A wise former Philadelphia 76ers executive named Sam Hinkie said it best: Trust the process.
We live in a results-oriented, win-loss driven society, especially in the world of sports. Legacies are built on wins, while jobs and livelihoods are lost with defeat. But there are times where focusing on just the results of individual games, at-bats and pitching appearances can actually stand in the way of victory on the field.
Take Los Angeles Dodgers All-Star Cody Bellinger for example. After winning the National League’s Most Valuable Player award in 2019, the 25-year-old first baseman and outfield was in a horrific slump to start the 2020 season. With the coronavirus pandemic and other factors shrinking the regular season to just 60 games, the Dodgers could ill afford a slow start from one of its top hitters if they wanted to compete for a World Series title.
But Bellinger’s start could not have gone much worse once the season began in July. Over the first 19 games, or roughly a third of the regular season, the Arizona native hit just .165/.224/.266 with two home runs and two doubles. That was following an incredible MVP campaign where he hit .305/.406/.629 with 47 homers, 33 doubled and three triples.
So what changed between 2019 and 2020 that would cause Bellinger to seemingly lose his way? He was too focused on the results of his at-bats than the training and the process it took to get there. Once he realized that, it was bad news for the Dodgers’ opponents.
Bellinger hit .332/.422/.839 with five home runs in the nine games after that.
“More just focusing on the feel of myself than the results,” he said. “As long as you’re feeling good, you have to trust the results will come.”
Players at all levels could learn from Bellinger’s example.
So often do you see athletes pressing at the plate or on the mound and the harder they try, the harder they fall. There’s a reason MLB has more than a month of Spring Training before the regular season begins. Focusing on training and getting right both physically and mentally are so important that there are dedicated spring sites for teams to travel to, specific, specialized instruction depending on your position and countless drills, simulated games and regulation intersquad and intrasquad games where the results are largely meaningless aside from the final spots on the big league roster.
No matter our skill level, we can all learn from Bellinger. If you focus on getting your training right before and after games, the results, and in Bellinger’s case a World Series title, will come.