It's Just a Game

 I love baseball. I know how to play and coach it but the best perspective, which allows me to enjoy the game way more and just have fun. NO ONE CARES. It's a stupid game. If you win or lose it doesn't matter unless you are getting paid and want to make more money. If you hit 4 home runs or strike out 4 times, the world continues to rotate. You only get to Lace them up for a limited amount of time in your life. Control what you can control and have fun competing. Be present on the field. Whats the score, count and number of outs? As Bill says, " Do your Job" on that pitch. 

Change Timing in the cage

We create "5 o'clock hitters" guys that are great hitters in batting practice but struggle to adjust in the game. In practice coaches tell the hitter to "be on time" and congratulate them when they execute a "timed up swing." However, the way to be a great hitter is having the ability to be early or late and still make solid contact. In practice we need to mix pitches and speeds so the hitter can learn how to adjust when he is early or late. The reality is in the game you are not on time very often but in a normal batting practice you are. Your players will initially be very uncomfortable with you mixing pitches and speeds but continue to remind them that we are not trying to be the best cage hitter, we are trying to get our swings ready for the game.

Balk No Seriously Balk

If you want to pick off runners the best way is to balk. Now there is a way to do this. Baserunners are told two key things with pitchers. Right Handers: when you raise your left heal. Left Handers: Once the pitcher's right foot crosses the rubber he has to go home. That just isn't true. They never call balks for this. The only time they call balks is if you don't come to a stop and if a lefty steps to home and then throws it to first. That's it.

WS 2009 Gm1: Lee makes two plays look easy

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One of my favorite clips of body language. Talk about being confident and in the moment on baseball's  biggest stage. Most players do not appreciate the significance of the message you send to your opponent during a game. 

The Basics

Infield:
you field the ball off your left leg with one hand, you only use two hands if you are turning a double play. You read where the ball bounces in front of homeplate. If it hits in the dirt it will have different spin than the grass. you want a short or long hop everytime. You bring the ball right to your ear and then you reach out and try to touch the first baseman glove.
Outfield
catch it before it hits the ground with one hand (more catch area radius) you hit the cutoff man every time. throw the ball firm but to the cutoff man, if he wants to let it go let him make that decision. If it is a can of corn make it look like you are bored when you catch it
Pitching
Pressure on fingers is way more important than actual position of fingers on ball. you break your hands as late as you can and swing your arm as close to your body as you can, behind you. When you break your hands kick your foot forward. when you land your front shoulder should still be pointed at the target for separation. You hold onto the ball as long as you can and when you finish you try to punch the dirt at the bottom of the mound because that makes you throw the ball down hill not reach out to the catcher because that makes your pitches flat.

Don't step closed

Most amateur players step closed, try stepping even or open, just keep your front shoulder on the ball. You need to use your hips to maximize the turn of the barrel. The picture above is from the Allstar game and even though the ball is away, Springer rotates his belt buckle to the pitcher at contact which maximizes the use of the lower half to generate speed into the barrel. One exercise to use is the step over stretch, where you lift your leg as you walk, over an imaginary rope around your waist. Do this forward, backward and side ways to help build flexibility in hips. The less flexible you are the more you should step open during your load. If you are going to step closed you need to stand off the plate so that there is no strike that is actually in but with high school and college strike zones I don't recommend this because the ball of the plate away is consistently called a strike. Focus on striding straight forward or even open while keeping your front shoulder on the ball as long as you can. Striding closed is #1 thing I consistently see in amateur swings that is hurting the development of the swing but with focus can be relatively easy to fix. 

Baseball is 99% mental

Confidence is #1

Game of failure, mentally have to deal with the inevitable failure. Don’t ignore it, figure out how you are going to deal with it. Your ego needs to accept it, its part of the game.

Consistency is #2

If you do your work consistently your body learns how to repeat the action

Your stats only matter at the end of the year, 

Learn how to compete on that pitch WIN, “What’s important now”

Be the dominant person in the relationship/matchup by how you act. When you succeed act like it was inevitable, when you fail act like you did it on purpose.

Play Screw it baseball, allows you to play without fear of failure. “Getting the outcome you want increases when you let go of the need to have it.”

Baseball is 99% mental, can you stay confident through failure. You can act like you hit a homer your last ab every time you go up to hit. “Act like the player you want to become until you become the player you act like.”

Have to control your thoughts to be good at baseball

Have to play baseball with an internal quiet edge that allows you to compete against another guy with a reason. Ask yourself, “why do you play baseball, what are you trying to do in the game?”