Monster Slump.
Coach says: "Make an adjustment."
Player's decision: Not touch a bat for a week and then "Not think about anything the next time I hit in a game. Just see the ball and hit it. Don't think about anything."
Good or bad approach?
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So the player, after taking a week off because he knows he's in a deep slump, will get in the box a week later and just turn off his brain? If it were that easy just tell him to turn off his brain for his next at-bat and save the week. I've seen my son in two of these types of hitting slumps and it took something positive to happen to break the streak- a fluke hit was one, a walk stole second base and scored the winning run the second time. Many kids just get in their own heads. Keep with the reps is my take.
Take a day off and clear your head. Good move. Take a week off and your losing ground.
Day 2 start with the extreme basics off a tee. At older ages, you should have a checklist of where your body parts should be. Stride direction, open, closed, even. Where is your body weight at landing? Forward, back, ... Have you changed your load? Hand position at start and load. Just get back to where is feels right and the ball is doing what it should.
Next you start on timing issues. Front toss, ....
If the basics are solid, start looking at your approach at the plate. Are you swinging at strikes? Are you letting good pitches go buy and getting stuck in bad counts? Did you get "pull happy" and get beat on the outside.
The Mental Side of Baseball says "see the ball." Ignore what happened before and don't worry about what happens next. See the ball. Very Zen. Ted Williams says get a good ball to hit and hit it.
Put the work in and confidence grows. You may find an aha moment that gives you the belief that you fixed it. It's that belief that may fix it.
I ain't in no slump, I just ain't hittin'.
If a player isn’t swinging well tee work and BP is the solution. But it has to be with a positive attitude. It can’t be with a woe is me attitude.
When my son wasn’t swinging his best he bunted his way on. It brought the corners up opening the hitting lanes. Now hard grounders were more likely to go through the infield. Of course, you have to be able to bunt and have the speed to beat it out.
Once the hitter has a couple of hits no matter how cheap he feels he’s hitting again. Baseball is 90% mental. The other half is physical.
Unless there is an injury, a week off may not be the best practice for a slump buster, it really depends on your hitter. Your practices at this point is with focus (tee to reonforce or improve mechanical issues, front and machine for timing). The only game time "thinking" is watching/analyzing the pitcher for timing and tells (pitch sequence patterns, anything to indicate a specific pitch, etc). In the hitting game a microsecond of doubt or paralysis by over analysis can be disastrous given the variables in hitting. I think (and hope) evaluators also place weight in the approach and the result. For my kid he has been hitting the ball hard at his games and camps but they were mostly at the defense or it kissed the stratosphere. His best hit he got at the latest tourney was a hard oppo flyner (combo fly/liner) in the gap which the LF made a great jump on and it hit the tip of his glove...so it could be an error. He is taking today off as it was a rough week with the heat and he also went to a camp in the middle of a tourney so he is shot. He will resume tomorrow with tee and timing by mixing more high 70s to 80s as he believes he is way too early on them. That is part of the grind. So far the feedback on his hitting performance in live ABs at the camps has been positive despite the poor results.
The answers will be found on the T and in approach during the AB. Don’t over do it, 50 or 60 swings off the T every day just a liner into the pitchers face….nothing fancy. Hit the first good fastball you see…simple game
JMO
There's a huge difference between hitting the ball well and it doesn't land and not hitting. BAPIP is supposed to be a measure of luck. If you are hitting the ball well, it will eventually start being hits. No worries.
Batting averages -
Ground ball .225
Fly ball .250 (assuming some are home runs)
Line drive .600
Strike outs .000
Francis; is this hitter your son? Is he right handed hitter? which is the dominant eye?
Do you have a "full length" mirror? Watch your swing in the mirror.
If he is right handed hitter. "eliminate left field. move the foul line to left center, go off the plate, remember your role as a hitter "SEE THE BALL".
Choke the bat and swing with strength!!
Bob
While I think it's possible that every piece of advice that's been offered up thus far could work, to me, this is always something that is hyper specific to each individual player and case.
I do agree that slumps are mostly mental. Well, I think they start with some bad luck (defense making good plays, etc) or whatever, but are sustained due to the mental piece. For some, its a horrible decision to hit the pause button. For others, it might be the perfect remedy.
My 2021 is typically apprehensive to the mental piece due to its "squishiness." He absolutely prefers to muscle his way through just about everything in life. Give him the option of spending 6 hours in the gym versus 15 minutes of critical thinking, self reflection, etc and he'll be in the gym before you finish saying the 2nd option. But I've yet to see him once muscle his way out of any slump. And its not for any lack of trying; believe me.
Honestly - to answer the original question - hitting pause and trying to go brain dead at the plate (for lack of a better way of putting it) may be just what the doctor ordered. if he's like most players (who have parents visiting HSBBW), taking a week off won't be nearly enough to set him back at all. One week - for kids who have played ball for what seems like 350 days a year since age 4 - is nothing. For most, distance makes the heart grow fonder. For all you know, "grounding" him from baseball for a week might give him a moment to miss the game in a way he hasn't in a while. That new excitement may just be the spark that "accidentally" produces that stand up triple. And those triples have a way of blowing some air back into sails.
Pete Rose said when he was in a slump he'd move up in the box. If that didn't work he'd move back in the box. If that didn't work he'd move off the plate. If that didn't work he'd move up on the plate. Interesting approach...
Dave Winfield said that when he was hitting really well and feeling great at the plate he would take a video camera into the cage and film his swing and then talk about what he was doing and what he was thinking/feeling at the plate. Then when he got into a funk he would take out the tape and watch it. This seems very smart to me.
After trying everything else, son did #15
@keewart posted:After trying everything else, son did #15
Lol! I was afraid that was going to be Mark Grace's slump buster remedy.
I can't see how taking a week off from hitting would be conducive to improving. Maybe couple of days but not a full week. One thing I'd do right away is check his set up/positioning fundamentals from the ground up: Feet, Knees, Hips, Shoulders, Arms, Hands......make sure this is solid fundamentally.
Then work on the dry swing in isolated pieces x50 times. Shift only....then Shift/Load only.....then full Shift/Load/Swing...then 50 swings off the tee (moving the tee around and up/down)..then 50 live swings
then Rinse & Repeat....
@Francis7 posted:Monster Slump.
Coach says: "Make an adjustment."
Player's decision: Not touch a bat for a week and then "Not think about anything the next time I hit in a game. Just see the ball and hit it. Don't think about anything."
Good or bad approach?
Very bad approach in season. In the off-season, sure, take a week off.
The “don’t think” approach in game is correct. The not touch a bat all week is at best indicative of a kid who is not mentally ready for the next level, and at worst is a kid who will get injured.
@Consultant posted:Francis; is this hitter your son?
He won’t answer that.
First, he’ll wait to see if the feedback is positive, then it’s his son. Not positive feedback? Somebody else’s kid, most definitely
I am not a fan of taking a week off. In fact, one of the quotes my players must memorize is, "Take one day off and you know it. Take two days off and your opponent knows it. Take three days off and everyone knows it."
I had a serious golf tournament today. I could not golf for three years due to a hip and then hip replacement. Last year, at the end of summer, I was allowed to start again. I didn't get many opportunities to play after being given the go-ahead to golf again. The last two weeks, I started preparing for the tournament. I played horribly with the exception of one round. HORRIBLE. Then, when I reached the height of frustration and anger, the quote, "Physician heal thyself" hit me. I shot a 72 today or one over. To give you an example of what I was shooting, last week's best round was a 81 and then in the high 80s. Again, I don't believe in taking days off. I played in the rain, ... and today, I healed thyself.
In his book "The Way of Baseball" Shawn Green describes what turned around his career. it was hitting off a tee so frequently that he no longer had to think about his swing. He'd do it before games and describes getting into a zen-like state.
When my son was younger and in a slump I tried to give him a reason to believe that the next game would be different...using a different bat, a slight adjustment...anything to make it seem like a fresh start. These days if he has a rough day he goes back to watch video of successful at bats in the past (like someone above mentioned about Winfield).
@3and2Fastball posted:He won’t answer that.
First, he’ll wait to see if the feedback is positive, then it’s his son. Not positive feedback? Somebody else’s kid, most definitely
Dude. Seriously?
Yes. It's my kid.
Positive or negative feedback...I am listening to them all, for self-education. And that only. It's interesting to hear everyone's opinion on it.
At the end of the day, my kid's decision is his decision on how to address it...as it should be in this case. He's 17, not ten. He doesn't need his father to tell him how or what he should be doing...he's the player, it's his game and not mine.
Now, I will say this...if what he decides is against popular opinion or conventional wisdom, and it's "the wrong answer" (etc.) what's going to happen? NOTHING because it can't get any worse. (Yes, the slump is that extreme.)
So, let him try it. And, if it fails, then he will have to reevaluate and come up with another plan.
For what it's worth, his travel coach recommended it. And, I'm not worried about rust. He's literally been practicing and playing almost everyday since April (between HS and travel).
Taking off 4 or 6 days in a row isn't going to make his muscle memory forget what he's been doing for the last 10 weeks. It's not like taking off a month or a year. You could sprain your ankle and have to sit for a week. This is no different.
Anyway...his problem and his right to pick a way to try and fix it. He's the player. It's his game. I was just making conversation out of curiosity here. Read nothing more into it.
For my son, who is starting to come out of a major slump, it was all in his form, thankfully a buddy of mine is an amazing coach and is helping him out of it. Wasn’t driving his elbow to the ball, wasn’t extending… he was hitting during the slump, but 90% of the time it was a ground ball to the ss or 3b. If not that, then pop ups.
Francis7 - my apologies. It was meant more to give you a hard time in a good natured way, but didn’t come off that way.
You do start a ton of threads on here!
@3and2Fastball posted:Francis7 - my apologies. It was meant more to give you a hard time in a good natured way, but didn’t come off that way.
You do start a ton of threads on here!
Thanks. No worries. All good.
One of the problems with taking off for any period of time more than a day or two is that it rarely fits in the real world of a baseball player. If there aren't games, there are practices or lessons.
I think each case is unique. JetsR71's first reply has a lot of good sequence info. If your player has a hitting instructor or primary hitting coach, he should be able to help him take steps to analyze the situation and give him direction based specifically on what he is seeing or hearing.
It is my experience that most hitters who enter a cage session looking to find something specific will do so. Or, at least, they will make some minor change that has them thinking differently, more confident and mentally prepared to step in the box next game. Guidance from an eye they trust usually increases the chances of finding something helpful. Often, it can be mechanical. Often, a slight variance to the AB approach will do the trick.
Francis
how do you clear the mind? Visualize success. Focus on the red seams. Choke the 33.5 “ bat and swing
Bob
Smitty;
you mentioned Pete Rose. During a tournament in Wisconsin I met Karolyn Rose and Pete Jr.
She mentioned that Pete Sr. would talk to the opposing catcher.
Before the pitch Pete would ask the catcher "throw a fastball".
The catcher Jeff would think "he really wants a curve", Pete Sr. did not care he was ready for any type of pitch. Karolyn was a interesting lady.
Bob
@Francis7 posted:Dude. Seriously?
Yes. It's my kid.
Positive or negative feedback...I am listening to them all, for self-education. And that only. It's interesting to hear everyone's opinion on it.
At the end of the day, my kid's decision is his decision on how to address it...as it should be in this case. He's 17, not ten. He doesn't need his father to tell him how or what he should be doing...he's the player, it's his game and not mine.
Now, I will say this...if what he decides is against popular opinion or conventional wisdom, and it's "the wrong answer" (etc.) what's going to happen? NOTHING because it can't get any worse. (Yes, the slump is that extreme.)
So, let him try it. And, if it fails, then he will have to reevaluate and come up with another plan.
For what it's worth, his travel coach recommended it. And, I'm not worried about rust. He's literally been practicing and playing almost everyday since April (between HS and travel).
Taking off 4 or 6 days in a row isn't going to make his muscle memory forget what he's been doing for the last 10 weeks. It's not like taking off a month or a year. You could sprain your ankle and have to sit for a week. This is no different.
Anyway...his problem and his right to pick a way to try and fix it. He's the player. It's his game. I was just making conversation out of curiosity here. Read nothing more into it.
Do nothing in order to solve a problem? Interesting strategy...
Francis … What is going on with your son may be mental. Maybe he hasn’t adapt mentally year to year.
When my son made varsity soph year he batted 9th at the beginning of the season. The team was a perennial bottom feeder. Pitchers just threw him strikes. By mid season the team was in first and he was batting 2nd. He was now seeing strategic pitching. He was being pitched in a manner to prevent hitting behind runners. The team finished tied for second. They lost a tiebreaker to advance to districts.
Junior year the team was expected out of the gate to contend for the conference. They won it. My son was now batting third. He started the season 14 for 16 with three homers. Now he was being pitched around. He had to be patient. The #4 hitter hit grannies three times after my son was walked. When teams started pitching to him again he resumed being very aggressive at the plate.
Coming off a junior year hitting over .500 with power he didn’t see a decent pitch early in the season when the #4 hitter was slumping. He had to be real patient and take the walks. He did his big damage on the base paths until the #4 hitter got his grove back. They won their conference again.
All of this was mental adjustments. He had to adapt to how opponents were adapting to his development.
Has your son recognized he’s a different player than his first season? Has he made the mental adjustments? Has he adapted? Is he placing more pressure on himself? Has he relaxed without realizing it because he’s committed?
In the box you can never have more than one thought.
You might be able to think about one simple think (say something like one simple mechanical cue or an approach thought).
Once you think about more than one thing you are toast because there is not enough time.
But taking a week off is probably too much
@RJM - For sure, he's not relaxing because he's committed. Personally? I think it's very possible that he COULD be pressing - trying to prove/confirm why he was able to commit so early, trying to live up to the HS preseason hype (as he was touted quite a bit in some previews), trying to make up for lost time (since he missed the first 2 weeks with injury), and then, finally pressing to make up for the prolonged slump.
He will deny any and all of it and say there was no pressure. But, I have wondered if that could be it? If anything, it's like quicksand. You get stuck and the more you fight/press the deeper you sink.
In any event, it's been 5 days now and he's clearly itching now to get back out there. So, we shall soon see if this helped or not.
Maybe I missed it, but Is he hitting the ball hard and not dropping or K-ing it up? Big difference in slump imo
It's been a strange slump. If you took all the games and graded them good game, bad game and average game with no results, it would probably shake out to be 25% good game, 35% bad game and 40% average game with no results. But, there's no trending. It's not like he was having bad games and no results games and then all the rest from there were good. More so, it was bad and no results with good (single) games sprinkled in, here and there at random.
One possible theory is that those random good games were just good fortune of facing a team or pitcher who was so inferior that not even "whatever causes the slump" would get in the way of success.
But, here's the weird part - four of those good games were very high stakes for his team or him (in terms of visibility). It's almost like he willed himself into not failing on those days.
And, in his defense, some of the bad days were just uphill. I remember one HS game where he K'd in all three ABs. And, just looking at him, that's terrible. But, in that game, the opposing pitcher threw a CG 7-inning shutout where he struck out 16 batters. So, it's not he was the only one suffering that day.
But, in any event, when you add up all the games and look at the sum total of the results, the numbers say below reasonable expectations based on past performance - aka a slump.
@Francis7 posted:It's been a strange slump. If you took all the games and graded them good game, bad game and average game with no results, it would probably shake out to be 25% good game, 35% bad game and 40% average game with no results. But, there's no trending. It's not like he was having bad games and no results games and then all the rest from there were good. More so, it was bad and no results with good (single) games sprinkled in, here and there at random.
One possible theory is that those random good games were just good fortune of facing a team or pitcher who was so inferior that not even "whatever causes the slump" would get in the way of success.
But, here's the weird part - four of those good games were very high stakes for his team or him (in terms of visibility). It's almost like he willed himself into not failing on those days.
And, in his defense, some of the bad days were just uphill. I remember one HS game where he K'd in all three ABs. And, just looking at him, that's terrible. But, in that game, the opposing pitcher threw a CG 7-inning shutout where he struck out 16 batters. So, it's not he was the only one suffering that day.
But, in any event, when you add up all the games and look at the sum total of the results, the numbers say below reasonable expectations based on past performance - aka a slump.
This sounds more like a sub par season, not a slump. A slump is more along the lines of an extended bad stretch (i.e. 2 for 22).
The sample size is somewhat small. 43 ABs in HS (missed the start of the year due to injury) and only about 15 ABs in travel (so far).
Francis;
a few years ago a local 16 year old HS player joined our Area Code games and International Series with Japan. He was a very talented 6' 1" RHP with a 90 + fastball. When I visited the father he showed me the scorebook that he created.
Every pitch, the game situation, the hitter, the count on the batter. After every game, the father would analyze the game with his son. This would involve 30 minutes of one-way discussion.
The player was drafted and played had a "cup of coffee" in the MLB. There is time and place for "teaching and analyzes". During a game a player's emotions and concentration reach a "high"!
After the game enjoy the results of the team, relax and "smell the roses".
Pitchers wait 5 days for next start. Hitters need to remember, why are they playing? are they having "fun"? Did they see the ball? In this era of metrics it is easy to "over-analyze".
Bob
