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There is no one better than hitting this point out of the ballpark!
Dear Baseball Parents,
I know you love your kid, and I know you'd do anything for them... But the pressure we put on them and how we're measuring their success needs to be challenged. Why? Because baseball is the biggest self-esteem-destroying sport in the world and if they don't have a mental game, they're hosed. Lemme explain. After 30+ years in professional baseball as a pro player with the Mets and Indians, performance coach for the Blue Jays, and Big League scout for the Oakland Athletics, I'm convinced more than ever that baseball is so mental it's mind-blowing and Stats are a trap. The batting average is EVIL!! Yeah, I get it, stats are how we measure performance. The "Batting Average" and "hits are how we determine whether a hitter is performing.
Believe it or not, I'm trying to help your player reach their highest batting average, but to do that we have to change what we think success is.
We have to focus on things we can control, and getting hits isn't one of them.
Understand: How can we have a goal where we do EVERYTHING right and still go 0-4?
I hit the ball right on the screws.
I beat the pitcher.
The pitcher's Mom knows I beat him.
But I hit the ball right at someone. Now I'm 0-1.
I should be STOKED that I hit the ball hard!
Instead, since my measure of success is getting a hit, my batting average goes down and so does my confidence.
Parents, it starts with you.
We have to help our young hitter develop a mental game.
If they hit the ball hard, that's a WIN!
The same confidence when they're 4-4 can still be there when they're 0-4 with four strikeouts when the goal is about hitting the ball hard.
Storytime...
When I was in the minor leagues, my manager Clint Hurdle used to put a "Q" next to my name on the lineup card every time I had a Quality At-Bat, and it was like the weight of the world was lifted off of my shoulders.
Why?
Because I knew I didn't need to get a hit to stay in the line-up.
I just needed to focus on having Quality At-Bats.
A Quality At-Bat is any plate appearance that results in a:
- Hard it ball
- Walk
- 8 Pitch At-Bat
- Sac Bunt/Fly
- Moving runners over w/ less than two outs
- A base Hit
From my experience, the hitter with the most Quality At-Bats tends to have the most hits and the highest batting average at the end of the season.
When I was coaching the young Blue Jay prospects, we would give out Best Buy gift cards to the hitter who had the most Quality At/Bats that week.
What did we see?
We saw more players competing with confidence, with more calmness, toughness, and focus, and less tension, pressure, and anxiety because they were focused on aspects of the game within their control.
Quality At-Bats.
There are two players in every hitter.
1. Confident player.
2. Non-confident player.
The non-confident player isn’t very good.
The confident player helps their team win.
Parents, we are losing more players these days because of the pressure we put on them.
We have to build them up and give them daily attainable goals.
If you have a question, leave a comment below and I’ll try and respond.
If you’d like to hear more, please sign up for my free newsletter.
If you’d like for me to speak to your organization, feel free to reach out at qualityatbats@aol.com
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