There is a simple, old school hitting philosophy that continues to make a lot of sense for hitters at every level: wait and weight.
This “reminder” has been used by some of the greatest hitters in MLB history. For example, Wade Boggs, Don Mattingly, Rod Carew, and George Brett have all, at some point, admitted that [...]
Being from the NY-Metro area, I’m a big Mets fan and regularly watch SNY (the Mets’ cable TV network). This evening one of their on-air personalities, Kevin Burkhardt, was reporting on the Mets’ spring training and one of his big news items was the fact that Pedro Martinez was pitching with his eyes closed.
First of [...]
The other day I went to a batting center that included tunnels where pitching lessons were being taught. Over and over I heard the same phrase from the instructor: “drag your back foot!”.
To me that sounded a bit perplexing, and thought perhaps the coach was teaching the change-up. After ten minutes, I realized the coach [...]
(click here for Part One)
Last week we examined some of the situations where baseball players “choke”, and found that “pressing” usually results in “choking”.
Now we’re going to learn how not to press and therefore not choke.
Prepare – Physically, and Visually
Preparation is the key to success in any sport (or business, for that matter). When you [...]
(This is the first of a two-part article)
Unfortunately, I’m a Mets fan, and if you’ve followed their 2007 season, you may have heard about “the greatest collapse in baseball history” — their loss of the NL Eastern Division title despite being in first place by seven games with only 17 to play. There have been [...]
Pitchers of all ages should do what they can to watch Tom Glavine pitch at least a few times this year. Glavine has been, and remains, the consummate pitcher’s pitcher — a guy who relies on guile rather than overpowering stuff to succeed.
Glavine never threw very hard — even in his youth — and now [...]
Too often — especially at the Major League level — I see a runner round second base and keeping an eye on the outfielder, looking over his shoulder. Inevitably, the runner is thrown out at third by a step. No doubt you’ve seen this yourself, as a coach, or been guilty of it as a [...]
Learn to breathe? Who needs to “learn” how to breathe? Didn’t we figure that out about three seconds after emerging from the womb?
Well, yeah, but, not really.
You learned to breathe to survive, not necessarily for optimum efficiency. Possibly, some knucklehead gym teach along the way taught you puff out your chest and suck wind [...]
What do you do when you’re in the on-deck circle? Any of the following?
Swing a weighted bat
Stretch out arms, wrists, back, legs
Take practice swings
Apply pine tar to the bat
Adjust batting gloves and socks
Check out the people in the stands
Nibble on sunflower seeds
All of the above
The first five options are somewhat helpful, but only part [...]
Have you ever seen a pitcher who has plenty of talent — live arm, sound mechanics, good movement — but can’t seem to convert it to performance in a game?
Most often, the problem is with command. He may have good velocity, but gets too much of the plate or is too high in the strike [...]
