Baseball Parent...

"Stop Your Son's Needless Suffering...

... And See Him Play with Confidence, Focus, and a Positive Attitude (and Just Have Fun Like He Always Used To)"

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"Feel Powerful Confidence in 30 Minutes or Less -- Guanteed!"

"Finally, a Simple, Step-by-Step Program Transforms Your Son's Emotions From His Toughest Opponent into His Strongest Ally -- and Teaches You How to Help Him Do It!"

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Do you have questions like these parents?

	"How can I help my son manage his emotions and be ready to play every weekend?"
	"How can I get those self doubt voices talking to my son to SHUT UP!?"
	"How do you help a child who is a perfectionist not be too hard on himself?"
	"When a player (ok, my son) is down because of a bad performance (at bat, pitching or errors in the field) what is the best way to keep that player from getting down and staying mad at himself?"
	"How can I get my son to see the importance of the mental game?"
	How can I get my son to just relax and let it flow with the mindset of a champion?
	What is the most cost effective way to provide basic mental training for my son?

If you'd like answers to any of these questions, this letter may help you...

From the desk of: Dr. Tom Hanson -- CEO, BaseballConfidence.com

Dear Baseball Parent,

I'm Dr. Tom Hanson. 

My goal is for you to see your son play with relentless confidence, bounce back quickly from failure (sorry, but you can't take the failure out of baseball) and get back to really having fun playing the game.

I also want baseball to be a vehicle for your son learning essential mental skills.  Skills that will help him create a satisfying, fulfilling life for himself beyond baseball.

And I want baseball to be a catalyst for an improved relationship between you and he.

But I get letters like this one all the time:

 

Dear Dr. Tom: My son is in high school. When he is feeling confident he is one of the best players on the field, but when things start to go bad he literally falls apart skill wise.  He suffers a lot because of it and it breaks my heart to see him hurting.  Can you help? Thank you,                                                                            Pat Farley

And you know what?  I’m sick of it. 

Don't Get Me Wrong...

I’m not sick of hearing from frustrated parents.  I’m happy they seek help since they’ve had no training in this kind of thing. 

I’m sick of knowing that so many parents and sons are suffering WAY more than they need to. 

It just isn’t necessary for players to compete without the mental tools they need to perform their best.  There's no need to take the field under-equiped to deal with the inevitable failure baseball throws at you.

There's no reason baseball shouldn't teach him the mental skills he needs to succeed both on and off the field and bring the two of you closer.

If you're like me, you love your son beyond measure and want only the best for him.

So you spend a fortune on bats ($240 each), gloves ($150) and lessons ($75 a pop) not to mention gas, lodging, food on the road, team fees and uniform fees. 

You support your son every way you can think of, then suffer heartache as he loses his focus, gets upset when he fails or an umpire makes a bad call, or wilts at the first sign of failure.

Some of this is un-avoidable.  Baseball is tough.  Everyone fails.

But much of the suffering is avoidable. 

It's tough for me to watch young players without any mental training run out onto the field like newborn calves only to be pounced on and eaten alive by the Big Bad Wolf that is the game of baseball.

(I want your son to be on ESPN, not the Discovery Channel!)

I’ve spent the last 20 years of my life studying how to help baseball players be more confident, focused and consistent so that they can make their baseball dreams come true. 

I've coached Little League players while standing in a sand lot, I've coached Big League players standing in the Yankee Stadium clubhouse, and every level of play in between.

All that time I've also coached parents on how to help their sons get out of their own way so they can have fun playing great baseball.

I’ve been at it long enough to see what works and what doesn’t work. 

I’ve coached enough players to make the solution simple. 

Can You Relate to These Parents?

Here are several more questions and frustrations I hear from parents...

	My son is frustrated because he knows he has to break through and play at a new, more elite level, but he hasn't reached it yet and he is doubting his abilities.  He knows that there are some physical mechanics he has to improve, but I think the problemm is between his ears.
	How do I help my son defeat the demon of fear of failure?
	I have a son who is a sophomore in college. He is a good player . He has the opportunity to be much better. He needs more confidence and the ability to relax.
	My son plays on a 14 year old travel baseball team. He has a lot of natural talent, however, he has struggled every year at times with batting. He gets up to the plate and just lets too many pitches go by without even swinging. This is very frustrating to watch!
	He dominated in his off-season work in the cage. However he has started the school ball year 1 for 10 against very average pitching. His swing mechanics are fine. His confidence is starting to go and you can see it in his outward expressions. He plays catcher and you can see it affecting his play.
	I've got a 15 year-old son who just finished his freshman high school season as the varsity shortstop and hit .470.  His coach just told him he can expect to play high division one college ball if he sticks with it, and that, as far as the coach can tell, might be high-draft material at graduation.  Obviously, large grains of salt are necessary, but I guess we ought to be looking to intelligently manage his development over the next few years.  What do you recommend for a 15 year old shortstop to be working on?
	My son loves to play and I want to help him make his dreams come true.  How can I tell the difference between when I'm supporting him and when I'm pushing him?

	Ultimately, They're All Asking: "Is There Any Way for Me to Help My Son Learn to Block Out All the Distractions and Negativity, and Instead Focus on the task at Hand, be Confident, and Just Play?

Yes, there is.

In fact, part of the frustration for you is...

"You Already Know What He Needs to Do!"

You're no dummy.

My experience says that more often than not, parents understand the essence of what their sons need to do:

	Believe in himself
	Focus on the ball when he's hitting, and focus on the mitt when he's pitching
	Not let his past mistakes and failures affect his present and future performance
	Trust his wonderful natural ability, and
	Just go out there and have fun!  "Remember, son, it's a game!"

You can see your son is trying too hard (or not hard enough!)... But you just can’t seem to communicate with him. 

He doesn't listen, doesn't want to hear it from you or for some reason just can't get it.

Now that's frustrating.

You love him dearly and you want the best for him.  You’ve driven him thousands of miles to and from practices and games.

You’ve spent a ton of money on the best equipment and extra lessons.

You’ve re-arranged your schedule countless times for his constantly changing schedule (“Mom, Coach says we're going to practice Tuesday instead of Thursday this week”).

You root for him with every cell in your body.

Your heart soars when he succeeds.  Your feel the stab in your heart when he fails.

You see him angry with himself and the game.  

And all this time you can see what he needs to do! 

Darn it, he just needs to relax and have fun. 

“Don’t put so much pressure on yourself, son, baseball should be fun.”

Regardless of how much you know about baseball, watch just a bit it and you can see where players, particularly your son, make it harder on themselves than it needs to be. 

Or, perhaps you see that if he would only work a bit harder he could be a much better player.

But you have a hard time getting through to him.

To top it all off, you see the years ticking away...he's only got a short time left to play.  You've only got a short time to help him break through and have the fun and development you so want for him.

Before long there won't be any more games to go to.

 Why You Can’t Help Your Son

It’s a strange thing.

Despite all the time, money, love, effort and sacrifices you’ve made, and despite how clearly you can see what he needs to do to play great and have fun (relax, focus, and enjoy the game), you can’t get it into his head.

He won’t learn it from you either because he isn't open to hearing it from you, or you don't know how to help him learn it (it's not like you have a Ph.D. in sport psychology).

First let me say you’re not alone.

I routinely talk to parents that say it was easier to talk to their son when he was younger.

The technical level of instruction he’s getting is now perhaps beyond your knowledge, but often there seems to be some invisible barrior that keeps him from hearing what you're saying.

Or, perhaps he is open to listening to you, but you know there's more possible if he could focus better and be more confident.

Either way you seem to be missing something, some magic words that will help him "get it." 

I’m not going to pretend I have all the answers to this complex issue. 

Nor am I going to launch into a psycho-babble explanation of it.  (My focus is not on problems, I focus on goals: What do you what to have happen?.)

And I’m not going to tell you that I have magic words that can make your son an all-star player.

But I have spent the last 20 or so years working with players and their parents, and there are two tools you can use to help you reach your goal of being a great parent for your son and helping him develop his mental game...

Tool #1: In order to communicate effectively,...

You Need a Common Language

Robert Kyosaki, the guy who wrote the best-selling, “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” books, says the number one key to building wealth is growing your financial terms vocabulary.

In short, you need to be able to speak about money to understand the terms and concepts in order to pile up a lot of it.  Once you can talk about it, you understand it enough to acquire it. 

In 1995 I co-authored the book "Heads-Up Baseball: Playing the Game One Pitch at a Time" with Dr. Ken Ravizza.  The book has sold over 65,000 copies (many of those in Japan) and is considered "the bible for learning mental toughness" by Collegiate Baseball.

One of the most common comments I hear about the book from players, parents and coaches is that it gives them a common language.  Once they can talk about it in simple terms, players, parents and coaches find learning mental toughness pretty easy.

I've added 10 years of experience and learning and have recently created programs that are even more user-friendly (audio and video) that provide a simple language for talking about the mental (and emotional) game.

They give you a map for guiding your son to mental excellence.

Tool #2: You and your son benefit when you... 

Leverage the Power of an Outside Expert

The second tool to help you help your son is a third voice in the conversation.  An expert.

The old joke says an expert is anyone who travels more than 50 miles to speak on a subject.

There's something to that.  But really the issue is credibility.

You aren't likely to have the credibility with your son I have on the topic of the mental game of baseball.

You and I could say the same thing, but my words will land differently for your son.  But not because I'm holy-er than thou...

When I was a college head coach I’d have a collegue or two come talk to my team each year, and afterwords my players would say something like: "I really got a lot out of that guy's talk."

"Oh ya," I'd say, "what did you get?"

"Just that I need to appreciate the opportunity I have here and enjoy it, instead of ruining it by putting too much pressure on myself and trying too hard."

“What?" I'd think to myself, "I’ve told you that 1000 times!” 

But because I was more focused on the player's benefit than my own ego (almost all the time...) I would just swallow my pride and say, “Oh, very nice.” 

Don't get me wrong, my years of experience and study have given me terrific tools to help players play with confidence.  I'm not just an expert because I live more than 50 miles from you. 

But do remember that bringing in a third voice can dramatically reduce any resistance your son might have to learning this stuff.  (Instead of clashing with each other, you both focus on the elements of the program.)

Since I'm declaring myself an expert, let me take a moment and explain... 

Why You Might Listen to Me

I’ve made a career out of  helping players be successful in baseball by thinking better.  Here are a few career highlights: 

1. Consulted full time with the New York Yankees organization in 2001, and worked with the Texas Rangers organization for two years prior to that;

2. Co-authored Heads-Up Baseball: Playing the Game One Pitch at a Time with Dr. Ken Ravizza. The book has sold over 65,000 copies worldwide and is called the "bible" for baseball mental toughness by Collegiate Baseball; 3. Received “Best in Show” honors for “Confidence Conditioning for Baseball” program at 2006 American Baseball Coaches Association national convention; 4. Earned a Ph.D. in Education specializing in sport psychology from the University of Virginia in 1991; 5. Coached baseball for 16 years, including 7 years as a college head coach (and tenured professor) and 3 years as a Division I hitting coach at the University of Virginia; 6. Interviewed greats such as Hank Aaron, Rod Carew, Nolan Ryan, Tommy John, Ferguson Jenkins, Pete Rose, Carl Yastrzemski, and Stan Musial on the mental keys to success in baseball. 7. Parent of two.

I'll walk you through my "confidence curriculum" in just a moment.  First,

I want to focus on what I think is your main interest: results.  So...

Here's What Your Son Can Get

Parents report that through my programs their son's have learned how to:

1. Be more confident, perhaps even a "mental dominating monster"...

2. Stay Positive in the face of the failure and demons of self-doubt...

3. Be more successful on the field.  Your son can't control the results of his efforts, but we know for a fact the more confident, focused and consistent he is, the better chance he'll end up with a ...

4. Keep the game simple.  All the Hall of Famers I've interviewed say keeping it simple is critical to success...

5. Become a better teammate...

Benefits to You as a Parent

In addition to the joy of watching your son suffer less, play better and be happier, you are able to:

1. Help him deal with failure...

2. Help him be more successful...

3. Share a simple, common language of success

4. Leverage the Benefits of an outside expert...

5. Create a deeper, more satisfying relationship:

Here's how those results were produced...

Mental Toughness 101

As a former tenured college professor, I think in terms of progressive learning: Get the fundamentals down, then get more advanced.

I'd like to take a few moments to personally introduce you to a program that radically simplifies the mental game of baseball.  It gives your son the fundamentals, the knowledge, tools and learning format he needs to:

	Control his own confidence level -- He learns to generate confidence using his mind and body instead of needing to have success before he feels confident;
	Let go of negative thinking -- Put those past errors where they belong: in the past!  and
	Block out all distractions and focus on the most important thing he needs to focus on at this moment

This program takes all those "simple" ideas you are trying to teach him and puts them in a system that makes them easy and fun to learn.

In fact, it makes learning "mental toughness" as easy as "ABC."  The program is called

I still do some 1-1 coaching, mostly on the phone.  If you're interested in that, please contact me.

But in response to requests for audio programs that could be done without me (I'm often booked solid and am too expensive for some players) I created a step-by-step program for taking charge of your mental game: 

"BREAKTHROUGH! Your 5 Keys to Success at the Next Level"

It's like a "Mental Game 101" program.  I believe every player, coach and parent should be required to take it. 

Remember how I said in order to win the mental game you need to:

1. Learn what you need to think and do to be confident and focused.

2. Do those things every day.   Practice them until they are engrained into your system, conditioned into your brain.

3. Repeat until you retire.

"BREAKTHROUGH!"  solves the problem of (1) learning what you need to think and do to be confident and focused and (2) gives you a way to practice your mental skills.  

But it doesn't give you the "repeat" and ongoing learning part of winning the mental game -- remember the way Hall of Famers think: learn more, practice more, learn more, practice more... (I'll solve the ongoing learning issue in a moment)

The cost? 

	"BREAKTHROUGH!" costs $47 if you buy it on it's own. But I'm so committed to helping you win the mental game I will give it to you FREE if you join "Hanson's Gym" for just one month.

"What is Hanson's Mental Training Gym?"

It's an online membership program that solves the final problem of ongoing coaching and ongoing learning (learn more, practice more...) 

In a regular gym you condition your body.  In my Baseball Confidence Gym you condition your mind.  Like a regular gym you get to use equipment you otherwise couldn't afford to buy. 

In this case, it's access to me and the mental training "equipment" I provide you with.

Instead of growing your muscles, you grow your mind.  In this program, G.Y.M. stands for Grow Your Mind.

This Gym is not like a normal gym you go to -- the "equipment" is on line.  You do the workout at your computer or on your mp3 device.

If you want results like the ones you read about above (and I could send you more testimonials if you want), if you want to rocket past the training top Division I college programs are doing, if you want your mind to be your greatest ally this year instead of  your biggest enemy, all for just pennies on the dollar, join the Gym.

As a Gym member, each month you get:

1. New powerful content (you get info I normally save for my high paying clients.)  Each month will have a different theme vitally important to baseball success.  Plus,   

• Interviews with baseball's best minds, including the many Hall-of-Famers like Aaron, Carew, Musial and Yastrzemski that I already have on tape that no one has heard;
• I've got a "million dollar rolodex" that enables me to get exclusive interviews with the best players and teachers of the game
• The Gym "Exercise of the Month" that takes your mental training to highly advanced levels

2. Email Coaching -- You get an email each Friday from me that will coach you to your best performances.  The coaching will cover all aspects of the mental game and focus on the theme of the month.  This will keep your feet to the fire and you performing at the top of your game. 

3. The opportunity to submit your questions to me. I can't promise to respond to each question personally, but I will address questions I get in the Gym Forum.  This is open to parents as well as players and coaches.

4. Entry into a free 1-on-1 coaching session drawing.  Each month one member will be selected randomly to receive a private phone coaching lesson with me.  I'll record the session and send it to you for future listening.

5. Deep discounts on other products I offer.  Plus "insider" offers I won't even make available to non-members.

6. "Extra Mile" surprise bonuses.  I'll be in your corner and I'll take your success personally, so I'll go the "extra mile" to make sure you break through to your all-time best performance level. 

All this, plus tons of free bonuses. 

If you are ready to take charge of your mental game, step up to the plate, and reach for the stars, my Gym is just what you're looking for.

	Here's What You Get: 1.  My 5 video program "BREAKTHROUGH!  Your 5 Keys to Success at the Next Level" ($47 value)  2.  One Month membership in Hanson's Mental Training Gym  3.  SPECIAL BONUSES:  My Mental Toughness Manual ($29 value) and more than $100 in additional training program bonuses That's $215.95 of value ALL FOR JUST $19.95

These exercises are to mental toughness what specific physical exercises like squats, sprints and agility drills are to physical toughness. 

You child can load them onto his or her mp3 player or log on and do a confidence workout anywhere! 

	Between classes -- turns "down time" into confidence building time
	Before practice -- Players play in games the way they practice, so he can come ready to play each day
	On the bus on the way to games (I'll be in his ear helping you get lazer focused)
	After the game -- to help maximize learning, enjoyment of success, and let go of mistakes and failures (yes, even brain trained players make outs and errors -- but now you'll have expert help in flushing the negatives away and getting the confidence pumping again)
	At night before he drifts off to sleep (makes for really sweet dreams)

Now, you may have some questions...

"Who Is this Program For?"

It’s intended for players age 11 and up. Great players keep things simple, so this isn’t rocket science. I teach essentially the same basic material to Little Leaguers that I learned from Hall-of-Famers and teach to Major Leaguers.

Actually, I teach the same things to U11s, just in a different tone.

If you are ready to help your son play with confidence, focus, and fun, the Baseball Confidence Gym is the help you've been looking for.

Special Note: 

Many of the most active members of the Gym are parents and coaches themselves!  You can't give away what you don't have.  That is, if you want your son to be confident, poised and focused, you must be confident, poised and focused in order to help him. 

This program is as much for you as it is for your son or daughter.  It's the perfect parent-child activity.

	Here's What You Get: 1.  My 5 video program "BREAKTHROUGH!  Your 5 Keys to Success at the Next Level" ($47 value)  2.  One Month membership in Hanson's Mental Training Gym  3.  SPECIAL BONUSES:  My Mental Toughness Manual ($29 value) and more than $100 in additional training program bonuses That's $215.95 of value ALL FOR JUST $19.95

Guarantee

Since you're investing in this for you and your son and as cool as the program is I can't promise you he'll do it (Hey, you can lead a horse to water....), here's my guarantee:

So if it falls flat with him and you don't think your own learning was worth what you paid, I'll give you your entire purchase price back.

Look, the worst case is that you become very knowledgeable about the mental game of baseball. 

You will know:

	What to say to your son before games to help him be mentally prepared (be confident you aren't making things worse for him)
	What to focus on after he plays poorly or loses a big game (like during those long, emotionally tense car rides home)
	That I will be in touch with him and you each week to keep him moving forward (no more prolonged slumps where he doesn't get professional coaching -- you reduce his suffering)
	What questions to ask that point your son's mind in the right direction
	That you've given your son his best chance of being successful.  (Hey, everyone says the mental game is 90% of success -- with the $1000s you've invested in the other 10%, is $29.95 too much to ask to equip him with the same mental tools Major Leaguers and Hall of Famers use?)

You'll bring in expertise for a fraction of the cost of bringing me in personally.

You'll be helping me fulfill my goals of your son playing with relentless confidence, bouncing back quickly from failure and getting back to really having fun playing the game.

You will also be arming him with the mental equipment he needs to create a satisfying, fulfilling life for himself beyond baseball. 

Finally, you'll both share a set of tools that will enable baseball to be a catalyst for improving the relationship between the two of you.

Thank you for your time and commitment,

Tom Hanson, Ph.D.

P.S. I can't take the failure out of baseball for your son.  But chances are he's suffering much more than he needs to.  Join the Baseball Confidence Gyma and your child will be more confident, bounce back quicker from failure, and have more fun playing the game of baseball or you get your money back.

P.P.S. I Have One Request of You...

When he takes my programs his performance will improve.  He’ll feel better about himself and his game.

But when you ask him, “What are you getting out of the Hanson program?” he’ll tell you something you’ve told him a 100 times.

Like, “I just need to relax, focus, and have fun."

Don't feel bad.  Don't get angry.

Remember, the programs give you a common language (when was the last time you felt you had a common language with your son?), the leverage that comes with bringing in an outside expert, and the continuity, follow-up and relationship that make the difference between this being another tool you bought him that sits unused on the shelf or in the garage and it being the launching pad that catapaults him toward his dream.

So I request you honor my one rule for you and my programs: After he improves and is relaxing more and having more fun, you can't tell him “I told you that.” 

(and read about an even better offer)

© 2007 by Heads-Up Performance, Inc. - All Rights Reserved