Harrison Bader had a strong postseason performance with the New York Yankees. Bader went 4-15 with three home runs in the ALDS against the Cleveland Guardians. He went 6-15 with two home runs in the ALCS against the Houston Astros.
Harrison Bader seemed to be the only Yankees hitter to have an offensive spark in both of their postseason series. He said that his mouthguard was the reason for his recent success at bat.
“In my first at-bat, I just felt relaxed.”
Harrison Bader said that before the ball was thrown, he used to tighten his jaw. He tried using a mouthguard to help loosen his jaw as he swung his bat while working with a mental performance coach in St. Louis.
He said that he had used mouthguards before and been hooked up to different machines to measure output. When he took those measurements while wearing a mouthguard, his scores went up.
Harrison Bader was talking about a mouthguard that isn’t like the ones most football players wear. This is a mouthguard for sports. It is designed to press the athlete’s tongue down and help make their airway wider. This makes it easier for the athletes to breathe when they’re on stage.
Most athletes, including Bader, get so tight that they almost stop breathing. A person gets weaker when they stop breathing. These performance mouthguards teach athletes where their tongues should be.
Harrison Bader got a mental performance coach
More and more athletes are coming out and talking about how much they appreciate the work they do with their mental performance coaches. Elite athletes are starting to pay more attention to how well they do mentally.
Even though athletes need to work on their physical skills, they also need to work on their minds. Working with a mental performance coach helps athletes gain confidence, deal with anxiety, and use simple techniques to unlock a part of their game.
Harrison Bader said that when he worked with his coach, it was like “a light bulb went off.” When you work with a mental performance coach, that’s pretty much the goal.
It’s not about revealing secrets to the athlete; it’s about assisting the athlete in understanding why something is happening. When Bader tightened up and stopped breathing, it was clear that he didn’t have much power at the plate. He had not considered this until it was brought to his attention.
Given how hot Harrison Bader got in the playoffs, we might see more baseball players using performance mouthguards.
What do you think, leave a comment below?
