This story is part of Peak, The Athletic’s desk covering the mental side of sports. Sign up for Peak’s newsletter here.Spencer Strider used to search for answers almost exclusively in the tangible parts of pitching: mechanics, velocity, execution.Now, as he’s working through yet another return from injury, the Atlanta Braves starter talks just as much about the space between pitches and the way he manages his mind; the ability to control frustration and keep perspective when bad feelings linger.For someone wired to obsess over details and search for deeper answers, his mental process has become as consuming — and as important — as the physical work itself.“The true root to everything for me — the success that I’ve had and the things I’ve been able to overcome and the problems I’ve been able to solve — is that I just want it really badly,” Strider said.“And I know that sounds kind of dramatic, but I want to get to the root of everything.”Sometimes that need for answers has gotten in the way. He admits he can be “kind of neurotic” and “a bit OCD.” But he’s tried to channel it, using a diverse set of five mental tools that have made him more adaptable and, in some ways, more confident than before.Objective vs. subjective thinkingEarlier in his career, if someone hit a double off him, Strider’s immediate reaction would be something like: Great. Now I have to strike out the next three hitters. I have to fix this.He now describes that as emotional, subjective thinking.Objectively, all that actually happened is a runner made it to second base.Over time, Strider has trained himself to separate the event from the emotion attached to it. Instead of letting his perfectionism distort the moment, he tries to evaluate the situation simply as it is, not as his mind wants to interpret it.One way he does that is by mentally stepping outside himself and replaying the situation from a third-person perspective, almost like he’s watching someone else pitch.That shift helps him process what happened more clearly and objectively, which he’s found leads to more control.“I think it brings you back to the present moment,” he said, “and centers you a little bit.”Internal vs. external focusStrider said that when he looks back on his best performances, he was not internally focused on mechanics during any of them.“Your body can’t move at the speed necessary if you’re internally focused,” he said. “If you’re trying to direct your front leg or think about where your arms are moving.”