The Evolution of Players

I’m asked a lot about how players are different today as opposed to when I was younger. My answer is always the same in that I say they’re better and worse at the same time. There is no question that players today are far more advanced fundamentally then when I was in high school and college. With the increasing popularity of private instruction, camps/clinics, and travel ball players today have much more opportunity to improve and are more prepared when they reach the college and professional levels. So in that regard the players today are far better then just 15-20 years ago.

The problem I see is that everything in the game has become too organized. Players today have so much opportunity to play organized baseball, on nice fields, with nice uniforms, umpires, coaches, and fans that they rarely, if ever play a simple pick up game, over the line, or even whiffle ball. In my opinion this is hindering the players today by taking some of the fun from the game and stifling their creativity. Players today are so used to playing in an organized, regimented environment that they’ve lost the ability to just go out and play. This has translated into an increase in the number of players suffering from fear of failure and has increased the stress levels of many players. It appears that very few players today play for the shear joy of the game. From an early age they are constantly striving to reach a higher level of play, to improve, and to reach some level of performance or some long term goal.

It’s important for us to remember that baseball is just a game. One that should be enjoyed and played with passion and joy from the earliest levels of T-Ball all the way up to the Major Leagues. The more we organize the game, the more we rob the players of today of the joy of playing. Instead of worrying about constantly pushing to develop take some time to get back to the pure essence of the game. Go out and play some whiffle ball, play a game of over the line. Encourage young players to get a couple of friends together and play a pick up game. It may not seem like these unorganized games away from parents and coaches are valuable however it helps remind players what they play for. It helps players develop creativity which is where great plays come from. It helps players play freely without the pressure of winning and it helps players take ownership of their own game which develops in them the passion and desire to put the work in to improve.

Slow Your Feet Down

Working with a lot of high school and college infielders I notice a common mistake that increases the likelihood of a bobbled ball or an errant throw. It seems to me that most infielders today are taught to have so much movement in their feet and are schooled that it’s so vitally important to have “quick” feet that they don’t put themselves in good position to catch the ball or to make a good throw. To often high school and college coaches are more concerned with how an infielder looks rather then how an infielder performs. If you watch most Major League infielders you’ll notice how smooth and deliberate they look when fielding the ball. This is due to the efficiency of their movements. Major League players understand that the more efficient they are with their movements they don’t have to work as hard to complete a play. What I notice is that most amateur infielders take twice as many steps to go the same distance as professional infielders. Everything they do is done with a lot of movement and at a high rate of speed. So why is this a bad thing?

First of all, the more movement an athlete has the more the head moves which makes it more difficult to get a good read on a hop and field the ball cleanly. Secondly, when it comes to getting the throw off and completing the play the added quick movement causes the infielder to feel rushed and doesn’t allow him to get his arms in good position to make the throw. As a result he has to take 2 more steps before releasing the ball and when he does make the throw his lower half is ahead of this upper body causing the throwing arm to drag and causing the ball to sail creating more errant throws.

My advice to my infielders is to think about slowing their feet down. Infielders are already quick enough so there is no reason to try to move quicker. What’s the old John Wooden quote, “Be quick but don’t hurry.” That couldn’t apply more to fielding ground balls. Your feet will be quick enough naturally there is no reason to try and be quicker. I tell my infielders to think about taking bigger, slower, more deliberate steps and to take a more direct route to the ball. As opposed to taking the short quick choppy steps the bigger more deliberate steps stabilize the head, allows the body to be in good position when fielding the ball, and allows the upper body to move together with the lower body allowing the player to have a consistent release point on the throw.

So if you’re an infielder do yourself a favor and slow down. Think about taking bigger more deliberate steps. You won’t be too slow, in fact you may just notice that you’re actually quicker by slowing down because you’ll be more efficient.

Infield and Hitting Classes

I wanted to let everyone know about the infield and hitting classes I am now offering at The Brickyard in Lake Forest. Infield classes will be held on Monday nights from 6pm-7:30pm and will not only cover basic infield skills such as footwork, transfer, backhands, and double plays but we will also cover advanced level infield skills such as angles, mental approach, reading bat angle, and positioning.

My hitting classes will also cover the fundamentals of the swing and help you to develop more consistency and power. We will also have the opportunity to get into some mental approach skills as well as learning about mental blocks that might be preventing you from consistently repeating your swing in a game situation and the skills you need to remove these blocks and maximize your ability. The hitting class will be Wednesday nights from 7pm-8pm.

Both classes are $25 per athlete and there is a limit of 10 players per class. Anyone interested should contact me at: Ryan@unlimitedperformancebaseball.com.