Year: 2011

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How to be a smooth ball-player and impress a scout ( 2 simple baseball-tips)

So you want to get the attention of a scout on the field?

That’s easy…….just remind them of the other players they have drafted before.

When your on the field, if you can move like a player that knows what he’s doing, you’re going to get his attention.

The truth is, you don’t have to even perform well, to get him to write your name down. You just have to show him that you can:

  • Be quick and athletic
  • Calm and under control
The next part is being able to do this at game speed, under pressurre, and in key situations
But before that, you have to show them you are athletic. Call it smooth, pretty, or slick. I’m not in any way condoning show-boating, but I do mean showcasing your skills.
If you are lacking them, here they are.

Have a quick release

As the level of competition gets better, the faster each play becomes. Meaning you have less time to hit,field, or throw a baseball, and um oh yea….this “game” is a “game of inches” if you didn’t know;)

The quicker you can do a particular movement while staying under control, and within your capabilities, the more you will look like you know what you are doing, the better your projection will be and chances are the more successful you will be.

 

Be under control (Emphasis long/exaggerated movements)

A great way for a player to start implementing smooth/athletic movements is by first understanding what the correct movements are wether it’s fielding, hitting or throwing a baseball, then repeating those movements with slightly longer exaggerated movements to get a feel for the different kind of approach. I’m not a huge advocate of dissecting mechanics- instead I think it’s better to learn how to emulate successful players through observation and then copying them until you find a groove/success.

I did this by emulating big-leaguers and then getting it on tape.  I think you will find more rapid development if you understand how big-league athletes move their bodies, and apply it every day on video then “rinse and repeat.”

Take a look at any big-leaguer in practice. They move slowly. Like a tiger in a cage. Full of potential energy yet expending the least amount of it……

Be slow….be under control….be smooth…..and you’ll impress……..play ball!

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4 reasons why you should be drinking more water in baseball(Don’t forget to tell your team-mates)

Don’t let your extra work go to waste

You remember the extra 45 minutes you spent in the weight room? Well all that will go to waste! Without water your cells cannot grow, reproduce, and thrive.

Keep your baseball instincts in check

Rehydration deficiencies have been known to cause foggy thinking and a lack of focus and concentration. If you haven’t figured it out, hitting a 90 mph fast-ball isn’t easy. It takes loads of concentration. Don’t let something small as not taking the time to drink fluid keep you out of the line-up, or from helping your team win the ball game.

Don’t be that guy!

 

You know the guy….the one during batting practice who doesn’t shag. Just stands there waiting for B.P to be over. Have you ever been guilty of this? If so, did you remember rehydrating earlier in the day? Water=Life=Energy. Just a  little as a 5% drop in body water has been known to cause a significant loss of energy.

The baseball season is a marathon not a sprint. Your body will ache.

Throughout the season, you will experience wear and tear. Water promotes healthy bodily function, that stimulates the healing and recovery process. Both joint pain as well as muscle aches are directly linked to activities on the ball- field. You can possibly speed of this recovery process by incorporating your bodies natural medicine.

There you have it boys. Good luck, do work.

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1 Hitting Tip, 1 Mental Tip, and 1 Baseball food you should eat during the winter break.

Okay so for most of you, fall-ball has been done for a couple of months. Question is, have you still been training?

Or have you been playing Call of Duty, or spending a little to much time on “Face Book”?

Yea you know who you are. Guess what…..there is someone out there busting their butt. Taking extra hacks in the cage, running sprints, taking extra ground-balls, and eating the right foods to get ready for the 2012 season.

Are you going to get left behind? Are you going to struggle at the plate this season? Are you mentally prepared?

If you’re worried, don’t be…….

Here are three things that can get you back on track, and if you haven’t dropped the ball…….here are three things that will help you get ahead.

Use simple Hitting Drills to stay sharp

I’ve seen it time and time again, where seemingly over night, a hitter’s swing breaks down after they come back from the holidays.

They had a great fall or pre season, and yet for some odd reason, they seem like a completely different hitter!

A hitter’s swing can be such a delicate thing. The smallest things can offset a player’s timing or rhythm and set him up for a slow start to a new season. So it’s very important to get your swings in during down time. I can’t stress it enough.

How often should you hit?

EVERY-DAY.

I’m not talking about swinging everyday until your blisters pop like a grape, but I do mean, have the mental discipline to make hitting a priority over anything else. The great thing is it only takes 15 minutes to get loose, work on your swing, and get out of there.

The point of developing into a great hitter is knowing what brings the best results, and refining them over and over again until that becomes a foundation for your success.

Here are couple of hitting drills that you can use to stay sharp as a hitter.

Staying inside the ball
How to hit high velocities

Perfect you mental game

It’s no secret that this game is all mental. A big part of becoming a mentally tough player, one who is confident and is able to perform at his greatest potential, comes from how he views success.

Focusing on things you can control will allow you to build confidence. if your confidence is influenced in any way by things out of your control( ie Batting Average, your coache’s opinion of you, scouts in the stands, playing time) your screwed.

I promise you, create what Steve Springer calls “Daily attainable goals” in his Audio-Book “Quality At-Bats” and watch how differently you perform.

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code to get Quality At-Bats: The Mental side of hitting.

Eat baseball foods

Guys you have to eat the right foods. I know it’s the holidays, and you want to eat mom’s cooking, but make sure you’re eating things that will help you perform on the field.

If you could do just one thing different in your diet, eat less foods that are acidic, and more foods that will alkalize your body.

Here is one simple baseball food that you can eat and that is easy to make.

Why? After a work out, your body craves sugar. A banana is a great supplement for this because it will fulfill this need without giving givning acidic intake.

When? Directly after any sort of baseball related training.

Ingredients

* 2 cups raw oats
* 2 cups raisins
* 1 cup pecans
* ½ cup cut ground flax seeds
* 2 ripe bananas
* A little bit of cinnamon
* 3 tablespoons of agave nectar ( not essential)

 

There you have it guys. Three different things you can do over the holidays that will help you become a better ball player.

This won’t turn you into an all-star, but it can give you an inch, and sometimes that’s all that is nessasary.

A little goes a long way.

Good luck and happy holidays!

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5 invaluable baseball hitting tips

As hitters, we often find ourselves struggling soon after we have thought we had it figured out. The moment we think we are good, baseball reminds us of what we still have to learn. Always remember that becoming a good baseball player is a process. There is no place “to get to”, and no “destination”. There is only the journey, and the constant up-hil battle to prove your worth.

Here are 5 valuable hitting techniques that I believe will help you get there.

Know the situation 

Guys, you can have a swing sweeter than Griffey Jr’s and bat speed like Pujoles but if you don’t know what the offensive situation calls for, you’re nothing but a dressed up out. The situation dictates the game. The better instincts you have the more valuable you are to the line-up.

Think “stay throughout the ball” not “straight to the ball.” 

Thinking straight to the ball means the bat path is from where your hands are in your stance  straight to point of conact. This is wrong and though well intended, will get you in trouble as you start to face better pitching. The earlier you get into a slot, and put the bat-head on the path of the pitch, the better chance you have of hitting the ball solid.

Agreed, the quickest point between to dots is a straight line but you’re trying to hit a 90 mile fastball with some movement. Save the geometry lesson for school. The earlier you can put the bat head on the path of the pitch, the better.

Stay aggressive in hitters counts.

Listen, if as a hitter you’re ahead in the count, you have the momentum, if he’s smart, he’ll come right after you so you better be ready.

You do that by  being selectively aggressive. Key whole one pitch and one pitch only. If he throws you that pitch, you are not missing it. If he doesn’t, you’re spitten on it;)

 

Be unselfish

It’s about the team. If you can play this way you will be surprised just how effective this can be. The more you play to win instead of padding your stats, the more you will find your self in situations that you excel in. You will find that you get better pitches to hit, better bounces in the field, and more time spent on the base-paths thus more playing time. It’s funny how the more we focus on “we” and the less on “we”, the better season statistically we seem to have.

Think gap to gap not foul line to foul line.

Being a good hitter comes from having balance. Both mentally, and physically and this has a direct influence on your overall approach. A lot of hitters get into trouble by focusing to much about hitting to the opposite field so they end up getting jammed on pitches middle in. Other times a hitter thinks he has to pull the ball to be aggressive which is great but often times will struggle on anything away, soft, or breaking. The middle path is the way. Think gap to gap and you will never have to worry about mechanical flaws that cause rolling over or getting jammed. This will happen from time to time, but staying gap to gap instead of line to line will a give a hitter a better chance to makes adjustments during the pitch. What’s great about this hitting approach is that it can be working on in almost all hitting drills.