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 Visitor's Dugout |
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Visitor's Dugout
From time to time, we are asked about the traits that have distinquished the Richmond Braves National Team as one of the top travel programs in America and placed its players among the nation's elite. Below is a compilation of some of the thoughts we have shared with others over the years.
"How to be a Champion"
by Grantland Rice
You wonder how they do it,
You look to see the knack
You watch the foot in action,
Or the shoulder or the back.
But when you spot the answer
Where the higher glamours lurk,
You'll find . . .
That most of it is practice,
And the rest of it is work.
Who are you?
There is one unavoidable question that all aspiring baseball players must answer: "Who are you?"
Just because mom and dad forked over a bunch of money for you to join a so-called travel team and wear a uniform with an AAU or USSSA patch on it doesn't automatically make you a great baseball player.
If you are on a travel baseball team and you are NOT willing to do everything it takes to try to become a great baseball player and help your team win, then you are a spoiled, selfish kid. You are wasting mom and dad's money and your coaches' time. There is a better place for you to play baseball. It's called Little League.
On the other hand, if you have a passion for excellence, and if you really do love playing baseball, I have wonderful news for you: Travel baseball is the right place to make your baseball dreams come true.
If mom and dad are willing to sacrifice time and money, and your coaches are dedicated to winning, the rest is up to you.
Making your dream of being a great baseball player come true is really quite simple. Simple, but not easy. All you have to do is to be willing to do the things 99% of the kids who play baseball in America are NOT willing to do.
Let's say you want to be the best hitter in America or at least on your team. (These principles apply equally well to anyone wanting to be the best pitcher, catcher, infielder, outfielder or coach for that matter.) Here are the three steps to take to achieve your goal:
STEP 1
Technique: Find out what the best hitters know that you don't. Read a book, watch an instructional video on hitting, search the web, attend a clinic, talk to a coach. A sorry, flawed swing practiced a lot is still a sorry, flawed swing. Find out what it takes to hit a baseball consistently hard. Here's a hint: It's not the bat, no one is born with it and the chances of stumbling upon the formula by accident are nil. Study hitting and the people who do it best. How do they prepare mentally? What do they do physically? Become a craftsman.
STEP 2
Attitude: Who are you? Are you a leadoff hitter regularly batting 8th on your team? Are you a starter who only gets to sub for a couple of innings per game? Don't accept being who you are. You have the talent, opportunity and environment to achieve greatness. See yourself doing it and commit yourself to the hard work necessary to achieve it. What are you waiting for?
STEP 3
Behavior: Are you willing to change habits to change results? It takes three weeks to break an old habit or create a new one. What changes are you going to make and how soon are you going to make them? You can be well on your way to being a great hitter or achieving any other goal you set in three weeks . It's up to you.
Important: If you are already the lead-off or clean up hitter or the ace pitcher or a starter on your team, don't think these principles don't apply to you. I've just told every kid on your team how to take your job! But even more, as you move up to higher levels of baseball you will have to compete against kids who are as just as good or better than you. Prepare yourself NOW with the knowledge, attitude and habits you will need to face the challenges that lie ahead!
Who are you competing against?
Here's an idea of what your competitors for the few precious openings in the big time (scholarships and pro contracts) are doing that you may or may not be doing.
1. They are going to a strength and conditioning coach 3-4 days per week. They are building their core muscles and developing the ABC's of athleticism: agility, balance, coordination and speed.
2. They are honing their baseball skills year round. They have regular and supervised throwing programs. They take hundreds of swings a day. I recently heard a scout say that the best and brightest players take 400-600 swings daily when they are going good and more when they are scuffling. If this sounds like a lot, consider that it takes as few as 9 minutes to take 100 swings.
3. They are their own coach. They are curious and open to new and better ways to do things. Their focus is on doing everything faster, harder and with better technique. They understand and respect the saying: "When you think you know everything there is to know about something, that's when the learning begins."
4. And above all else, they are persistent. They are doing these things every single day. This cannot be overstated. If you let a day pass without adding to the depth and breadth of your baseball ability, someone else surely will not. And in the end, they will reap the rewards.
Balance and leverage: Don't leave home without them.
All truly great athletes players display two distinct qualities - they possess great balance and they understand how to employ leverage. The good news is that both of these qualities can be learned and trained.
Balance is the body's ability to right itself. Balance training can teach the body to recover more quickly when balance is threatened. Balance also plays an important role in the body's ability to produce force. A balanced swing is a much harder swing than an off balance swing.
Leverage refers to a player's ability to make the most of his physical capabilities. Leverage is partly affected by body shape and size, but mechanics play a large role in a player's ability to apply leverage. Learning proper throwing and hitting techniques will lead to greater leverage.
Balance and the use of leverage are what separates the great athletes from the crowd.
"Early teens is the time to add balance to your hitting approach."
Each year moms and dads happily spend millions of dollars on videos, hitting lessons and camps all the while hoping their little guy will one day be the second coming of Babe Ruth. As they enter their teenage years these erstwhile Sultans of Swat and their well meaning parents gradually abandon the dream, one by one, then by the dozens and finally by the thousands. That so few ever get anywhere close to the dream with the abundance of high quality hitting instruction available set me to wondering if there wasn’t more to hitting than I was hearing at clinics and reading in books.
As a dad and coach, I have added my fair share of dollars to this cottage industry. Lately though, I have realized there is one aspect of hitting that seems to be emphasized less than the others. Its role in hitting is so crucial that its under weighting in the literature on hitting may well explain why so few make the grade at higher levels.
In my mind, the three aspects a player must marry in order to hit a baseball are swing mechanics, mental preparation and the one setting off alarms in my mind these days: athleticism. The first two aspects, swing mechanics and mental preparation are the stuff of which books, videos and lessons on hitting are made. The third one, athleticism (I refer to it as balance and will use this term hereafter), is the stuff of which college scholarships and pro contracts are made.
Learning the mechanics of a good swing at an early age gives a player a solid base on which to build over the years. The simpler and more compact it is, the better. Thousands of swings on a tee and some good instruction can give any kid a swing that will make him the terror of his local recreational league.
Mental preparation can be introduced very early to youngsters by immersing them in the gospel made famous by Ted Williams protégé Mike Epstein: “To get a good hit, get a good pitch to hit.” A kid with a sorry swing is likely to make contact if he only swings at strikes. A batter with a good swing can put a really good lick on good pitch.
The trouble with hitting begins when the quality of pitching improves. All through Little League and well into high school ball, most pitchers are desperately trying to get the ball across the plate. It’s rare to find pitchers at either level who have pinpoint control; so a hitter with a good stroke and the patience to wait for the pitcher to groove one down the middle can have a long and illustrious career through high school. It’s conceivable that unless a player makes a foray onto the travel baseball circuit during his youth, he could persuade himself into believing that a good swing and a patient eye are all that’s needed to be a baseball star.
When facing high quality pitching a batter sees fast balls on the edges of the plate. Only off speed pitches (curves and change ups) are likely to venture into the middle of the strike zone. In either case, the batter must adjust to the pitch in order to produce the same forceful swing he can produce on the tee or the fast ball “right down Broadway.” This process of adjustment is almost certain to threaten balance and unless recovered quickly, a loss of balance translates into a loss of power in the swing.
To better understand the importance of balance in the swing, consider this: Talented baseball players are able to consistently hammer a baseball off a tee. The ball is not moving, eyes are fixed on one spot and the swing occurs at the batter’s convenience. In other words, ideal conditions exist for the maximum production of force at impact.
Now picture what happens in a live pitching setting. Some balls are crushed but many others are hit weakly or missed entirely. Why? The hitter is frequently off balance for a variety of reasons (pitch location, ball speed and other visual stimuli associated with timing) when he strikes the ball. Whatever the reason, he is unable to deliver a blow with maximum force at the point of contact on every swing and imbalance is usually the culprit.
At it's simplest level, balance is the body’s innate ability to counteract the earth’s gravity. A sixth sense called "proprioception" alerts the brain when balance is threatened by the forces of gravity. The brain sends instructions to the muscles, bones and connecting tissues about how and when to react.
Balance training teaches the body to be more reactive to imbalance. This is particularly important for rapidly growing young athletes. The body's ability to right itself (balance) is impaired by rapid physical growth. The body must “relearn” movements to account for physical changes such as longer limbs and bigger feet; otherwise actions are slow and the potential for injury is higher. Training the body to be more reactive to imbalance improves efficiency of movement and conserves valuable energy. Simply put, the less time and effort spent maintaining and recovering balance during performance, the more force the body can apply to the task of swinging not to mention throwing, catching and running.
I am convinced that balance training is as important for the development of my players over the next few years as hitting lessons, batting practice and game experience combined. Balance training is a by product of strength and conditioning training. To that end, my players have added strength and conditioning to their daily regimen. Experts suggest that age thirteen is the best time to begin this type of work. I suspect it’s no coincidence that thirteen is about the age that the exodus of players from baseball turns from a trickle to a flood.
Are you for real?
Here are two quick ways a coach/scout can size up the caliber of a baseball player:
1. Does he catch everything with two hands? If he does, he’s a player. If not, he’s a show off. Catch everything with two hands!
2. Does he retrieve balls lying on the ground with his bare hand or glove hand? Real ballplayers pick up motionless balls with their bare hand. Lazy, careless ballplayers pick them up with their glove hand. Make a habit of picking up balls with your bare hand!
Remember: You never know who might be watching.
Relax!
Tension is the greatest enemy of a baseball player. To perform at peak levels the body, especially the upper body and arms must be relaxed. Tight muscles are slow muscles, loose muscles are quick muscles. Be alert and relaxed.
The Last Word
At least once per tournament, we see a player get thrown out of a game for mouthing off at the umpire. In addition to being out for the rest of the game, he is by rule also suspended for the next game. We've seen teams lose tournaments because of this.
Umpires always have the last word. Arguing or giving them dirty looks is futile, but more than that it tells the world something about you. It says that you are looking for an excuse.
Real baseball players don't make excuses, they make adjustments.
About the author:
Jeff Roberts is the manager of the Richmond Braves National '08 Team, a nationally competitive travel baseball program based in Richmond, Virginia. Now in their sixth season, the Braves have won 40 events including state, regional and national titles. The team was featured in a cover story in the Sept/Oct 2002 issue of Jr. Baseball Magazine.
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