Mental Approach

How many times have you heard: “The game of baseball is a game of failure – even the best hitters fail 70% percent of the time.” This statement is wrong and factually untrue yet most believe it because you’ve been told it over and over. That belief alone already puts you in a negative mental state before you ever get ...

Two real stories: I was speaking to a New York Mets scout out in the parking lot before a game.  He told me when he goes to a game to scout a player, he likes to sit in the parking lot before the game and watch for the prospect.  He went on to say that he already knows the kid ...

by Tim Keown ESPN The Magazine Jason Kidd sees more. He sees more on the basketball court, on the freeway, in the movie theater. After he and his wife watch a movie, he routinely asks her if she noticed some subtleties in the film’s background. She rarely does, even though she has learned to look for them. Reporters who have ...

Well, do you know? Let’s take a little test and find out which side of the brain you use the most. After the test I’ll explain why it’s important to know. Read the following list of words. Say the color of the word instead of the word itself. For example, if you see this: RED say “blue” which is the ...

The most important mental game concept for maximizing talent in baseball. There’s an old saying in baseball that speed never goes into a slump. Not true. In fact, the saying is completely backwards…it’s SLOW that never goes into a slump! Invariably, regardless of the level of competition, from the Big Leagues to Little League, the most important factor for producing ...

Baseball is a complicated game in many ways. Yet, as complicated as it is… it can be just as simple. It is very important for the offensive player to simplify as much of the game as possible. Especially in his thinking. Yogi Berra’s famous quote that “You can’t hit and think at the same time” should be the mantra of ...

Since we’re smack in the middle of the high drama, high stakes, atmosphere of October playoff baseball, I think it might be appropriate to share my experience with pressure situations and how I dealt with them. Make no mistake about it, baseball, whether you’re in Little League or the big leagues, is filled with stress. It’s how you handle it ...

Predicting success of Major League Baseball draft prospects is a difficult task. A multitude of factors must be  considered by baseball organizations who pore over scouting reports, stat sheets, speed gun readings and stopwatch times to find that crucial piece of information that can be used to find future stars. Physical, mental and social factors contribute mightily to which players ...

One of the great barometers for a hitter is his ability to really tee off on pitches that look like they should be crushed. You know the ones I’m talking about. Say you are watching a Major League game on the tube, your favorite team is up to bat and your favorite player is in the batter’s box. The count ...

I think there are times when hitters lose the realization that they are competing. I don’t think they place enough importance on this simple fact: You must compete against the pitcher for each and every pitch! Every single pitch he throws has one purpose; to get you out! If you are not placing the same amount of importance on each ...

When I was a freshman in high school, I was 4′ 11″ and 90lbs and when I graduated high school I was 5’8″, 140lbs. I didn’t even start as a senior in high school. I went to Golden West junior college. My freshman year, when I was 19 years old, I got 3 at bats. Thank God I grew 4 ...

Hitting is Timing. Pitching is upsetting Timing. The core of the game revolves around the hitter and the pitcher. It has, for over a century, been the most compelling aspect of the game of baseball. As a player you should recognize that this “history” essentially dictates the flow of the game between the pitcher and the hitter. When you are ...

If I told you that the only thing any coach ever cares about is your production as a ballplayer what would you say? I mean, in the end… at the end of the season… look back and tell me how productive you were with two outs and a runner in scoring position. Or, how often did you knock the runner ...

Have you ever played the game inside the game? You know… the game between the pitcher and the batter. That really is “the game”. Ok, ok, you do have to field your position, throw accurate, know all of the defensive plays, offensive plays and be a team player. But.. if you just break baseball down to its bare bones, the ...

The Strike Zone. How many hitters can actually say they go up to the plate and “know the strike zone”? What is “the strike zone”? Good question… there are many answers! Who’s “strike zone”? The Pitcher’s? The Catcher’s? The Hitter’s? The Umpires? Today? Tomorrow? Yesterday? The “strike zone” changes. It’s an amoeba. That’s one of the things that makes the ...

Tips from the Pros Cal Ripken, Sr: The Ideal Hitter The ideal hitter would probably have a combination of these qualities: strength, determination, coordination, confidence, vision, rhythm, style, body control, quick hands, and the will to learn and to take advice. The following is a list of batting tips that can help anyone become a better hitter. Select a bat ...

College Recruiting Advice: An Interview with Coach Mark Davin, American University Head Swimming Coach by Ryan Spoon, Published by USA-Swimming Ryan Spoon: What is the best advice you would give to a high school athlete hoping to compete in college? Mark Davin: The best advice I can give is for the high school athlete to search for and find the University ...

Hitters are in complete control of how well they see the ball. Nothing can interfere with how you see the ball unless you allow it. If you have a poor swing mechanically, but you see the ball well, you still have a good chance to hit the ball. Conversely, if you have a great swing, but don’t see the ball ...

1. Stance – The stance is very important. Hitters should be off their heels, knees bent a little, and be in a balanced position. This gives them the confidence in their ability to get out of the way of the ball. A hitter’s stance should allow them to have their head and eyes in good position to see the ball. ...

Seeing the ball should be as easy as it sounds, but it is not. There are obstacles to seeing the ball that interfere with the hitter’s ability to focus on such a simple task. Learning how to control these obstacles is imperative to successful hitting. The following are reasons I have found, over the course of my career, to be ...

The most important aspect in hitting a ball is seeing it. A hitter can have a perfect swing, but if he cannot see the ball he may as well be hitting blindfolded. He can have the game’s most perfect swing, but not even the greatest can make contact without first seeing what they want to hit. Simply put, hitters that ...

Here’s an excerpt from Charley’s Lau’s Book: The Brain: It Can Help and Hurt Your Hitting Ever notice when you get into a slump in any athletic endeavor the amount of people are eager to help you? Fall into a 1-for-25 slide in baseball and it seems everyone has a solution for you, from your teammates to your coach to ...

As a former college coach who now runs a baseball camp year round, I spend a lot of time talking and teaching the skill of hitting a baseball. Too many times players and coaches are too concerned with the mechanics of the swing and forget about the mental side of hitting. We can spend hours going over swing mechanics and ...

I find it interesting that so many coaches and parents are quick to change this and alter that when it comes to a young player’s hitting. Young players are advised to open their stance, close their stance, keep their elbow up, keep their elbow down, squash the bug, don’t squash the bug, keep their head in there, and on and ...

As I mentioned earlier, much of hitting is understanding the game. Baseball is a game of situations. Because baseball is a team game, a successful at-bat may not be one that results in a base hit. Your time in the on-deck circle should be used to analyze the game situation. How can you help your team when it’s your turn ...

How many of you have been in a position to win the game in your final at- bat? You know, 2 outs… bases loaded… your team losing by one run in the last inning. The other team changes pitchers as you step up to the plate. The “Big Kid” moves from first base, saunters up to the pitcher’s mound and ...

The swing is grooved, the concept of matching your swing plane with that of the pitched ball is clear and understood. The next step in the act of successfully hitting a pitched baseball is timing. Timing your swing so that it meets the ball at the proper impact point, at just the right moment. Not a moment too soon, not ...

The pitch count should have a direct impact on each swing you take at the plate. Certain pitch counts favor the hitter and certain ones favor the pitcher. Just as the smart pitcher takes advantage of the times he is “ahead in the count,” the smart hitter understands when he has the advantage. In these situations, the hitter must capitalize. ...

The proper mental attitude for a hitter is to first understand that you will fail more times than you succeed. Notice I didn’t say accept failure, I said understand that you will fail. There is a big difference between the two. To illustrate the difficulty of hitting a pitched ball, the greatest hitters that ever played the game “failed” nearly ...

Many years before our time someone looked at a round object and decided to give it a name, the circle. Time changed that circle into wheels, balls, heck we even figured out that the world itself is nothing more than a big circle. A big circle of change. Nothing stays the same for long. So it is in baseball, especially ...

Hitting, without a doubt, is the most difficult baseball skill to learn. It has even been stated that hitting a baseball is the most difficult skill to master in all of sports. The combination of trying to hit a round ball with a round bat, squarely, is a very difficult task. Add two competing human beings into the equation, the ...