How To Stay Motivated And Focused On Your Pitching Training Without Quitting

Motivation is something that comes up quite a bit in baseball. Unlike other sports, the baseball season is very long. Most serious players train or play games about 9 or 10 months a year. It can be hard to stay motivated. Especially during the off-season when there are no games, no fans, no coaches -- just you and your workouts.

Have you ever felt that you can't maintain the perseverance to consistently work out? You'll start a new program, do it for a week, then just give in and quit? Here are some excellent tips from members of my discussion forums. I couldn't have said it better myself.

1. Set goals: If you don't even know why you are showing up to the gym, it's hard to get motivated. Write down a firm and realistic list of what you'd like to accomplish. Why you'd like to accomplish it. Then look at it every day.
   
2. Listen to music: Most of the stuff I have in my iPod I won't listen to any other time because it's not just chill music. Find some intense stuff and use it to get motivated. Korn, Eminem, Godsmack, Disturbed, Drowning Pool, DMX -- find something that when you hear it, you know it's time to move some iron and get bigger, faster, stronger.
3. Get a training partner: Everyone has their days when they don't feel like lifting. The training partner will make sure you show up and still work hard. They can also make lifting way more enjoyable. 
4. Look for results: This is the biggest thing for me. Stay with a program for a while. Once you see the results you will want to come back for more like an addiction. One thing for me is that I am pleased with results in a broad range of categories. Maybe my genuine motivation is slightly different from day to day, but I'm still getting in there and working hard. Results you can see can be baseball improvement, physique, strength numbers, improving other tasks (being able to dunk for instance).

Pretty much every day I am training, I know that I am improving all of those four things, and I'm sure there's other things you can find that you improve as well. Even if the program and underlying motivation is to be the best I can possibly be on the baseball field.