Guess Hitting: Right or Wrong?

Hey Guys,

A topic that comes up a lot during hitting discussion is whether to guess the pitch that is coming or whether to sit fastball and react to the off speed pitches.  The fact of the matter is that it depends on the count, the tendencies of the pitcher, and how you are hitting the baseball at the time.

In regards to count, you need to guess fastball in fastball counts, because guessing right results in BOMBS.  Counts where you are ahead are 0-0, 1-0, 2-0, 3-0, and 3-1.  Sit on the fastball in those counts and punish it.  If he throws off speed spit on it. (Unless it hangs, then crush it.)

You also have to take a look at the pitchers tendencies.  If you see him throwing a certain pitch on certain counts, then get ready for it.  Hitting the baseball is a whole lot easier when you know what's coming.

The last thing you need to think about is how you are hitting at the time.  Do you always hit the fastball well?  Do you always crush hanging curves or do you look like a fool every time the pitcher goes off speed?  These are things you need to think about when you're guessing and making a plan at the plate.

Obviously, if you guess wrong you need to not swing or make an adjustment.  ONLY GUESS IN COUNTS THAT YOU WON'T BE HURT IF YOU'RE WRONG!  My recommendation would be to not guess on two strike counts.

Tip of the Day: Work on your guessing in the batting cage and try to study the tendencies of pitchers each time you watch baseball.

Until Next Time!

3 Drills You Need to Do That You Aren't

Hey Guys,

Real quick today, I wanted to give you three drills to improve your game.  They are very simple and you've heard of them, but you HAVE to start doing them.

1. The Wall Drill- Take your bat from your belly button and touch the bat to a wall in front of you.  Proceed to take a swing and not hit the wall. This drill forces you to stay inside the baseball.

2. The Patty Cake Drill- Stand sideways with a wall behind you and get into throwing position. Take your arm back as if you are throwing and high five the wall. This forces you to get your arm in proper position to throw.

3. Face Off- Get a partner or a wall and a  tennis ball. Get into a squat and hold it as you toss the ball off the wall as fast as you can.  This works your soft hands and hand eye coordination.

These drills are very simple but if you commit to doing them for fifteen minutes a day you will improve at all the aspects of your game.

Tip of the Day: When doing the wall drill make sure you keep your back shoulder down on the swing so your not cheating and pulling off to make sure your bat doesn't hit the wall.

Until Next Time!

"The Game Knows"

Hey Guys,

Okay so I've been doing a lot of baseball lately and haven't gotten to write much but let me just first say, I love all of the activity going on with your posts.  You all really care about the game of baseball and I think it's awesome.

All right enough of the gooey stuff, let's talk about baseball.  Do you ever notice that everyone, sooner or later, gets what they deserve in the game of baseball?  I'm a big proponent of, "The game knows".  Baseball knows if you work hard or don't.  Baseball knows if you want to be there or not.  Baseball knows if the umpire messed up and so on and so on.  The game always self corrects.

This being said, I hope it is motivation for you to go out and respect the game 100% every single time because if you don't the game will know and you will pay for it.

I was at a game the other day and I'm sitting in the stands watching a team pound the other.  It's 7-0 and the team that is winning lays down a bunt for a hit.  Obviously I'm not happy about that and I don't have a kid on either team.  It was completely disrespectful to the game.  Can you guess what happened next?  The player got picked off first base the very next pitch.  It was a perfect example of, "The game knows."

Another example that I have is a pitcher warming up.  The coach says to him, "You don't look like you want to be here today."  The player responds, "I don't," and walks away.  That first inning he got shelled and gave up 8 runs.

If you're playing baseball for any other reason besides the fact that you love the game, then you need to rethink playing.

I challenge you this week to go to a baseball game and watch one of the baseball players disrespect the game.  After you find your example, watch the game pay him back at some point.  Leave your stories on my blog.  We need to reteach everyone how to respect the game of baseball, before it is played for all the wrong reasons.

Until Next Time!

The Art of the Blow Up

Hey Guys,

Why don't we talk about coaching blow ups today.  Believe it or not there is a time to flip on your team, but there is also an art to doing it.

You must demand respect and discipline from your team, but you must also show them that you have their backs.

The time to freak on your team is not when they strike out or make an error, it's when they disrespect the game of baseball.  A great example of this is a player going into a base with his cleats high.  You don't let him get away with something like this.  When he gets back in the dugout, you light him up.

There's a misconception here, however.  Lighting a player up does not mean to degrade him or tear him down as a player or person.  It means to show passion for the game.  If you can show passion for the game with your attitude, you will win more baseball games because your players will have more passion for the game... Only if you also have their backs.  Which means, if a player goes into YOUR second basemen with his spikes high, you have to get fired up and show them that you have their backs.

Passion like this will create a camaraderie that will help your team overcome obstacles that other teams aren't able to overcome.

The teams that fail are the teams with coaches that freak out on their team and never have their teams' back.  They tear down their own players and never admit that they are wrong about anything.

On the other side a team with zero discipline and passion for the game will fail in the long run too.  The problem with a lot of teams today is that most coaches are one of these two extremes.

Obviously parents are a big problem when it comes to getting on kids, but if you do it the right way and still have the kid's back, the parents will enjoy the team camaraderie and winning... trust me.

If you are a coach on either of these two spectrums that I've wrote about today, you know who you are.   Consider this me calling you out as a cancer to the game of baseball.  In no way am I saying that you are a bad person or that you can't  change your ways.  Changing your ways will not only make your kids better baseball players, but it will also make them much better human beings.

Tip of the Day: Respect the game and it will respect you back.

Until next Time!

The Dreaded Post Game Speech

Hey guys,

Today I've got a coaching post.  I was recently watching a game where at the end of the game the coach stood in the outfield and went over the game play by play with his players.  If you are "that guy", please stop it, because quite honestly it's a colossal waste of time.  No kid wants to listen to the play by play.  If you win, you could care less what you did wrong and if you lose, you don't want to think about all the things that went wrong, because it's still a little sour.

This begs the question of what a coach should talk about after the game.  Let's first talk about when to address mental and physical errors.  DURING THE GAME!!!  You are a coach not a baby sitter.  This doesn't mean sit in the dugout and freak out every time something doesn't go your way.  Just offer slight bits of insight to help the players elevate their game.  You cannot do this after the game, because the players are just thinking about where the party is at or what mom made for dinner.

Now let's talk about the actual post game speech.  Make it a quick overview of the game.  Name one or two things they did well and one or two things they could work on.  Do not be boring, and do not be overly positive or negative.  The players have to see you as a good example of what a baseball attitude should be.

If your team happens to win the game, do not hound the kids with things they need to work on.  This is the biggest thing I've learned in my coaching career.  Nobody at any level wants to sit there and listen to all the things they did wrong when they're trying to celebrate a win.  If your team loses, still do not hound them about the things they did wrong.  Try to encourage them that the season is long and that things can turn around in a hurry.

Tip of the Day: The best coaches find the very perfect balance of discipline, intensity, and encouragement and put it all together for the perfect winning potion.

Until Next Time!

College World Series Predictions

Hey guys,

Let's start picking our winners for the college world series.  I realize the super regionals aren't done, but use your baseball knowledge and make a pick.  The winner gets a pat on the back.  Post your predictions on my page!

3 Keys To Success At Any Level

Hey guys,

I was watching a few major league games and am astounded at the number of strikeouts that occur in Major League Baseball this day in age.  It led me to thinking of the keys to being successful at any level in baseball: Throwing strikes, putting the baseball in play, and making the plays defensively.  These things aren't addressed, they're just thought of as things that should magically happen.  I don't care if you're five or in the major leagues you have to work on throwing strikes to throw strikes, you have to work on putting the ball in play to put the ball in play, and you have to work on making the plays defensively to make the plays defensively.

Throwing Strikes: I was watching a high school game this past week and watched a right handed pitcher who threw 77mph pitch a complete game shutout and toy with the best hitter in the state.  The reason he was able to have this success was that he pitched ahead.  Once you're ahead, you can go anywhere you want.  You are in control.  This takes tremendous work on learning to command all of your pitches.  As a coach, you cannot just say, "Ehh, he doesn't have very good control of his curveball."  Make him work to control it!!!  See my point?  It's something that his obvious, but isn't addressed.

Putting the Ball in Play:  IF YOU STRIKE OUT, YOU DON'T GET ON BASE.  IF YOU DON'T GET ON BASE, YOU DON'T SCORE.  IF YOU DON'T SCORE, YOU DON'T WIN.

Making the Plays: This just comes down to fundamentals.  Constant repetition is the only way to be successful at this more often.  The best teams make the least errors.

When it comes down to it, these are the three keys to being successful at any level of baseball.  The game really is simple.  You just have to let it be simple.  So when you're making your lineup as a coach or in fantasy baseball, or in a video game, ask yourself which players do these things the best and you will have the best lineup possible.

Tip of the Day: Being a coach, I'm partial to coaching tips.  Sorry.  Have your players practice these three things by making them more difficult in practice.  Speed everything up to unrealistic speeds, put players in impossible situations, and make them think at a higher level than they should be able to.  This allows the game to become easy.

Until Next Time!