BASEBALL TIPS 

What can I do outside of baseball to improve ? - I am often asked how to improve.  There is the standard answer, practice.  This is not practical 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, however.  There are several ways to improve outside of baseball- specific practice.  Obviously, you should be hitting, throwing, and pitching.  I prescribe less common ways to improve.  I strongly suggest stretching, jumping rope, sprints, long-distance running, reading/studying baseball information, and my favorite and best kept secret - TAKE KARATE or any other form of martial arts.  This helped me more than anything else done off of the field.  A player learns discipline, flexibility, quickness, reaction, balance, among others.  The biggest gain is through the use of explosive rotational energy.  The throwing and hitting motions both involve your body rotating around an axis.  This is practiced, developed, and improved through martial arts drills.  There are so many benefits to this form of exercise, I suggest it to any one who will listen.  Take a class without obligation.  Many studios will allow for a "test class".  If you find it enjoyable, keep taking.  You will have newfound confidence, balance, quickness, explosion and more importantly - these will all be beneficial to your baseball game.

Mental Training for Baseball -   Nobody seems to take the time to stress the importance of positive thinking.   Let me give you a few examples of how powerful the power of positive thinking is.   Assume that you have gone five for five off a particular pitcher in the past.   Now assume that you are facing this same pitcher today.  Before the game even starts you are already thinking to yourself, "How many hits am I going to get today.   It really depends on how many at-bats I get.  This guy can't get me out.   I could hit this pitcher in my sleep."  You are thinking positive, and chances are that you will experience success again.  Now take the other extreme.   You have struck out off of a particular pitcher every previous at-bat.  You start thinking, "I hope I don't face this guy again.  He throws too hard.   I will just strike out again.  I can't hit this guy."  You know what?  You have already given up on yourself and you are doomed to fail.  You can't fall into this trap.  You should approach every at-bat thinking your are going to get a hit.  You may not be sure if it will be a single, double, triple, or homerun - but you are going to get a hit.  With this mind-set, you are sure to succeed more often than not.  Have fun, play hard, but most importantly - believe in yourself.  You will hit this turkey.  All you have to do is swing a strikes and take bad pitches.

Summer Conditioning - What to do in the off-season (summer) in order to be better prepared for the upcoming season.  There are several things to consider.  Take an honest look back at this past season and determine what you did well and where your problem areas are.  Too often players practice what they are good at, and neglect their problem areas.  Have a plan or goal in place for your summer workouts.  Areas that are important enough to be strongly considered are:   strength training, batting practice, improving arm strength, improving defensively, becoming better conditioned, learning a new defensive position, improving foot speed, etc.   Pick a topic or topics and concentrate your efforts there.  Ideally, you would improve in each category - but strive to really improve in a few.  A special note to those that focus on strength training - be sure to include flexibility training (stretching) into you routine.  It will do you no good to become stronger if you become slower and less flexible.  Try to play some baseball this summer.  Sure, play football, soccer, basketball, or anything physically active, but be sure to get some game-like situations under your belt this summer.  That experience will pay off greatly next season.  Enjoy the summer and the "down time".  Just don't waste such a valuable time when it comes to improving your baseball game.

Are you feeling the pressure of try-outs?   This is the time of year that schools and youth league programs are conducting try-outs.  This can be a very stress-filled process.  It shouldn't be.  You have worked hard this off-season (or you should have).  You are a season bigger, faster, stronger, and experienced.  Treat try-outs just like you would a practice or game.  It is supposed to be fun.  Now, all the associated running may not seem like fun - but it will be when it is all over.  Do the absolute best you can do.   Try as hard as you can.  But don't put added pressure on yourself by worrying about your performance or the coaches' evaluation.  If your best isn't good enough, you can accept that.  But, if you don't perform at your best because you were worrying, it would be a shame to have that affect your selection or elimination.   Baseball is a game.  Go play as hard as you can during try-outs.  The coaches will select who they want to.  You can't have any influence by worrying.

How far do you try to hit the ball? This is an important question, especially for the youth-league player. If you try to generate great height and distance - you actually produce a fly ball with top-spin. Fly balls are caught for outs and the top-spin actually limits the distance your ball will travel. You should not be trying to hit the ball high and far - you should be trying to hit the ball hard through the middle of the field. This is a tough goal especially among competitive friends. You will have to be disciplined enough to try to hit the ball on a line, rather than in the air. The bat is in your hands. You have control over the flight of the ball. Yes, you can take a perfect swing and be slightly under the ball and pop it up as a result. But, this will happen frequently if the bat is upper-cutting through the contact zone. If the bat is coming relatively level through the contact zone, the ball will leave the bat on a line more often. Remember, line drives and ground balls can find holes for base hits, whereas fly balls are usually outs - this is especially so the higher up the baseball ladder you climb.

This is the time of year to practice. You have the chance for repetition during the off-season. Practice getting your bat down to, and long and level through, the contact zone. This swing plane will produce more line drives and back spin. This back spin will enable you to get maximum distance for your bat speed.

What position do you play? This is a question that I hear a lot of people ask youth league players. It certainly is a valid question - although the answers oftentimes scare me, especially when I hear the parents answer for the player. The father/mother will say something along the lines of, "Little Johnny is a shortstop." But, they mean to say that Little Johnny plays shortstop and shortstop only. That is all well and good. Usually this doesn't result in a well-rounded player, however. I encourage youth league players to play a variety of positions (a main focus of most Fall League Programs). After all, infielders must catch fly balls and outfielders must field ground balls.

Personally, I played first or third base (when I didn't pitch) throughout my youth league career. Think of yourself (or child). You (they) are a one position player. The high school or college that you would like to attend and play for already has an older player established at that position. It would be nice to say to the coach, "Yes, I play shortstop, but I can also play third, second, or the outfield." The coaches thought process then becomes, "His bat is strong enough that I want him in my batting lineup. He is flexible enough defensively to play a variety of positions. There is no way for him to be left out of the lineup. He is an everyday starter." That would be a nice set of circumstances.

Learn to play a variety of positions. Baseball is just like life. The more you are able to do, the more valuable you become to the team.

Where is your 'mental approach' aimed when it comes to your baseball swing ? This is a confusing question to ask. I want to know simply, "Where are you trying to hit the ball?" The correct answer would be - "I am trying to hit the ball where it is pitched." My next question is this, "Do you know where the pitcher is going to locate the pitch before the pitch is thrown?" No, you do not. Therefore, you (as the batter) must have a mental approach prior to the pitch being thrown. All too often, this mental approach is directed deep, to the pull-side of the baseball field. This is commonly the approach of an aggressive hitter. If you actually get the pitch you are looking for, you have a chance to be successful. There is a problem with this over-aggressiveness, however. The hitter is very successeptable to located pitches away. A hitter has to give up something in order to take better advantage of something else. Today, I challenge you to refocus your 'Mental Approach'.

Focus on hitting the baseball hard, through the middle of the field. This does not mean that when you get a pitch inside that you are to "guide" the ball through the middle. It simply means that you are gearing up to hit the pitch up the middle. If you are looking for a fastball thrown down the middle of the plate, you can adjust and react to anything any different the pitcher throws. If you recognize location away, let the pitch come to you and drive the ball up the middle or the other way. If you recognize a pitch located inside, simply make contact a little sooner (get the bat head out), and drive the baseball up the middle or to the pull-side of the field. If you recognize an off-speed pitch, you must wait back and let the pitch come to you. When it does, take the bat to and through the ball and drive the ball, where it was pitched.

Be careful not to get too aggressive. When you recognize pitch type and location, drive the ball accordingly. Good luck !

Taking Batting Practice with Regards to Velocity: The most important aspect of batting practice should be your consistent results. You need not concern yourself with how far you can hit one ball. You should concern yourself with how often can you hit a line drive from gap to gap. A common mistake that I see young players make is the desire to take batting practice off of the most velocity they can handle. All too often I see players come into the batting cages and crank the machine up as high as it will go. It is as if they have to prove to their friends, parents, or teammates that they can "handle the hard stuff". A player would benefit a lot more if they would adjust the speed to the point where they thought it was actually too slow. Now you are thinking that does not sound right at all. But hear me out. If you think the pitch is being thrown too slow, ask yourself a question. Is the ball being thrown too slow or am I swinging too early? Think about that for a moment...Do you accuse a pitcher of throwing his change-up or curve ball too slow? Do you challenge a pitcher to "put a little something on that change-up"? If you did, you would sound ridiculous. The pitcher is trying to get you out by keeping you off balance. He keeps you guessing as to his velocity. Now think about how you approach practice. If all you condition yourself to hit are fastballs, do you stand a good chance of being successful against off-speed pitches? If you were pitching to yourself, what would you throw in order to get you out? If you will practice hitting baseballs pitched too slow as well as practicing against velocity, you will give yourself a better chance of being successful in game situations. Think about what goes on when you hit a pitch thrown "too slow". You get ready to hit (see pre-pitch movement, below), then your eyes and brain tell your hands to fire and start the actual swing. If you are hitting only fastballs, you do not get accustomed to identifying the pitch and its location. By taking batting practice against all speeds, including those you believe are too slow, you will increase your success rate against all types of pitches that you will encounter in an actual game.

Pre-Pitch Movement : This baseball term refers to a movement BACK (away from the pitcher) prior to taking a stride and swinging. This movement may be with the front knee, hands, or with the hitter's entire center of gravity. Why is this an important component of the overall swing ? It helps to store and achieve power. A common comparison is to a boxing punch. Would you have more power with a quick jab by only moving your hand forward, or by raring BACK and throwing a haymaker ? Another comparison may be made to the golf swing. Could you imagine how short the tee shots would be if a golfer only moved the club FORWARD from address ? The result wouldn't even compare to the distance generated when a golfer takes a back swing.

The above pictures demonstrate a pre-pitch movement. This movement is exactly what it seems. Movement as a hitter, prior to the pitch being thrown. The batter is getting ready to hit. Notice the weight transfer to the back side and the small movement BACK of the hands. The first picture is an initial stance. The second picture was taken after the initial stance and just prior to the stride foot moving towards the pitcher. Remember, this is a movement BACK. To come forward with your body when your stride foot moves would defeat the purpose of getting back. Every hitting coach will use the phrase "stay back", but few are able to communicate to a hitter just how to stay back.  Pictured below is a hitter that "came forward" with his stride foot, and did not stay back.

Notice how much weight is forward of center. Not a strong position to start the swing
 from.

This is commonly referred to as a "trigger", "start", "coil", or "load" by other hitting instructors. Again, there is not a right or wrong term to describe this action. I would strongly urge you to analyze your swing and determine if it includes a correct pre-pitch movement. If you have a movement back (away from the pitcher), keep up the good work ! If you start your swing with a forward movement out of your initial stance, your power is considerably less than your maximum potential. In addition, you will have much more success against off-speed pitches.

There is a great baseball drill to learn and emphasize the importance of pre-pitch movement. It is called the Throw back and Throw through Drill . This drill can be done from a batting tee, side-toss, or soft-toss. A hitter that has no movement back should be started with this drill off the batting tee. The drill is set-up and executed like this: The batter assumes his normal, comfortable, and relaxed stance. He then points the barrel end of the baseball bat towards the ball resting on the tee (almost touching it). It is very important that the batter's hands and arms are loose and relaxed. From this position the batter "throws" his hands and bat away from the ball and back over his shoulder (away from the pitcher). This movement is very similar to the beginning movement in a golf swing. In one continuous motion, the batter brings his hands and bat forward THROUGH the ball after reaching a point over the back shoulder.

The hitter should see and feel a tremendous advantage to swinging the bat in this fashion. Once the batter can duplicate this movement with rhythm and balance from the batting tee, it is time to move on to a side or soft-toss drill. With these drills, there is an element of timing involved as well. The hitter should realize that this movement would be impossible during game conditions. You need to remember that this is a drill that over-emphasizes the movement back (away from the pitcher). Now the hitter has to discover his own way of getting back. Every hitting coach tells you to stay back. But first you have to get back in order to stay back. This method of getting back depends on the individual. Some hitters (Frank Thomas and Juan Gonzalas) have a big leg-kick and raring back of the body. Some hitters have a smaller (Cal Ripken, Chipper Jones) pre-pitch movement. A batter needs to do something back to get started. This movement may be with the hands, legs, body lean, or combination. Notice that the hitters mentioned above are all quality hitters. Everybody has their own way of getting back, but this movement back (in some form), is something that all good hitters have. Find this correct movement given your own style and incorporate it into your swing. Keep swinging and hit The BALL!

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