December 2010
24 posts
4 tags
Setting Yourself Up For Success
Setting yourself up for success is a process that builds off of setting goals that get results. Setting yourself up for success is a goal in itself but it is made up of many smaller goals and can only happen when a player and a team are prepared.
Knowing what pitches the pitcher has, knowing how the pitcher has been pitching you and hitters like you (left or right handed), knowing what his out...
6 tags
Your Goals Should Get Results
Oftentimes when I ask a player what his goals are, he rattles off a bunch of numbers like hitting .350, hitting 10 home runs, having an onbase% of .500, etc., problem is he never tells me how he plans to reach these numbers. This is because I have asked for goals and the player gave me results. It is important that both players and coaches understand the difference. I will just list a few...
4 tags
Running A Hard 90 (Phil Tognetti)
The game of baseball lends itself to hustle. In a sport where the action is limited to brief episodes, you would think it would not be a difficult task for a player to hustle when he needs to. The game is not like basketball or hockey where there is constant movement and a player may take a play off to catch his breath. Instead, in baseball, the game is slow-paced with the occasional burst of...
4 tags
The Right Things for The Right Reasons
When you are working hard, running, lifting, swinging, taking ground ball, working on your blocking, or throwing a flat ground bull pen, the questions are who are you trying to impress and where is your drive coming from?
The answers to those questions should be yourself and within. If you are doing extra work to get praise from someone else, for example a coach, teammate, or scout you are doing...
3 tags
Persistance is the key to success.
People who are successful have one thing in common. That one thing is failure.
Failure is the best teacher and people must embrace that failure. Notice I did not say love the failure, I simply want you to embrace it. Feel it, understand it, and most of learn from it. Nobody wants to fail but everybody is going to fail, so get used to it and learn how to move on from failure because you never...
4 tags
Most Important Stat
As a high school player or even junior college transfer the most important stat is your GPA. I know this sounds like something you may have heard before, but the higher your GPA the more looks you will get. Test scores come into play as well but the GPA is the first indicator that will attract the attention of schools.
What does a good GPA do for you?
Allows schools who have higher academic...
7 tags
Coaches Must Earn Respect
“Respect needs to be earned and you earn respect by proving yourself as a leader”
Coaches and players need to understand this principle and then put it into action. I tell my guys all the time, I do not want your respects unless I earn it. Just because I am a coach does not mean you should respect me, but I am going to work hard and bust my butt to earn your respect. I am also...
6 tags
Coach's Expectations Determines Players Success
When it comes to athletics most people will live up to the expectations that are put upon them. This is a good and bad thing all at the same time because some coaches have high expectations for players and not so high for others. This is when people over achieve and under achieve. (two terms I despise)
Lou Holtz said: “Humans are capable of far more than they realize and each individuals...
2 tags
Base running: Tagging up
I was coaching a 15U summer travel team and many players were on varsity during the school year. We begin our season as soon as school ball ends, so we play our first tournament after 1 or 2 practices together. We use this time to take ground balls, work on cuts and relays, and bunt defense. What I should have worked on was tagging up.
We are in a tie game and we have a runner on third...
2 tags
Don't Believe your own Hype
It may sound like a negative statement, but telling kids not to believe their own hype is probably the best advice I or anyone can give them when it comes to baseball. I like to call it “Greatness Syndrome” and it starts from an early age. It usually starts when the kid has proven to be one of the better players on his youth baseball team and usually comes from his or her own parents. I...
5 tags
Double Play Footwork: 2B
When you watch guys on television turning two they do all sorts of different things around the bag. They jump, bare hand the ball, step back, throw for awkward angles. This is great but remember they are big league players. I am not saying you cannot do these things but what I will say is you need to master the basic footwork first.
When I work with second baseman (from 8-25) I use a basic...
2 tags
Things I learned to never do or say on the...
The following is a list of things you should never say or do on a baseball field.
“did you give me a hit for that?” (who cares you are on base, especially true when you are behind) This lesson was learned in high school (thanks to Pat McDonald).
lay down a bunt when you are up ten because you are in a slump and want to get a hit. Believe it or not the other team really frowns on this, I...
6 tags
Edited for a mistake I made
Some hitters think they are doing one thing when actually they are doing something else. I am going to post a few links that are contradicting. The first link is from a site that seems to be very trustworthy. It is conversation with Barry Bonds, and bonds is saying he swings down on the ball. Another link is one I already posted but it show he does in fact not.
The third link is George...
2 tags
You are too slow, too small, to this and that...
Everyone talks about turning negatives into positives. This goes for the athletic fields to corporate America. People will tell you in an interview to make sure you list your weakness in a positive way, which I always find hilarious, because everyone does this in interviews and the employers know they are going to do it so it seems like someone should be creative and just say you know what...
5 tags
Double play: First Baseman
The rule for the double play is, get the first out first.
Too many times I have seen a first baseman field (attempt to field) a routine ground ball with a back hand instead of squaring up to the ball.
Why?
they think it is quicker for the double play. This is true as long as they field it, but all to often the ball goes into the outfield and instead of getting an out, you now have runners on...
2 tags
Make the game fun to watch
One of the best compliments a player can receive is that he/she makes the game fun to watch. What does this mean? It means you hustle and you are always competing. You talk to the guys on the field, you stretch singles into doubles, you run out ground balls back to the pitcher and third strikes in the dirt. Being fun to watch does not mean showing off, it means playing the game the way it...
2 tags
Baseball is not a Fashion Show!!
If I could make one rule when it comes to baseball I would outlaw the accessories, or I would limit them. I have coached players who take more time to put on their wristbands, necklaces, bracelets, and other crap, then it takes to play the game. Baseball is not a fashion show, and if it was the dirtiest uniform would win. You may think that all this nonsense looks sweet, but what it tells...
2 tags
Good Read: This is part of a book I wrote (Not...
Even after my college and professional playing experience nothing beats the front yard baseball game. I became a better player in the front yard and the things I learned have stuck with me my entire life.
Let us go back to our neighborhood growing up. Do you remember when you would go outside to play with the kids on you block. I remember because I was the youngest and smallest, and if you...
2 tags
Believe and Achieve: Hard Work needed too
This is a post I wrote before but I wanted people to see it again.
If you can believe it you can achieve it, or if you can dream it you can do it…don’t stop there. See this is incomplete information and incomplete information leads people down the wrong path.
If your dream is to play Major League Baseball can you do it? sure ( it is hard as all get out but people make it). Problem is you...
2 tags
Game Speed: Part 3
Learning how to bunt can improve your batting average, on base percentage, and your teams win percentage.
Fast players especially must learn how to drag bunt. Adding this to your arsenal of ways to get on base is a must. When a player bunts the ball a lot of things happen and the are all good.
*The pitcher has to try and field the ball (this is always a good thing)
*There is a chance for the...
2 tags
Teaching Methods: Simple but Effective
This Fall I had a kid who was swinging the bat with his hands and I was trying to get him to understand he needed to let his body do more and hands do less. I had him set up and go through the load and stride then stop. I then grabbed his bat and told him to pull it forward toward the tee with his hands. He did and could not move me. Then I told him to use his body more and let the rotation...
2 tags
Teaching methods:
In response to me saying hitters need visual cues to learn, Jay Wilson says:
Sam I agree with you on trying to get the batter to understand by just talking to him. I set up marks on the ground or have someone stand in front of the batter and point a bat at his center and tell them nothing forward of this point when you swing. After they swing, we check where the weight ended up during the...
2 tags
The Swing
Jay Wilson Describes his views:
The weight moves back during the load. Some batters start with the weight back. My definition of being loaded is the hands are over the back foot. With the stride, the weight is brought back to the center of the batter with the batter’s body tilting slightly back. Once the front foot plants (heal down), there is no more forward movement of the ...
4 tags
Game Speed: Part 2
Using your speed on the bases is a must. Just like in the field this requires practice and improving your instincts.
When you hit a ball that is a sure single as a runner you need to learn how take a proper route to first base. Why? taking the proper route gives you a chance to turn a single into a double, take advantage of a bobbled ball, and helps you take a proper route to second base.
How...