There is a Japanese proverb which says the tongue is 3 inches long, but can take down a man 6 feet tall. Our words, spoken and unspoken, are incredibly powerful.

One of my pet peeves when it comes to the language pitchers use is how they respond to the question, “when are you pitching?” The majority of pitchers at any level, will respond by saying, “I am throwing” tomorrow. It’s a common reply with its meaning assumed: that throwing means pitching. It drives me crazy! Why? Because I have not seen many pitchers who throw in a game pitch well. Pitchers have success when they PITCH in games. I remind pitchers all the time who respond to my question using the word “throwing” And after a while, they start to catch on. You PITCH when you get ahead in the count, you hit your spots, change speeds, pitch inside, throw something off-speed behind in the count. You THROW when consistently fall behind in the count, you don’t command a fastball, you don’t throw an off-speed pitch behind in the count.

I remember a couple of years ago, I was in the hotel elevator with a veteran pitcher upon arriving at a visiting city and asked him when he was pitching. He said, he was “throwing tomorrow” – to which I replied, I hope you don’t throw, but pitch. There is a difference. He thought about it for a minute and said, you’re right. The next night, he pitched 7 strong innings and when he saw me after the game he made a point to tell me that “I pitched tonight”.

Our language internally produced by our thoughts and externally displayed through our body language are both very powerful and can affect your performance

That internal language comes from the “little man” – this little man is that internal voice that’s always there in the background. Ready to plant a seed of doubt or bash your confidence using words like you suck, you better not mess this up, you’re going to fail, don’t let this happen. You can learn to control this voice, so it doesn’t control you.

Another form of language is non-verbal and that is OUR body language. Body language, after all, is an external expression of an internal thought. Stated another way, our body language governs how we think and feel about ourselves. Research has shown that our body language and posture affect our hormone levels. For example, having a dominant posture like standing tall, or sitting up straight in a chair or body language like walking with your head up and shoulders back they are making themselves big and that increases testosterone (the dominance hormone) and decreases the stress hormone Cortisol. Conversely, when people are hunched over or slouched in a chair or walk with their head down and shoulders rounded (they are getting small) that increases cortisol and decreases testosterone.

So think about when you have pitched well and are feeling good. What is your body language like? I bet you have a strut, chest up, head up. I bet you felt confident, assertive and didn’t think twice about throwing a 3-2 change-up. Now, think when things weren’t going so well. What was you body language then? You “get small”, shoulders rounded, head down, small strides. I bet you were less confident, less assertive and I’ll bet you were afraid to throw that 3-2 change-up.

Researcher Dr. Amy Cuddy states there is one activity you can do prior to increase your testosterone levels is called power posing. Power posing is taking a 2 min in front of a mirror and power posing. Getting big, stand tall, roll the shoulders back, feel dominant. See yourself succeeding. Give that a try before your next game and continue to be aware of your body language on the mound. Power pose out there, get big and let hitters know you mean business.