We’re now in Week 2 of our April blog series F.O.O.L.S., where we’re confronting the foolishness that keeps players stuck in the Zone instead of converting habits into stress-tested skills.
Last week, we tackled F – Failure Without Feedback—calling out the dangers of failing and not learning from it.
This week, we shift to the first O in F.O.O.L.S.: Overthinking the Outcome. Overthinking doesn’t mean you’re not smart—it often means you haven’t trained enough. In baseball and in life, if you can’t trust yourself under pressure, you will think yourself out of performance.
Why Overthinking Happens in the Zone
Here’s the truth:
- Talent gives you potential.
- Habits give you rhythm.
- Skills give you peace under pressure.
The Zone is where we train under pressure to make peace with the moment. But when players haven’t been trained—only practiced—they default to fear. And fear breeds overthinking.
In this modern travel ball culture, players bounce from team to team chasing exposure instead of execution. They focus on results rather than reps. So when it’s time to perform—they freeze. They doubt. They overthink.
Practice vs. Training
Let’s clear this up again:
- Practice is for the Grind (Nov–Jan). It’s about reps
- Training is for the Zone (Feb–Apr). It’s about reps under pressure
Practice gets you habits.
Training converts habits into skills.
Overthinking is what happens when we try to use habits in high-pressure moments without converting them to skills.
Overthinking Is a Symptom, Not the Problem
When a player overthinks, it’s easy to assume they’re mentally weak. But overthinking is often a symptom of poor preparation, poor coaching or poor structure.
Here’s what we need to ask:
- Did they practice the right things?
- Were they coached to adjust under pressure?
- Did they train for the situations they’re now facing?
If the answer is no, overthinking is inevitable.
What Coaches and Parents Must Understand
We’re living in a system where too many players are being evaluated on talent alone, not trained to convert talent into repeatable skills.
And that’s a system designed to keep players foolish.
To overthink the outcome is to forget the purpose of the process.
Train the Mind to Trust the Body
Skill is what you do well repeatedly without thought while under stress.
That means by the time you get in the box, your swing isn’t something you should be thinking about—it should be something you can trust.
You don’t rise to the occasion—you fall to your level of training.
And if your training didn’t simulate pressure, your body won’t know how to respond. So your mind takes over. And it spirals.
The Shift You Must Make
Players in the Zone must:
- Stop practicing what feels good.
- Start training what feels hard.
- Learn to love the struggle and repeat the stress.
And most importantly: Trust the work, not the wish.
Preview of Week 3: Next week, we move to the second O in F.O.O.L.S.: Operating Outside of Structure.
Because freedom without boundaries is a fast track to chaos. And chaos under pressure? That’s not the Zone—that’s the Twilight Zone.
You’re either thinking your way out of the moment or trusting your way through it. And only fools overthink what they should’ve trained for.
Remember: Intelligence tops being smart.
For more information, visit www.diamonddirectors.com today.
If you found this inspiring and thought-provoking, or if you have any questions, comments or concerns, add me on Discord and let’s go deeper.
C.J. Stewart has built a reputation as one of the leading professional hitting instructors in the country. He is a former professional baseball player in the Chicago Cubs organization and has also served as an associate scout for the Cincinnati Reds. As founder and CEO of Diamond Directors Player Development, C.J. has more than 22 years of player development experience and has built an impressive list of clients, including some of the top young prospects in baseball today. If your desire is to change your game for the better, C.J. Stewart has a proven system of development and a track record of success that can work for you.
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