Understand This To Be A Better Athlete

High school athletes are constantly told to “stay positive,” but very few understand why it actually matters. The answer sits inside your brain—specifically in the reticular activating system (RAS).

Reticular Activating System

The reticular activating system (RAS) is a diffuse network of interconnected nuclei located within the brainstem that regulates arousal, wakefulness, and attention. It is the principal neural substrate linking sensory input with cortical activation, essential for maintaining consciousness and behavioral responsiveness.

The RAS acts as a filter. Every second, your brain is flooded with information—crowd noise, the pitcher’s motion, your own thoughts. The RAS decides what gets through. And here’s the key: it prioritizes what you focus on most.

For a baseball player, that can work for you—or against you.

If a hitter steps into the box thinking, “Don’t strike out,” the RAS locks onto failure. It heightens awareness of past strikeouts, tightens the body, and makes the moment feel bigger than it is. But if that same hitter visualizes driving the ball to right-center, the RAS begins filtering for success—timing, pitch recognition, confidence.

Visualization isn’t fluff. It’s rehearsal.

When you repeatedly picture success—barrel contact, smooth mechanics, explosive lifts in the weight room—you are training your brain to recognize and execute those patterns under pressure.

The same applies to strength training. If you approach a lift thinking, “This is heavy,” your body follows that script. But if you consistently visualize clean reps—tight setup, controlled descent, powerful drive—the RAS primes your nervous system for performance.

Over time, this compounds.

Athletes who focus on positive, specific outcomes:

• React faster
• Stay calmer under pressure
• Execute more consistently

The difference isn’t just physical—it’s neurological.

The takeaway is simple: your brain is always listening. What you repeat—mentally and verbally—becomes what you see, feel, and ultimately perform.

Train your body in the weight room.
Train your swing in the cage.
But don’t ignore the filter that controls both.

Because the athletes who win are often the ones who see it first—before it ever happens.

Scott

photo credit: Vernon Reher