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What is the importance of mental toughness in sport
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Jim Abbott was a Major League Baseball Pitcher for the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Angels. Abbott was a valuable pitcher for both teams. Jim Abbott wasn’t a regular baseball player. Jim said “There was more of course. There was always more. I’d gone without a right hand…” Jim was exceptional at baseball, even though he had a missing right hand. He won multiple awards in baseball and he gave kids who were different from the other children hope, so they can keep on pushing through. Jim had many hardships throughout his life, besides for his missing hand. Jim said “There was always another issue, it seemed, no matter how hard I tried to outrun it.” His managers and coaches often thought that he wasn’t good enough and never gave him a chance.Jim Abbott, though born without one hand, overcame many tough obstacles in his lifetime and went on to become one of the
Jim didn’t want to be the reason why his team lost and wanted to continue to keep his father proud(Abbott 97-98). Jim loved his parents and wanted his family and his parents to not fight and to get along. He tried playing his hardest so that he can make his family and parents proud. Jim ended up with a huge accomplishment. Even though he didn’t have a hand, he still made the MLB and made his parents and his family closer by accomplishing his goal.
Growing up and playing with one hand never entered his mind as something that would hold him back. Regardless of his handicaps he was able to make it to the majors. Jim realizes that his disability was most likely going to make him one of the most great baseball players instead he defeated all odds. Jim’s experiences were much different then all of these other peoples because his disabilities. Jim never gave up no matter what his situation was and no matter what he knew he was going to get thru it.(Abbott
He could do tasks even though he was a cripple. He finally had a job that he could do without one hand which also made him feel independent. Another event that transformed Johnny's life was the revolutionary war and the events leading up to it. For example, the Boston tea party affected Johnny and his transformation greatly. That was Johnny's first real time to see what could happen.
... Series and banned from baseball forever. Rays father felt his son had the potential to also be in the major leagues, but it was too late as he passed away before he could even play a game of catch with his son. Ray is confused and lost internally because of the loss of his father on such bad terms; this becomes a bigger tragedy than he ever thought. It may have even been a tragedy as big as the death of Joe Jackson who died guilty of throwing the World Series. He was never eased of his pain until after his death which was too late. Tragedies are not uncommon phenomena in life, Ray Kinsella and Shoeless Joe Jackson have the misfortune of living a struggle fulfilled life that only consists of tragic events around every corner of their lives.
Hutch, the main character of The Big Field, has played baseball all of his life. He has always played shortstop, the same position that his father dreamed of playing as a professional. “Hutch, had always thought of himself as the captain of any infield he’d ever been a part of” (Lupica 1). Hutch finds himself being demoted to second base because there is another player, Darryl, on his new team that is expected to go pro and also plays shortstop. Hutch struggles because he does not want to play second base and his father does not support him because he does not want baseball to break Hutch’s dreams like it did his own. Hutch is betrayed by his father and Darryl when he finds them practicing together. Hutch has to learn to adjust and eventually becomes friends with Darryl, the up and coming shortstop. He understands that if he wants to win, then he needs to work together with Darryl. His father also comes around and finally gives Hutch his approval. Students should read this book in a high school English classroom because it demonstrates how relationships can be difficult, but teamwork can help to solve many issues.
In the story My Left Foot, Christy Brown was diagnosed at the age of three with cerebral palsy. Many people began to give up on him, but his mother did not. She told everyone that they were all wrong and that he was a normal child. She worked with Christy every chance she could get and tried to teach him how to write and read. One day his mother’s perseverance finally paid off. Christy was playing with his sister and saw her playing with the chalkboard. He wanted to play with it also so he picked up the piece of chalk with his foot and tried to write on the board. He could not get it at first but on th...
Because of his rolling stone like upbringings, conformity is not a part of his forte. In some ways he takes after his father, the infamous town drunk who hasn’t attempted to contact Huck in years. But despite all of the complications and seeming misery, he is a decent boy who only gets himself into a bit of mischief. Therefore, with the difficult life he’s already had at such a young age, it’s a miracle he isn’t either depressed or a delinquent. Jim also hasn’t had it easy. Being a black man living in the south during pre-Civil War times means daily persecution. He lived a life that he could never fulfill because of the metaphorical chains he never got to take off. So he was left no other choice but to run until he found freedom. Although this would be deemed as “reckless” to society, he did it out of love for his family and fear of his life. Every decision Jim made was done with the hope that he would one day be reunited with them. His intentions were pure, and the positive light that’s cast upon him gives the readers a heartfelt sympathy for what he’s going through. Both Jim and Huck had to overcome great struggle until they found solace in the
Albert Pujols said, “Baseball was an outlet for him to be able to do that, and he had some special talent to go through what he did and still set an example for others. You cannot replace it.”
David Ortiz has saved the lives of hundreds of children by giving them medical care they would not otherwise have access to through his charity, the David Ortiz Children’s Fund. In February of 2005, he visited CEDIMAT hospital in the Dominican Republic, where he saw children suffering after they had heart surgery. He instantly donated two hundred thousand dollars to the hospital. Ortiz started his charity because he wants to give children everywhere the opportunity to live long, happy lives (DavidOrtiz.com). He makes sure that kids who need urgent care receive it as soon as possible. In the first year alone, sixty kids were given open-heart surgery (DavidOrtiz.com). With his aid, kids who cannot afford or do not have access t...
...d but he could not achieve his goals. His situation is relatable to the audience even if one is not a baseball player. The book teaches the audience to avoid company and mistakes that can rob them their success. Roy Hobbs misfortunes remind the readers how some obstacles can alter someone’s dreams.
For this rhetorical analysis paper I chose one of my favorite, and most famous, sports speeches of all time, Lou Gehrig’s farewell to baseball address. Lou Gehrig was a famous baseball player in the 1920’s and 30’s. Lou didn’t really need to use a attention getting introduction, he was well known and loved by so many that people piled into Yankee Stadium to watch and listen to him give this speech. Although he didn’t need an attention getter, he began his speech with one of the greatest baseball quotes of all time, “Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about a bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.” (Gehrig, 1939) Every single time I hear or read that opening line it sends chills down my spine and stops me for a moment to reflect on everything that is going on in my own life.
... adapted to his ever-changing circumstances, became a doctor, got married and, most importantly, overcame countless obstacles. He managed to do all of this in the second half of the twentieth century. Given the advancements in technology and greater acceptance of those with disabilities in today’s society it would be easier for him today. Beisser succedded and I will too. I will travel, I will find good jobs that fulfill me, I will surround myself with loving people, and, perhaps most importantly, I will be financially independent.
The hero tried to recover his pitching ability by using rehabilitation training. However, it was not easy to recover his arm to former situation, thus he had to yield his position to a freshman like the ex-ace who yielded him. During the regional competition, there was a serious incident for the hero; the hero’s girl friend was raped by unknown people. The hero and his girlfriend had their delicate feelings hurt because of the rape case, and he could not do anything for her. The hero decided to satisfy his resentment by pitching. Because of this incident, he could throw his former fastball, and became the ace pitcher of his baseball team.
While “Shoeless” Joseph Jefferson Jackson may not have been given the same advantages that other ball-players of the time were given, valuable resources, an education, and the favor of the Major League Baseball Association, he nonetheless managed to apply his experiences as a lower middle class American to become a great baseball player. “Shoeless'” life experiences demonstrate not only the clichéd “rags to riches” ideal in many a fair tale, but also the fact that one's experiences early in life can drastically impact an individual's adult life. Regardless of his tarnished reputation in major league baseball, Joe was commemorated after his death in December of 1951 with the typical memorials for any baseball great, ballparks, statues, museums and the like.
With everything he had faced in his childhood; therefore, it prepared him for the changes he was going to make in the Major League when he entered it years later, Jackie s...
The story of Curt Flood is one of tragic sacrifice and poignant courage. It is the story of a ball player giving up the game he loved for nothing more than a principle. Flood’s famous “I am a Man,” statement illustrated his belief that baseball was treating him unfairly (Burns, The Eighth Inning). Flood also penned these thoughts in a letter he sent to Kuhn on Christmas Eve of 1969, writing, “I do not feel that I am a piece of property to be bought and sold irrespective of my wishes” (Burns, The Eighth Inning). Craving the freedom to choose what team he played for, Flood would not accept the notion that he had no control over his own destiny as a baseball player. Flood however, stood alone in his fight. At his court hearing no active baseball player would testify on his behalf.
This quote by respected coach and leader Barry Switzer can apply to anyone and any hardship someone has struggled through, but I feel this best describes my experience of growing up with a sister that has severe mental and physical handicaps and the struggles and rewards this has placed into my life. My sister, Grace, has shaped my character and allowed me to develop positive attributes more than any one other single event or person in my life. Growing up, I often felt I was born at bat, in reference to Mr. Switzer’s quotation, other times I felt that I was still in the dugout or hadn't made the team. I felt that it was unfair that I had to have a sister with these disabilities and it was a tribulation or