The Making of a Hitter: A Proven and Practical Step-by-Step Baseball Guide

Developing Trust

 The first goal for the coach is attaining the hitter’s trust in you as their coach. This is not always an easy task and involves more than just your knowledge of baseball. It is an even tougher task if the student you are working with is your own child. Here are some keys to consider:

1. Wait – When you first begin to work with a hitter allow the hitter to fail for a little while – definitely don’t start yelling or even commenting to do this or that or “why” aren’t you doing something when the hitter first begins to hit. Give the hitter some time to get the timing and to feel comfortable in the batter’s box. However, the second you, the coach, see a good hit or even a good swing jump on that and with an enthusiastic voice and mention that to the hitter. “Good swing” or “nice hit” or “way to go” or “awesome” - anything that makes the hitter feel good about what they did and that you are happy for them when they do something good. This will be the start of a good relationship where they know that they can make you happy when they do something the right way and that you didn’t immediately start yelling instructions or any kind of negative feedback right away. The first few minutes together are the key. Once you feel like you have a grasp of what the hitter needs to work on then start with some positive words like “That wasn’t bad, now let’s try this“ or “good job, I like the way you did such and such, now let’s try this” or even “that was much better than last time, now let’s move on to this” or I can see you’ve been working on what we talked about last time , now let’s try this“. You get the idea, start with a positive especially referring to the good effort, and then move on.

 *    I’ve seen so many hitting sessions begin with the coach (especially a parent) immediately start barking out instructions without allowing the student to miss a ball or two. Remember, wait for the good swing or good contact and always mention this positive action first in an encouraging and enthusiastic voice.

 *    I can remember back to my major league days where I have seen all-star caliber players come to spring training and miss every pitched ball for a day or two in batting practice. We would wonder if maybe they went blind over the off-season only to see them begin to rip the cover off the ball in a day or two.

Along the same line, immediately after a game is not the time to start telling a player or your child what he was doing wrong. Try to wait for a later time when the disappointment has worn off or it is a less emotional time – maybe after dinner that night or at practice the next day. If you start in on the player immediately after the game the player may not look forward to games or to you being there to see them maybe fail. Remember, wait and you will begin to gain the players trust and enjoy each other’s time together much more.

How & What to Say

 A strong trust between you the coach and your player will be developed if you learn to give advice in a positive way. First, use a matter of fact voice when giving advice and your emotional voice only on good hits or good improvement. Second, try to describe the action and not the player. Things like “your swing was not there today” or your “timing was off a little” or “it was just one of those days” is much better than saying “you are never going to hit like that” or” you better go home and start practicing tonight” or the worst “ I’m not going to keep paying for you to play if you are going to do that”. Third, stay optimistic and encouraging – it won’t happen over night.

Give the Why for What You Ask the Hitter to Do

 It is also important to give the reason why you want the player to try something new or why you want him to work on a certain drill. The hitter may not fully comprehend the why but when they see some better results after trying it they will understand more. Keep the “why” simple. A demonstration of the drill by you or another player is helpful. Some kids are more visual learners so a lengthy verbal explanation isn’t necessary and showing them the correct way is a great teaching tool.

 * Be careful of embarrassing yourself though – it may not be as easy as it once was for you – I’ve see many a parent hop in the batting cage to show their son or daughter how to do it only to fail miserably. (It will give everybody else a good chuckle though.)

We

If you are the coach or parent tell the player that “we will get it” as if you are a team and it is not just him or her.  To expect the hitter to be able to figure out hitting and make the changes necessary on their own can be an overwhelming feeling for the young player. I never could figure it out even though I played at the major league level until I learned to by teaching and studying it. Tell the hitter that the two of you will figure it out in time and both will leave with a smile on their face.

PATIENCE

 This is the third key to good coaching. A good coach (parent) realizes that it is very difficult to excel at hitting or any skill for that matter. They also realize that just because something is easy for them or for some doesn’t mean that it will be easy for everyone. However, a good coach also realizes that each player who really cares to improve has the ability to improve if they are willing to work at it. I have been amazed by the improvement of some hitters who I thought were beyond hope. Any player who is willing to work on it is not a waste of time for the coach.

 A good coach further realizes that it is not usually enough to tell a player what they are doing wrong and then assume that the player can just go out and correct the problem. As mentioned earlier, you can tell a player something a thousand times and their muscle memory will not let them change a certain habit. The hitter will need to perform the correct habit the thousand times or so in order to create a new habit and overcome the problem. Obviously, this takes time so it is important that the coach has a great amount of patience and understands that the player is usually trying but their muscle memory will not change overnight. Other Ideas to consider are the following.

a. Remember, each player has a different personality and attitude. Be patient

with each player. Many players can fool you with their initial demeanor as they give off an “I don’t care attitude”.  I found that many times they do care and like the game. It is simply their way at first. However, be careful of the player who likes to ‘screw around” and bring others along with them. Try to pull this player aside and explain that there is a fine line between having fun and messing around. When the messing around begins to affect the amount and quality of work getting done than the player needs to be dealt with. If the disruptive player has what seems to be a good relationship with their parents, then mention the player’s behavior to them. If it doesn’t seem like the relationship with his parents is sound then you are better off not mentioning it and this player may come around just because you didn’t talk to them about it. This is a tough area but patience and understanding will help.

b.      Set longer-range goals for the hitter. Instead of saying by next game or even next week  tell the player that “we” can have it solved in a month (a minor problem) or by the end of the season (a more ingrained habit) or even by the time the player reaches high school (a major overhaul or a very inexperienced player). Each player develops at a different rate so expect set backs or plateaus for a period before improvement is shown

c.       It is easier to create new muscle memory with drills on a tee or with drops or short flips as opposed to trying to solve a bad habit with a pitched ball. Remember batting practice is generally for timing and not necessarily for breaking bad habits. Find the specific drill that most helps the hitter overcome the problem and have him focus on that for a long period of time – Remember, practice doesn’t make perfect rather “perfect practice makes perfect”.

d.      Stay encouraging and positive and remember that even big leaguers have some “holes” in their swings and they work on it all the time.

e.       Avoid the “looks of disgust” or the “quick negative retort” or the “look away” when the player does not do something correctly or isn’t improving at the rate you want him to. These gestures will only make the hitter feel more pressure and give them the feeling that they are letting you down. With time these gestures may even make them want to give up working at it or even playing at all.

f.        Coaches who show patience with their players develop patient hitters who won’t mind working on their skills, realizing that they will improve in time.

*   Many of these topics will be discussed when you get to the : Having Fun” chapter in this book.

Homework –

Yes, the dreaded “h” word. A good coach will give the student something to work on or something to think about when they leave practice. There is generally not enough time for the coach to solve major problems for each player at practice so homework is important.

a.       Try to involve the parent if possible and let them know what you want the player working on. The exception to this would be if you notice a parent is hard on their child and puts a lot of pressure on their son or daughter. Then it is better to just let the youngster know what you want them to be working on.

b.      Each player has different habits so different homework drills may be necessary for different players. However, you usually can not go wrong with the fundamental drills found in the chapter on teaching the fundamentals.

c.       Having kids watch baseball or find pictures of hitters are always good assignments too.

d.      Obviously, you won’t know if the players do their homework or not but at least you have done your job. Ask your players at the next practice who did their homework – even if only a few did it that can sometimes spur the others to do it the next time.

Challenge –

A good coach will challenge his hitters according to their own skill level.

a.       If working with a team, a good coach must recognize the different skill levels of each player and begin to challenge each differently. If not on the first day then soon after. Explain to the players that you will be challenging each one of them a little differently in the future.

b.      Changing speeds and locations of pitches are great ways of challenging the hitters.

c.       The key is to challenge the player up to the point where frustration is about to set in and then back off. When you sense the player is beginning to get frustrated back off and try to get their mind away from what they are doing, This can be done by asking them a question about something else or about a game you might have seen etc.

d.      Your objective is avoiding boredom and challenging the players will help. I’ve seen many good players stop playing because of boredom from not being challenged properly. Obviously, the weaker players need more work but don’t forget the more advanced player and divide your time equally. The more advanced drills in this book will be a good start with the advanced players.

e.       I’ve see many players, even young ones, who learn to make adjustments at the plate on their own if they are consistently challenged. The coach or parent does not even have to be yelling out instructions.