waking up the bats

One of my son's coaches did somewhat of a silly "ritual" like thing ending I believe with tossing them all lightly into the grass...Whatever...In my opinion, it "worked" in that I think the boys got a laugh and loosened up a bit...Obviously that doesn't answer your question directly - just suggesting to think a bit about where the problem exists and work towards that...

Maybe this guy can help.

"Hey Bartender, Jobu needs a refill"

I am def not a pro, but have them take their hacks in practice. I don't mean controlled swings at strikes. Let them hack. At every pitch. Make them more aggresive. It isn't a good long term philosophy, but sometimes a team thinks too much at the plate and they become cautious. Maybe you need to shake it up.

Sometimes it is good to take a day off from hitting . Put the bats away for a day and work on PFP or pickoffs , wheel plays and such . Let them focus on something other hitting and see what happens . Absence makes the heart grow fonder .

Sometimes the pitchers need to get credit for shutting down offenses.

TurnTwoNet-
seen that done before. During a high school varsity game, our team watched dumbfounded as an asst. coach and players from the other team tossed every bat from their dugout into a pile on the grass in front of their dugout. Suddenly, and unexpectedly (for us) they yelled in unison "WAKE UP". After our surprise wore off us parents got a kick out of it. Rest of the story.......it didn't work.

Wade Boggs, formerly third baseman for the Boston Red Sox, had a weird array of rituals, including eating chicken before each game, and writing the Hebrew word Chai, meaning "living", in the dirt before each bat.

If Wade Boggs brought as much media $$$ as Tiger Woods, then you would have head more W. Boggs jokes!

quote:

Originally posted by mwitz:
My HS team sits at 2-2 with game scores of 5-2, 19-3, 2-1, 3-1. We have received outstanding efforts from our starting pitchers but have only managed 5 total hits in the last two full games. Too many strikeouts, lack of baserunners, and falling behind in the count has our team BA at .150. I have two practices before our next game and want to implement so drills/games in practice to raise the confidence level of my line-up. The talent is there but the production hasn't been. Help me help them

This is within the range of normal.

Accentuate the positive. Pitching is primary. And you've got it! Good pitching takes the heat off the batters, which will give the bats time to wake up, if that's what the baseball gods intend.

If you're going to do anything gimmicky, make sure it's consistent with the coaching style and personality that you've already shown the team. Otherwise, it won't ring true, and may suggest panic. For instance, my coaching has a flamboyant side (sometimes). If I threw all the bats in a pile and held an exorcism, it wouldn't be entirely inconsistent with my personality.

Four games doesn't constitute a slump. Never confirm or admit the existence of a slump to your team. The word should be banned. Some Jap teams call it a "temporary unfortunate period."

Coach indirectly. Don't increase the amount of batting practice and drills. Stay the course. No hint of panic. Convince yourself and your team that batting practice and drills are for fun, and are disconnected from and irrelevant to game-hitting, which is inexplicable and a bunch of voodoo that either happens or doesn't happen, depending to some degree on the whims of the baseball gods.

Avoid placing any extra emphasis on hitting, but harp on your fielders that they need to work work work to get outs for your pitchers.

Work is something you and they can control. Also, hard work is respected by the baseball gods.

The harder we work, the luckier we get. Etc. But don't connect hard work (BP) and game-hitting when your hitters are in a temporary unfortunate period. Deflect attention away, by working on defense.

Genuine apologies if my references to baseball gods are religiously offensive. I never appeal to God in sports. It trivializes religion. I refer on occasion to the fictional baseball gods.

BTW, the only way out of a t.u.p. is to hack.

quote:

Genuine apologies if my references to baseball gods are religiously offensive. I never appeal to God in sports. It trivializes religion. I refer on occasion to the fictional baseball gods.

A Bible study on this subject will tell you that it is offensive to God of the Bible....The Third Commandment is a good place to start....