Although sports psychology offers a wide array of methods that deal with stress management, every athlete requires a different diagnosis and routine than the next. The research performed in this project aims at objectively determining the most effective methods and applying them. According to several sources, the most widely recommended techniques seem to be those of meditation, controlled breathing, visualization, and relaxation tapes.
Baseball, the sport which requires performing arguably the most difficult action in all of sports (hitting a moving round object with another round object), necessitates incredibly fine motor skills. Thus, the batter must be in a mental state which allows him to compete with complete focus, blocking out all possible distractions and sources of error. Referring back to the 'mind tools' listed above, one can apply each method in a game situation to distinguish which one works best, or if any at all.
The results reveal that the batter's heart rate was lowered significantly when the meditation technique was applied during the batter's stay in the on-deck-circle.