Hitting, throwing, and fielding are all awkward movements which require a lot time to develop through years of practice. The swing is not a natural movement for your body, that is why hitting is so hard, and it is even harder when you do not take the time to practice. There are few people in this world who will ever walk up, grab a bat and swing it correctly the first time. This movement requires proper technique and very fine tuned skills. This is why you must take the time and put the work in to become a good hitter. You must also get proper coaching because bad coaching will set the process back even further. Throwing and fielding are the exact same way, if you watch people just start throwing they never use their front side, most will let their hand fall to the side of the ball, and some will even step forward with their back foot while they are throwing. Again you must learn the proper way to throw and this is not only to allow you to maximize your potential, it is also to prevent injury, because improper throwing mechanics can cause serious injury. Fielding is also a learned movement, if you hit most people a ground ball they will run at it, jump stop, or stand straight up and bend at the hips instead of the knees. People will also field the ball off to the side or way too deep to be successful.
Baseball is a very hard sport to play and even harder to be successful at. You must be willing to work on your game, and in order to have the willingness to that you must have a passion for the game that makes you want to get better. Baseball has a very high drop off rate because kids fall behind the curve due to either a lack of athletic ability or a lack of work ethic. If you simply are not an athlete then I understand but if you have a poor work ethic you might as well save your time. How many times have you seen the best 12 year old player become an average or less then average player as he gets older. Or in reverse how many times have you seen an average player become the best as he gets older. This happens for two reasons, one is the players work ethic. The first player thought he was good enough so he decided to stop working hard, thus allowing everyone to catch up to him. The second player knew he could be better and decided he was going to work at his game to get the most out of his ability. The other problem is ”Greatness Syndrome”. This is a topic for another post though. Remember work hard and you will get better. Below are things you can do to insure you will get better and learn properly.
You must find a qualified coach to teach you and you must practice what that coach says often or else you will revert back to ways of moving that the body is used to but are not condusive to baseball. Watch baseball on television to see how the pros do it, surf the net for videos and blogs like this one for instructions on proper mechanics, go to camps, and get private lessons. Let me reiterate the fact that if you are not going to practice on your own do not bother going to camps and private lessons because it is just a waste of money, but if you are a dedicated baseball player and you want to get better you must use all your resources. If you have any specific questions or comments please email me at:
