Your Softball Mental Toolbox: The Skill Of Reflection
If I asked you to stop what you're doing right now and think back over your last performance or practice, what would be the first thoughts that would come to mind? Would it be something that didn't go well or that you failed at during the event? Probably! This is a common occurrence.
I've written before on how our brains are wired to focus on and think of negative situations and events first. This can help explain why you may jump to the negative "stuff" first when you try to think back on your games or practices. But thinking back on performances and events can actually be a powerful mental skill. The act of "thinking back" is part of the skill of reflection.
What Is The Skill Of Reflection?
Coaches, parents, and others ask you to reflect back on a performance, but many athletes do not understand what reflection actually means or how it can be helpful. Let's first define what reflection means. True reflection extends to "thinking back." The skill of reflection means you think back on past events (performances), but you do so deeply, slowly, carefully, and with purpose.
You think back with the purpose to learn from the event so that you can grow from it, to understand what you felt, and to apply what you learn to make more productive or successful choices for future events and performances, particularly after poor performances or negative events (Schippers et al., 2013).
Reflection, when done intentionally and correctly, helps you in various ways. This deep, intentional thought process can help with the following (Babauta, n.d.; Mardock, 2026):
- Break repetitive cycles by shifting your mindset from passively overthinking the event to actively focusing on growth and analysis of performance.
- Speeds up how quickly you learn a skill by exercising your brain's ability to synthesize new information, which strengthens the neural pathways for the adjustments you make to your memory.
- Exposes things you cannot see at first (blind spots) by uncovering your personal biases and emotional triggers. This helps you manage these things before they dictate how you behave.
- Strengthens your emotional intelligence by helping you stop and pause between stressful events. This pause helps you make sure you are not reacting or acting on emotion.
How To Apply The Skill Of Reflection
Like I've mentioned before, this is a skill. You can learn how to reflect and how to teach others to reflect. There are many models of reflection out there that you can use. One of my favorite models is a quick three-step reflection model called the "What? So What? Now What?" method (Burton, 1970; Janse, 2024). Here is an outline of how to move through each step as it applies to performance:
Step 1: What? (State The Facts)
- Goal: Describe what happened before/during the game/practice objectively.
- Focus: Stick to clear facts, not emotions.
-Prompt: What was your primary goal/focus?
-Prompt: What were the key mistakes/challenges?
-Prompt: What were the key successes? - Examples: "My goal was to attack the first strike in each at-bat, but I looked at the first strike in two of three at-bats."
Step 2: So What? (Why Does This Matter? What's The Impact?)
- Goal: Figure out why those facts matter and what you can learn from them.
- Focus: Connect the action to the result and identify the root cause.
-Why My Successes Worked:
-What Caused My Mistakes/Challenges: - Examples: "I didn't achieve my goal. Not attacking put me behind in the count, and I felt rushed/uncomfortable."
Step 3: Now What? (The Future Action Plan)
- Goal: Create a clear, specific plan for your next practice or game.
- Focus: How can I apply this for next time? Act on what I can control.
-Skills & Habits I Need To Focus On:
-One Physical/Mental/Emotional Adjustment I Need To Make: - Examples: "I will practice mental rehearsal (imagery) consistently to see and feel myself attacking the first strike successfully."
The key to reflection is taking the time to work through the model with a purpose. You may find you prefer to write your reflection down (like a journal or practice plan), talk through the process out loud to yourself or someone else, or sit quietly by yourself and think through the reflection. Whichever way you choose, do it with intention.
Lastly, it can be helpful to know what reflection is NOT. Reflection is not replaying mistakes and emotions on a loop (called rumination), nor is it a place for self-criticism. Reflection should shift your focus from an emotional state of asking "Why did this happen to me?" to an objective, nonjudgmental "What can I learn from this?"
Reflection is also not venting. Venting is good for releasing negative emotions quickly, but reflection should be a time to process those emotions and identify any triggers for your emotions/actions.
Finally, reflection is not a guarantee for immediate success. While this skill can give you clarity and help you make better choices moving forward, it does not eliminate the need to put in the hard work to make adjustments. Ultimately, this skill will help you identify what that hard work should be.
Dr. Megan Buning is a Certified Mental Performance Consultant (C.M.P.C.) with over a decade of experience training the mental game.
References
Babauta, L. (n.d.). 5 Powerful reasons to make reflection a daily habit, and how to do it. zen habits. Retrieved from https://zenhabits.net/5-powerful-reasons-to-make-reflection-a-daily-habit-and-how-to-do-it/
Borton, T. (1970). Reach, touch and teach. Hutchinson.
Janse, B. (2024, August 1). Borton's Model of reflection (1970) explained. toolshero. Retrieved from https://www.toolshero.com/personal-development/borton-model-of-reflection/
Mardock, K. (2026). Reflection as a tool for professional growth. Johns Hopkins University: Imagine You. Retrieved from https://imagine.jhu.edu/blog/2025/01/14/reflection-as-a-tool-for-professional-growth/
Schippers, M. C., Homan, A. C., & Van Knippenberg, D. (2013). To reflect or not to reflect: Prior team performance as a boundary condition of the effects of reflexivity on learning and final team performance. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 34(1), 6-23.
