Head games & Hitting Lessons

Yes, if he's getting too mechanical, it's absolutely good advice.

Balance in all things is the key. I am not a big lesson guy during the season. I am a big video guy. Keep a log of good swings and use them to compare to current swing when in a funk. 100 swings a day of the T is helpful to regain the basics. 

This isn't really the same thing, but during the winter prior to spring of his senior year one of my sons (a hardworker, by the way) decided to avoid hitting. He said, "I want to save my best swings for the field."  He knew himself well.  He had a very good season. 

As Yogi beautifully said..."you can't think and hit at the same time."  At some point the practice has to translate into repeatable swings that you take into games.

 

I tried to get mine to stop thinking about the mechanics and focus on the situation.  What kind of pitcher have I got i.e. high velo power guy vs. nibbler, ahead or behind in the count, runner on 3rd and 1 out etc.  Focusing on that and having that drive your approach to the next pitch should "clear the mechanism" to let the practice show itself.

 

Or at least that is the theory and I think it works.  Focus on what is going on now and what will happen next and nothing else. 

My 2017 son hit lights-out all spring and summer. Made a very high-level travel team based at least in part on his tryout hitting. First DH of the fall he goes 0-5 with a horrible strikout and 4 roll-overs to 2B. Got in his head and stayed. Hit poorly all fall. Working with his regular batting instructor got counter-productive for them both. Thankfully, the season came to an end and he largely took the winter off from hitting to "flush it" out of his head. So far, that was looking like a great move.

My son's problem is sort of the converse of some others. In the cages with his superb hitting coach, his swing is mostly reactive and relaxed.  HIs cage sessions, in fact, are quite often awesome to behold. And when he does manage to take that cage swing into a game, he drives the ball all over the place.  In an intersquad scrimmage the other day, he went 4-4 with a double, a triple, two singles.   3 out of 4 of those balls were flat out crushed, the other he beat out by sheer speed.   If he could play like that always.... now that would be fun.   Far too often, though  -- like when he's being watched by recruiters or at showcase or when he feels outside pressure because of competition over PT or something  --   he seems to tighten up at least a bit and gets away from that natural, relaxed,  reactive swing.  He sometimes looks like  a completely different hitter. When he gets into one of those funks, he often wants to get back to the cages with his instructor.     In the cages, with his instructor, he's almost always relaxed and easy.  They have a great time together.  The swing almost instantly comes back once he's with him.

 

What I can't figure out is why he can't just block out all external things and just be in the moment in "pressure" situations.  I know, of course, it's easier said than done.  Maybe he should try zen meditation as part of his pregame. This really does seem to me to be the one thing seriously holding him back  (Well, that, and the fact that he needs to bulk up a bit.  One college coach told him that if he shows up next year with 15 extra pounds or so of muscle, he believes he will be a beast.  So we're working on that angle.) 

       
       
Old school you couldn't be.more in lock step with the way I feel.  In fact just 2 days ago my so threw a pen and I thought looked good for this time of year.  He said though something just didn't feel right and asked if I could video his next pen.  If you like comparing to old swings try the ubersense app.  It is free and awesome.  Better on an I pad though than it would be on android.  I am open minded to another set if eyes but.my experiences so far with former pros and instruction has been all bad.

I am a private instructor and I believe that it is very important not to over coach. That's why I like to work on big ideas rather than trying to fix small things every swing. I think it's very easy for a player to get too robotic while thinking of 10 different things to work on. However, I understand why this may happen sometimes because an instructor may feel like he's always got to be fixing something to earn the money. But that's not the case. Sometimes it's better to to just motivate, give confidence, and let their natural swing progress as they grow stronger and faster. It depends on each player of course, but I found this is the best approach for most.

Here's a video I made a while ago kind of on the same subject. Sorry, I would have embedded it here but it won't let me do that from my phone.

http://youtu.be/8kvIdZtMl-Q

Have always just tried to correct one thing at a time.  I have seen instructors try and correct several things at once, and the kid just locks up.  Building a swing takes time.  Practice/correct/change things in the cage, and hope it transfers to the field.  However, once in the box, keep it simple.  Concentrate on see it/hit it.  Hands inside the baseball, hit the inner 1/2 of the baseball, and always think oppo/middle.  The pitch location will determine where the balls goes.  Hit the ball hard!