of his students.
“I felt that the mental skills I was teaching our baseball players were not only going to help them on the field, but in life as well. I decided that I would be doing my everyday math students a disservice if I did not share with them some of the life skills I was teaching in baseball. It has made a huge impact on the quality of our classes and on their interest in coming to class.”
“I would introduce them to signal lights and how they impacted them in the classroom and in life. The kids really bought into the concepts. I would tell them about the story of the donkey and shake it off and step up, and then follow up with a discussion about how those things relate to their lives and the ensuing discussions were amazing. It was about what they have experienced in work, with their families and in real life.”
“I think that for any student, motivation can sometimes escape. I started to ask the students as they would enter my classroom how they felt on a scale of 1 to10. Some would say a 2, others would say a 5 and we would talk about how your motions change your emotions and how your actions and self-talk can change your attitude so we had them start to walk in and say they felt like a 10.”
“Now they may not always feel like a 10, but if they don’t they also commit to fake it till they make it and force themselves to act different than how they feel by acting like a 10 and acting like a student who could win a million dollars today by giving a 10 effort. I told them that if they could start to give a 10 effort, especially when they did not feel like it, by faking it and by using the skills we talk about, that it would not be long before they would have their pick of million dollar jobs because in life, as in baseball, it is truly will over skill and effort and energy over ability and we can control those things by controling our minds.”
“We talk a lot about being right here right now in the present moment and controlling the controllables. We talk about posture and body language, shaking hands and eye contact, and I even use the 30 second drill with they when I need to make a critical teaching point. We talk about leaving your mental bricks outside of the door and letting go of the negatives. We use math class as an escape from everything else. It has been great. I have been able to hold their attention better, and their grades have improved.”
“I also will write good positive affirmations on the board before a test just like I would before a game. I would write, ‘I know the material, I can do this and I believe I am good at math’ on the board and the students have said, ‘Wow, I really like that stuff because I find myself saying it in my head during the test and I find that it helps me to be more confident and relaxed during the test’.”
“The students have been more positive, more up beat and are performing better than any class at this level that I have ever had. I would highly encourage coaches who are also teachers to try some of these things in their classroom as well as with their teams. I think it has helped me to be more motivated and to be a better teacher and coach than I have ever been.”
Maximizing Indoor Practice
Playing high school baseball in Massachusetts often means cold, wet weather and indoor practice which can be a recipe for going through the motions. Moscariello found that spending time on mental training right from the first day of practice has made dividends in their attention and focus throughout the spring.
“Each time we start a drill our hitters go through a routine,”. Moscariello said. “We have them look at the label, take a good deep breath, touch the corner of the plate and get locked in with their swing thought focused on having quality game-like reps.”
“Every time we hit live in the cage it is a game-like situation where we record results. We have found that if you want high school-aged athletes to stay motivated and continue to work hard when practicing indoors, you need to measure things and make drills competitive and game-like. We also have them go through a post at-bat routine in which they release and also practice being on deck and in the hole.”
“We also have our pitchers go through form drills where they are working on mechanics without throwing a ball. We also have them visualize executing pitches and dealing with adversity by making bad calls, etc. against them.”
Mental Game Language Takes Over Program
One of the signs that your team has bought into the Mental Game is that they use a common language to talk about their experiences. What might sound weird to a person not a part of the program has deep meaning to those who are battling in the trenches.
Crabs, APE, ACE, Green Lights, WIN, Make The Days Count, Get Big, Control What You Can Control Many of these terms are recognizable from Heads Up Baseball the ground breaking book by Tom Hanson and Ken Ravizza. Moscariello has found that in his program the language has taken a life of its own.
“I heard from our dugout yesterday a few of the guys on the bench say to one of the hitters at the plate and to the pitchers on the mound ‘So What! Get Green Here’. Our kids are always talking about winning this inning and winning this pitch.”
“Our locker room is plastered with signs that remind us of the Mental Game language such as GET BIG, WIN (What’s Important Now), Confidence, Control the Controllables. It serves as a constant reminded for everyone in the program.”
“I think last year they did a lot of these things because they thought that it was what I or the other coaches wanted them to do, but now they have taken ownership and it is a part of who they are and what they do.”
Players Experience Success
When players start to work on their Mental Game, they have to realize that the Mental Game is comprised of a set of mental skills that need to be developed over a period of time by constantly training and conditioning their minds like they condition their bodies. When players buy into the mental skills and work to refine their mental skills they experience more success.
“The players say they are more relaxed, more confident, are focused on the process and that helps to take the pressure off. My goal is to have a quality swing, which leads to quality contact, which leads to quality at-bats, which leads to quality results. They get that baseball is a game of averages and that you can not control the results, but can only work the process.”
“Our players have made the turn from working hard to working smart. They have gone from trying to get as many reps and as many swings as they can to getting quality game like reps – using the breath and focusing on the quality, not the quantity. Don’t get me wrong, we still drill them on how to swing, how to field and how to pitch, but we spend more time than ever talking about the process.”
Post-Performance Evaluation Critical
Moscariello has his players replay and visualize each of their at-bats after a game at least once before they take off their uniform and has them visualize a successful result so that they can see themselves having success before they step outside of being the baseball player. He also has them evaluate their effort and performance with some simple questions and asks them to strive for excellence, not just the end result on the scoreboard.
“We have them evaluate after each game on a few simple criteria that they have complete control over. 1) Was I in control of myself, 2) Did I see the ball well, 3) Did I get a good swing, and 4) Did I get good contact. They have to learn where it fell apart for them to improve.”
“If it fell apart with not being in control of myself than that is what I need to work on. If it was not seeing the ball, than we need to spend more time training the eyes and tracking. What the post-game evaluation lets us do is get more into what we need to improve as a part of the process and less about win/loss. We have become a program that strives for excellence and that is a lot different than a program that strives to win. Winning is a byproduct of excellence. Excellence is not necessarily a byproduct of winning.”
By: Brian M. Cain, MS, CAA
Reading, MA
Reading Memorial High School Baseball Coach Peter Moscariello has been the Rocket’s skipper since 1977. One of Massachusetts’ most successful coaches, Moscariello has learned that it is not the best team that always wins; rather it is more often the team that plays the best.
Moscariello, like many coaches, started off his career by immersing himself into the Xs and Os of baseball, but has since come to the realization that the Mental Game is as critical to championship baseball as any other component.
“In the mid 90s we had some great teams and we introduced our guys to The Mental Game of Baseball by Dorfman and we would go over chapters and talk about the material, but I never really felt like our guys were able to grasp the information as well as we wanted them to,” Moscariello said. “A few years ago I saw some mental game articles in Collegiate Baseball and then went to Brian Cain’s website and bought some of his DVDs and it really came to life for us.”
Classroom Sessions A Success
Moscariello held regular classroom sessions for his players on the mental game. Since he was dealing with time limitations, Moscariello had to maximize his time and get his players centered and focused for a quality session.
“We were able to show our players a visual and they were able to understand it. We were able to take it to another level. The Mental Game is now a part of what we do everyday. Whether it be watching one of the DVDs or listening to one of the CDs, or sharing a One Minute Motivation lesson, our kids have really bought into the concepts and things that we teach them about peak performance, self-control and playing at your best everyday.”
“We would watch the DVD, have discussions and then have our players would research a topic such as confidence or performance routines and then present to their teammates on how those various mental skills can help you play your best when it means the most.. I think that process has given them ownership of the material and it has helped them tremendously. We would meet for the season, about 12 Tuesdays, and would end up getting players from other teams that would come in and watch and learn with us.
“We are at the point where the athletes have learned the mental game information, and realize that it is not what you know, but what you do that counts and are really apply the information we talk about in the classroom to the field. They have really bought into and are applying the K-A=O principal. Knowledge minus action gets you nothing.”
Mental Game Meets Math Classroom
Moscariello is a math teacher as well as a baseball coach. He decided to bring some of the mental game skills he was experiencing success with on the diamond into the classroom to try and increase the motivation and enhance the learning experience of his students.
“I felt that the mental skills I was teaching our baseball players were not only going to help them on the field, but in life as well. I decided that I would be doing my everyday math students a disservice if I did not share with them some of the life skills I was teaching in baseball. It has made a huge impact on the quality of our classes and on their interest in coming to class.”
“I would introduce them to signal lights and how they impacted them in the classroom and in life. The kids really bought into the concepts. I would tell them about the story of the donkey and shake it off and step up, and then follow up with a discussion about how those things relate to their lives and the ensuing discussions were amazing. It was about what they have experienced in work, with their families and in real life.”
“I think that for any student, motivation can sometimes escape. I started to ask the students as they would enter my classroom how they felt on a scale of 1 to10. Some would say a 2, others would say a 5 and we would talk about how your motions change your emotions and how your actions and self-talk can change your attitude so we had them start to walk in and say they felt like a 10.”
“Now they may not always feel like a 10, but if they don’t they also commit to fake it till they make it and force themselves to act different than how they feel by acting like a 10 and acting like a student who could win a million dollars today by giving a 10 effort. I told them that if they could start to give a 10 effort, especially when they did not feel like it, by faking it and by using the skills we talk about, that it would not be long before they would have their pick of million dollar jobs because in life, as in baseball, it is truly will over skill and effort and energy over ability and we can control those things by controling our minds.”
“We talk a lot about being right here right now in the present moment and controlling the controllables. We talk about posture and body language, shaking hands and eye contact, and I even use the 30 second drill with they when I need to make a critical teaching point. We talk about leaving your mental bricks outside of the door and letting go of the negatives. We use math class as an escape from everything else. It has been great. I have been able to hold their attention better, and their grades have improved.”
“I also will write good positive affirmations on the board before a test just like I would before a game. I would write, ‘I know the material, I can do this and I believe I am good at math’ on the board and the students have said, ‘Wow, I really like that stuff because I find myself saying it in my head during the test and I find that it helps me to be more confident and relaxed during the test’.”
“The students have been more positive, more up beat and are performing better than any class at this level that I have ever had. I would highly encourage coaches who are also teachers to try some of these things in their classroom as well as with their teams. I think it has helped me to be more motivated and to be a better teacher and coach than I have ever been.”
Maximizing Indoor Practice
Playing high school baseball in Massachusetts often means cold, wet weather and indoor practice which can be a recipe for going through the motions. Moscariello found that spending time on mental training right from the first day of practice has made dividends in their attention and focus throughout the spring.
“Each time we start a drill our hitters go through a routine,”. Moscariello said. “We have them look at the label, take a good deep breath, touch the corner of the plate and get locked in with their swing thought focused on having quality game-like reps.”
“Every time we hit live in the cage it is a game-like situation where we record results. We have found that if you want high school-aged athletes to stay motivated and continue to work hard when practicing indoors, you need to measure things and make drills competitive and game-like. We also have them go through a post at-bat routine in which they release and also practice being on deck and in the hole.”
“We also have our pitchers go through form drills where they are working on mechanics without throwing a ball. We also have them visualize executing pitches and dealing with adversity by making bad calls, etc. against them.”
Mental Game Language Takes Over Program
One of the signs that your team has bought into the Mental Game is that they use a common language to talk about their experiences. What might sound weird to a person not a part of the program has deep meaning to those who are battling in the trenches.
Crabs, APE, ACE, Green Lights, WIN, Make The Days Count, Get Big, Control What You Can Control Many of these terms are recognizable from Heads Up Baseball the ground breaking book by Tom Hanson and Ken Ravizza. Moscariello has found that in his program the language has taken a life of its own.
“I heard from our dugout yesterday a few of the guys on the bench say to one of the hitters at the plate and to the pitchers on the mound ‘So What! Get Green Here’. Our kids are always talking about winning this inning and winning this pitch.”
“Our locker room is plastered with signs that remind us of the Mental Game language such as GET BIG, WIN (What’s Important Now), Confidence, Control the Controllables. It serves as a constant reminded for everyone in the program.”
“I think last year they did a lot of these things because they thought that it was what I or the other coaches wanted them to do, but now they have taken ownership and it is a part of who they are and what they do.”
Players Experience Success
When players start to work on their Mental Game, they have to realize that the Mental Game is comprised of a set of mental skills that need to be developed over a period of time by constantly training and conditioning their minds like they condition their bodies. When players buy into the mental skills and work to refine their mental skills they experience more success.
“The players say they are more relaxed, more confident, are focused on the process and that helps to take the pressure off. My goal is to have a quality swing, which leads to quality contact, which leads to quality at-bats, which leads to quality results. They get that baseball is a game of averages and that you can not control the results, but can only work the process.”
“Our players have made the turn from working hard to working smart. They have gone from trying to get as many reps and as many swings as they can to getting quality game like reps – using the breath and focusing on the quality, not the quantity. Don’t get me wrong, we still drill them on how to swing, how to field and how to pitch, but we spend more time than ever talking about the process.”
Post-Performance Evaluation Critical
Moscariello has his players replay and visualize each of their at-bats after a game at least once before they take off their uniform and has them visualize a successful result so that they can see themselves having success before they step outside of being the baseball player. He also has them evaluate their effort and performance with some simple questions and asks them to strive for excellence, not just the end result on the scoreboard.
“We have them evaluate after each game on a few simple criteria that they have complete control over. 1) Was I in control of myself, 2) Did I see the ball well, 3) Did I get a good swing, and 4) Did I get good contact. They have to learn where it fell apart for them to improve.”
“If it fell apart with not being in control of myself than that is what I need to work on. If it was not seeing the ball, than we need to spend more time training the eyes and tracking. What the post-game evaluation lets us do is get more into what we need to improve as a part of the process and less about win/loss. We have become a program that strives for excellence and that is a lot different than a program that strives to win. Winning is a byproduct of excellence. Excellence is not necessarily a byproduct of winning.”
Personal Best and EMC
The New England Sales Division at EMC Corporation has had t-shirts made up for it's
staff (after one if its members attended a Personal Best seminar). The shirt
reflects Personal Best's suggestion, when asked "how are you doing?" we should all say, "I'm Doing
Great." Personal Best also conducted a webinar for EMC's High Potential Leadership team and received rave reviews!
Good Stuff!
Mark Nelson, one of the top real estate agents in New England, has taken Personal
Best's courses on multiple occasions. This photo shows how Mr. Nelson has taken
many Personal Best sayings and made them into his "Good Stuff" list that he
posts in his office so he can read it daily.
Best's courses on multiple occasions. This photo shows how Mr. Nelson has taken
many Personal Best sayings and made them into his "Good Stuff" list that he
posts in his office so he can read it daily.
Mental toughness separates champions from also-rans
By Steve Palladino
Mental Mastery: Evan Longoria's Leap To Stardom
Peyton Manning, record-setting quarterback and future Hall of Famer, was asked, during the week prior to the 2014 AFC Championship game, if he had to prepare "extra hard" for the upcoming game.
Manning responded by saying that certainly one has to have "laser-focus" preparation, but let me say this,"If you have to prepare extra hard for this game, then you probably have not been preparing hard enough all season long."
Personal Best agrees with Manning. So many times we hear coaches and players talking about the need to "step up" for the big games. Well, if you can step up for those games, why have you not been "stepping up" for each and every game throughout the season?
At Personal Best we say Success = Preparation + Effort. The greatest athletes, like Manning, do not pick and choose when to prepare hard and when to give their best effort - they do it every single day! Remember, Your Season = Today + Today + Today + . . . Choose to give your best preparation and effort every day and you give yourself the best chance for success.
Manning responded by saying that certainly one has to have "laser-focus" preparation, but let me say this,"If you have to prepare extra hard for this game, then you probably have not been preparing hard enough all season long."
Personal Best agrees with Manning. So many times we hear coaches and players talking about the need to "step up" for the big games. Well, if you can step up for those games, why have you not been "stepping up" for each and every game throughout the season?
At Personal Best we say Success = Preparation + Effort. The greatest athletes, like Manning, do not pick and choose when to prepare hard and when to give their best effort - they do it every single day! Remember, Your Season = Today + Today + Today + . . . Choose to give your best preparation and effort every day and you give yourself the best chance for success.
game_summary.pdf | |
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individual_ab_routine_chart.pdf | |
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process_chart.docx | |
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