Mental approach

I just ran across an article about the "mental approach " to hitting.

This was from a guy who is really a pitching guy.

Here's what I just wrote him:


Hey **** this is Steve Englishbey ---------I just ran across an article on hitting you wrote recently.

While ,in general I agree with much of what you are saying [see ,for example what I wrote in 2007 here at Webball http://www.webball.com/cms/page3400.cfm] ,I want to focus on one thing you said :

"This is the irony of why a large percentage of hitters, who work so hard on their hitting in practice, may find it difficult to translate this hard work into a game situation."

Yes, many "work hard."

But most ---and I do mean most----do NOT work in what I consider smart and EFFECTIVE ways.

Why?

Because VERY few hitters/instructors understand the ACTUAL biomechanics/physiology of a good swing.

That being the case they do NOT have a good understanding of cause and effect relationships that help or hinder the development of of REALLY good swing.

And that being the case they[hitters /instructors] do NOT know how to go about creating the kinds of EFFECTIVE practice methods that would actually yield a better swing.

Thus ,most hitters never really improve upon their capability to swing a bat ----in a manner that allows them to continue to compete against the increasingly good pitching they will eventually run into.

Which eventually translates into a condition wherein you can have all the confidence ,mental preparedness,etc., in the world ,but if you have what I consider a poor swing plane [which is most] ,or poor swing quickness [again most ] ,you ARE going to fail at some point .

So,my argument here is pretty straightforward  .

What I'm saying is that most fail to reach their potential ,not because of mental flaws ,so to speak,but due to the fact that neither the player nor instructor really understand "how the body works" in the context of swinging a bat.

My evidence ?

Well, 15 or so years looking at instructors and their instructions ---for example ---I have yet to find A SINGLE dvd or YOU TUBE hitting instruction demo ---wherein I would say along the lines of : "ok ,this guy here really understands the dynamics of a swing in a manner that could really serve a hitter well."

Not a single one.

This includes Epstein ,Yeager, Lau ,etc.,etc. [as well as many others that one may or may not be real familiar with].

 Some are better that others of course --but none really  understand the dynamics of a kinetic chain in the context of swinging a bat.
 
Think about going to a heart surgeon who had SOME knowledge of the body.

Would you want to go to THAT guy?!

This is the current state of hitting instruction ---from little league to MLB.

A collection of guys who know SOME things -----but for the most part they do not really know enough to truly help many hitters.

steve

-------------------

When I get some time,I may add to this.

Or,if the author responds I may put it [and my response ] here .

steve

Concentration grids

October 27, 2011 by Coach McCreary  

Many players suffer from a poor ability to concentrate.  Concentration is quite a broad term.  It is obviously tied to the concept of focus.  I’ve done a number of posts about focus and what causes players to be distracted away from the thoughts and activities that truly matter on the field.  The point of this post is to provide players and coaches with an activity that can actually do something to help players get better in the area of concentration.  Telling a kid he needs to concentrate more may be obvious but it does nothing to explain what specifically he should be focusing on, for how long, or even how to actually do it better.  This activity can help.

It’s called a Concentration Grid.  The grids are a series of scrambled numbers from 00-99 (some are 1-100) on a page.  To see/print examples, click HERE.  The person doing the activity gets a designated time to X-out the numbers starting at number 01.  Basically, when the instructor says “Go,” the person turns the page over, searches for 01 and puts an X over it.  Then he searches for 02 and puts an X over that one.  The process continues onward until the time expires.  How many numbers they got to is recorded (say, 11 for example).  After a break, the person tries again by starting with the next number (12) and continues like before until time expires.  How many they found in order in that time period is again recorded.  To benefit baseball players, a good strategy to use is to keep changing the time to find the numbers.  This is valuable because there are times in baseball where longer periods of concentration are necessary such as over the course of an entire game.  However, there are times when shorter, more intense periods of concentration are needed such as when a batter tries to pick up the ball out of the pitcher’s hand and decide to swing or not.  The window of concentration is very tiny for that task.  5 seconds, 15 seconds, 30 seconds, and a minute could all be used at various stages of the activity to force the person to concentrate over different time periods which mimics what they would have to do during game conditions.

The purpose of this activity is to give the person doing it some practice in concentrating on a single task.  The more distractions, either external or internal, the harder it will be to find the next number and the longer it will take.  Grid exercises simply provide a way for people to practice blocking out everything in order to focus and concentrate.  Usually the more someone does a grid, the better they get. 

To benefit the most, multiple grids are necessary.  If the same one is used, people will begin to remember where the numbers were which obviously would alter their scores.  The link above provides three different grids for this purpose.  I’m sure others can be found online as well.

In school, students with concentration issues commonly get accommodations like increased time to get work done or take tests.  Of course, there are no accommodations for these kids when it comes to baseball or any other sport.  They either learn to concentrate better on what they need to or their playing career will be very short.

Concentration grids are a good way to help these kids and others to improve and hopefully keep them playing longer with more success.

Baseball Showcases: A Great Way to Waste Money and Get Injured

Baseball Showcases: A Great Way to Waste Money and Get Injured

Written on March 26, 2010 at 4:04 am, by Eric Cressey

Q: I read your blog here the other day about your “ideal competitive year” for a baseball player.  What’s your take on showcases and college camps?  They always occur during the “down periods” you mentioned: fall ball and the early winter.  How do these fit in to a baseball player’s development?

A: To be blunt, while there are some exceptions to the rule, they rarely fit into development. In reality, they usually feed into destruction – at least in the context of pitchers.  I openly discourage all our young athletes and parents from attending them almost without exception.

I know of very few showcase directors and college baseball coaches who legitimately understand anatomy, physiology, the etiology of baseball injuries, the nature of adolescent development, or motor skill acquisition.

Showcase directors specialize in promoting and running showcases.  College coaches specialize in recruiting players, developing talent, planning game and practice strategy, and winning games.  To my knowledge, understanding scapulohumeral rhythm and the contributions of a glenohumeral internal rotation deficit (GIRD) to SLAP lesions via the peel-back mechanism isn’t all in a day’s work for these folks.

The fundamental issue with these events is their timing.  As you noted, they almost always occur in the fall and winter months.  Why?

1.  It’s the easiest time to recruit participants, as they aren’t in-season with their baseball teams.

2. It’s not during the college baseball season – so fields and schedules are open and scouting and coaching man-power is free.

You’ll notice that neither #1 or #2 said “It’s the time of year when a pitcher is the most prepared to perform at a high level safely.”  It is just profitable and convenient for other people – and that occurs at the expense of many young pitchers’ arms.

In 2006, Olsen et al. published a fantastic review that examined all the different factors associated with elbow and shoulder surgeries in pitchers by comparing injured pitchers (those who warranted surgery) with their non-injured counterparts.  Some of the findings of the study:

-Pitchers who eventually required surgery threw almost EXACTLY twice as many pitches as the control group (healthy pitchers) over the course of the year…from a combination of pitches per outing, total outings, and months pitched per year.  For those of you who think your kid needs to play on multiple teams simultaneously, be very careul; add a team and you instantly double things – at least acutely.

-The injured pitchers attended an average of FOUR times more showcases than non-injured kids.
-Interesting aside:  injured pitchers were asked what their coaches’ most important concern was: game, season, or athlete’s career.  In the healthy group, they said the coach cared about the game most in only 11.4% of cases. In the injured group, it was 24.2%!  These crazy little league coaches are often also the ones running the showcases…

The big problem is that these issues usually don’t present until years later.  Kids may not become symptomatic for quite some time, or pop NSAIDs to cover up the issues.  They might even go to physical therapy for a year before realizing they need surgery.  It’s why you see loads of surgeries in the 16-18 year-old population, but not very often in 15 and under age groups.

So why are appearances like these in the fall and winter months so problematic?  Well, perhaps the best way I can illustrate my point is to refer back to a conversation I had with Curt Schilling last year.

Curt told me that throughout his career, he had always viewed building up his arm each year as a process with several levels.

Step 1: Playing easy catch
Step 2: Playing easy catch on a line
Step 3: Building up one’s long toss (Curt never got onto a mound until he’d “comfortably” long-tossed 200 ft.)
Step 4: Throwing submaximally off a mound
Step 5: Throwing with maximum effort off a mound
Step 6: Throwing with maximum effort off a mound with a batter
Step 7: Throwing with maximum effort off a mound with a batter in a live game situation
Step 8: Opening day at Fenway Park in front of 40,000+ people

Being at a showcase in front of college coaches and scouts with radar guns is Step 8 for every 14-16 year old kid in America.  And, it comes at the time of year when they may not have even been throwing because of fall/winter sports and the weather.  Just to be clear, I’ll answer this stupid question before anyone asks it: playing year-round and trying to be ready all the time is NOT the solution.

I can honestly say that in all my years of training baseball players, I’ve only seen one kid who was “discovered” at a showcase.  And, frankly, it occurred in December of his junior year, so those scouts surely would have found him during high school and summer ball; it wasn’t a desperate attempt to catch someone’s eye.

I’ll be honest: I have a lot of very close friends who work as collegiate baseball coaches.  They’re highly-qualified guys who do a fantastic job with their athletes – but also make money off of fall baseball camps.  I can be their friend without agreeing with everything they do; there is a difference between “disagree” and “dislike.”

Fortunately, the best coaches are the ones who go out of their way to make these events as safe as possible, emphasizing skill, technique, and strategy improvements over “impressing” whoever is watching.  So, it’s possible to have a safe, beneficial experience at one of these camps.  I’d encourage you to find out more about what goes on at the events in advance, and avoid throwing bullpens if unprepared for them.

As far as showcases are concerned, I’d encourage you to save your money and go on a family vacation instead.