Timeless Development

It’s crazy how we think that we can’t develop a certain skill or develop into the athletes we want to become. We have this idea that others might be more “talented” then us or just have the skills “naturally”. We get frustrated when we haven’t mastered a particular skill by a particular time which may leads us to believe that “we suck” or that we just don’t possess the talents that we need to accomplish our goal. But really what is talent? Someone who is more “talented” is really someone who is farther along in their development of a particular skill than someone else at an equal or earlier age. But does this mean that you can’t achieve the same level of performance by continually developing your own skills? Is it true that you are limited by genetics, environment, or whatever or is it just that you believe you are because of your own self imposed perception of time?

You see that’s all time is, a perception. Time is man made, created by our need to count and categorize things but reality is that time doesn’t exist. Our frustrations as athletes and our belief in our own “talent” is nothing more then a product of our ego. Our ego’s desire to compare ourselves to others creates in us a false idea or our own skills and abilities. We look at others, at their skill level at a particular age and assume that this equals their “talent”. We place time constraints on ourselves and others believing that we must have mastered a particular level of proficiency over a particular skill by a particular time otherwise we “just don’t have it”. We do it all the time in our daily lives. We believe that by a particular age you must do this, and by that age you must have done that. All the while the ones who haven’t gotten there yet feel bad about who they are and are flooded with negative thoughts and emotions that only hinder their further development. The same is true in sports. In baseball our attachment to time (in particular age) has us comparing ourselves to other players of the same age and if we aren’t as far along in our skill development we then begin to label ourselves and our abilities, get flooded with negative thoughts and emotions, and overall inhibit our growth and development as athletes not to mention our overall enjoyment of the sport.

We see it all the time in the draft or when it comes to moving our way up the professional ranks. Scouts and coaches see someone who is farther along at an earlier age and immediately define that person as more talented. That person is then promoted with the belief that “if he is this far along now where will he be in a few years?” But, how many times does that really play out the way we think? How many athletes have you seen whose numbers get a lot better over the course of their careers? For the most part most athletes stay the same year in and year out. Where someone who continues to develop themselves will probably end up being a better player down the road but the problem is they never get the chance. It’s important to understand that in order to reach the level of performance you desire to reach it takes a “kaizen” approach. An approach where your focus is timeless and you don’t stress about where you are currently but rather embrace where you are currently with and eye on where you want to go.

Understand that time is an illusion that we have created and that talent is nothing more than skill development at a given time. So if time is an illusion then so is talent. When we put time to things this creates frustration and negativity if we are not at a certain spot in our development by a particular time. We believe that just because we haven’t mastered a particular skill by a particular time then that means that we can’t learn or master that skill.

We can master any skill by consistent, deliberate practice. We limit ourselves and what we can achieve by putting time limits on ourselves and believing that we have to be so good by a certain time. Imagine how must faster we will master a skill if we focus on the timeless and avoid the negative thoughts and emotions that come with perceived talent and perceived time. The master athlete embraces the timeless knowing that time is an illusion. By staying in the moment, allowing yourself to be where you are, deliberately practicing toward what you intend to create you will achieve mastery over that particular skill. You will then become the athlete you desire to be regardless of how many sunsets you have witnessed.

Why is this important in baseball? The timeless athlete avoids frustration and negativity because he isn’t comparing himself to others. His focus is on the continual, never ending development of his body and mind. Therefore he learns quicker, performs better, and ultimately becomes the best athlete on the field regardless of where he started from. If you want to reach the highest levels you must embrace the idea of timelessness and understand that through continuous, deliberate practice you can become anything you desire to be.

UPB Development Pyramid #1 (Natural Talent)

Recently I developed something I call the UPB Development Pyramid. My inspiration for the pyramid is to educate athletes on how to achieve the levels of performance they desire to reach and to show them where they currently lie on the pyramid. To further expand the pyramid I am going to start a 7 part series focusing each one on a different segment of the pyramid. Hopefully, you will be able to figure out which portion of the pyramid you fall into and how you can advance up the pyramid ultimately to where limitless performance becomes a reality for you.

The lowest and biggest section of the pyramid is the “Natural Talent” section. This is where most athletes spend the majority of their careers. In this section of the pyramid athletes are consumed with the mentality that talent is something you are born with. They buy into the belief that, “you either have it or you don’t” and so don’t feel the need for any type of physical or mental development outside of normal practice time. Athletes in this section have a strong attachment to their ego and feel better about themselves when they are more “talented” then others.

This isn’t to say that athletes here don’t work hard. Players at this level may get to practice and be hard workers during their mandatory practice time. However, they are usually unmotivated to consistently engage in any additional practice. They may stay after for extra work from time to time but overall there is no consistency to their extra work.

Mechanically these players are not sound. They generally have major flaws in their mechanics creating holes that open them up to inconsistent performance. Any success they may have is based in large part to their physical size or strength that enables them to succeed despite these flaws. Due to this occasional success these players may be lulled into the belief that mechanically “everything is fine” further strengthening the belief in their own “natural talent”. Unfortunately this will only take them so far and eventually they will begin to struggle or leave the sport thinking that they did all they could and they went as far as their talent will take them.

Mentally players at this level tend to be very weak and are not adept at handling the ups and downs that comes with competition. Players here are attached to their ego believing in their own superiority or inferiority. Their thoughts and emotions are directly related to their performance and they exhibit no control over themselves mentally or physically. Generally these players have low self confidence and will try to mask it with cockiness or arrogance. These players tend to play the victim, blaming umpires, teammates, coaches, parents, or whoever for their struggles or short comings.

These players are limited in what they can accomplish because they have no idea how to do anything more then what they are doing naturally. They are taken over by the limited mindset so they may hit .300 but they will be satisfied with that and not look for ways to improve. “Natural Talent” athletes may even make it to and find success at the Major League level but their career will be defined by inconsistencies. They may have great performances and put up decent numbers but they will won’t be able to reach higher levels of performance.

Characteristics of players in this section include:

• Poor physical mechanics

• Attachment to the ego

• Poor ability to handle pressure situations or struggle (poor mental skills)

• Inconsistent performance

• Playing down to the level of their opponent

• Low self confidence/Arrogance

• Victim mentality

Dealing with Coaches

Almost daily I hear at least one of my athletes upset or giving me some kind of complaint about their head coach. I started thinking back to my early playing days and I have to admit that I was right there with them. Most of the time I couldn’t relate to my different coaches, didn’t understand what and why they did certain things, and probably most importantly why they made certain decisions. But, really my frustration came from my own inability to please my coaches. I listened to everything they said, tried to apply and do what they wanted in the hopes that this would increase my playing time.

As I’ve gotten older I can now look back and see the mistakes I made in dealing with my coaches. I now have the ability to recognize what coaches really are and how I could’ve handled things differently. I am certain that by taking a different approach in how I dealt with my coaches I not only would have had a lot more fun playing but I would have been able to improve at a faster rate which would have ultimately allowed me to play more and at a higher level. I want to provide you with a couple of ideas that you can use to help you deal with any situation where you might be unhappy with your head coach.

Common misconceptions about coaches:

1. The hardest workers play- This is something every coach says. Almost every coach that I have ever had or have ever worked with uses the old saying, “I am going to play the guys who work hard.” This statement inevitably leads to a few players working their tails off while the rest of the team goes through the motions and more often then not some of the hard working players don’t ever get off the bench. This leads to frustration on both the player and the parents part which ultimately affects the team, your happiness, and your performance. It’s important to understand that this statement is nothing more than a motivational technique. It is geared to get players fearful of losing playing time and force them to work hard. The irony is that this technique usually only works on the players who would work hard anyway. Always remember that while it’s a noble idea that the hardest workers will play and in a perfect world this is how things should be the reality your coach isn’t getting paid to be noble. He is getting paid to win games. Ultimately that is the bottom line. Your coach while he may like you and your work ethic is getting paid to win games and if he doesn’t feel like you give him the best opportunity to do that then he is going to play the player that will.

2. Coaches don’t have “favorites”- All coaches do the best they can to not have favorite players on their team but let’s face it, they are human. Of course they have favorites, their personalities may mesh better with other players then they do with yours, or maybe a player reminds them of themselves when they were younger. Whatever the case may be unless you are substantially better then one of their favorite players then they are the one who is going to play.

3. Coaches are usually teachers or volunteers- Bottom line, most coaching jobs don’t pay well. As a result this has a tendency to keep many, very talented coaches away from coaching at the high school level. The mistake many players and parents make is that they always assume that your coach is the reincarnation of Casey Stengel. The fact is coaches are human. In order to make ends meet and to be out there coaching you they usually have to hold other jobs or become teachers. As a result their full time can not be spent on coaching. They have many other responsibilities and as such are going to make mistakes. As players we always expect them to be mistake free but they are going to make mistakes, mistakes in judgement both during the game and during practice. It helps if we remember that.

What can you do:

1. Take control over your own development- We always assume as players that our coach is there to help us develop into the players we wish to become. Once again we must remember that this isn’t their job. Their job is to win games and since they have other jobs and other responsibilities they can’t possibly develop each player on their team. That is why it’s important for you to remember that this is your career, whatever you desire to accomplish you can. Regardless of what your current situation you are currently in you can still accomplish anything you desire. But in order to do so you must take control of your own career. You are not a victim of bad coaching, you are not limited by being in a bad situation. You can take charge of your own development. Get outside coaching, read books, watch dvds, ask questions of other players or coaches, whatever you do it is your responsibility alone to develop yourself as an athlete.

2. Have a higher purpose- Sometimes it’s easy to become frustrated or deflated by the actions of your current head coach. Players will have a tendency to become sour on the game itself because of the actions of their current head coach. You have to have a higher purpose, a loftier goal, something that is going to motivate you to go to practice everyday with a positive attitude and get the most out of your time there. It’s also important to realize that the situation will pass and when it does you can still be apart of the game.

3. Transfer or switch teams- While this may sound a little drastic the fact is in some situations, no matter what you do, you may just be in a situation where the coach doesn’t think you are going to play or a situation where you and the coach just aren’t going to get along. It’s important to remember that you are not a victim. You are not stuck and your career is not over. It’s just one situation, one coach, one team. There are many teams out there, many schools, and many different coaches. You have the ability to find the right fit for you. Just because you didn’t fit in on one team doesn’t mean you won’t be a perfect fit for another. If you really want to play, don’t get bitter or angry at the coach, simply acknowledge that the situation isn’t the right fit for you and then go out and find the right situation.

Hitters to Watch

As the playoffs begin it gives us an incredible opportunity to watch some of the elite players in the game. It’s really beneficial because we get to see many players who we may not get to see on a regular basis during the season. Few players are perfect, if any, however there are certain players who have different aspects of their swing that enables them to put up the type of numbers that they do. Here is a list of the players I believe you should watch and what aspects of their swing that you should look at.

Albert Pujols

You don’t get closer to perfection then with Albert. This is one of the many reasons as to why he is the best player in the game and could potentially become the best hitter of all time. With him you should watch everything that he does. Watch his pre-at-bat preparation, watch what he does in between each pitch (notice how he works on swinging downhill), his hip separation, his base, his use of the top hand, his extension and one handed follow through, and check out the back spin he generates. Most importantly however watch how he repeats his swing. Notice how every pitch he swings at he takes the same swing. Same effort, same tempo, same mechanics, everything! Watch for this as this is the key to becoming a great hitter

Chase Utley

Chase is another guy whose swing is very solid. Again check out his base, extension, bat path, hip separation, and repeatability. Especially his repeatability, he is pretty amazing as repeating every aspect of his swing over and over again, just like Pujols. His bat path is incredible as well. He takes a downhill, direct path and creates amazing backspin.

Ryan Howard

Now there are some major holes in Ryan’s swing. However, if you have the chance check out his hip separation. Ryan gets away with a lot of flaws due to his size however he does get better hip separation then just about anyone in the league. This allows him to create more torque then any other hitter. So if you watch the Phillies watch the separation between Ryan’s hips and hands it’s remarkable.

A-rod

A-rod is tough because there are great fluctuations in his swing when he is hot as opposed to when he is cold. However, if he happens to be on (and we all know I am praying that he is) check out his bat path. When he is hitting well he takes a direct, downhill bat path, creating great backspin to all fields. In addition he gets great extension with the use of the one handed follow through.

Derek Jeter

There is probably no more of a clutch player in the game then Jeter. While mechanically he isn’t very sound what you can learn from him is how he stays relaxed, slow, and controlled in pressure situations. Watch his body language, watch how he slows himself down and rarely rushes anything. If we can learn to copy his approach more of us would be clutch players as well.

These are just a few of the players who demonstrate some great skills. Make sure you don’t allow the postseason to go by without trying to learn from these players. Whatever team you are pulling for by all means have fun with it and root your head off. However, don’t become so clouded that you miss the valuable lessons that these players offer us.

You Can Choose Your Ability Level

I am going to say something that at first might be a little hard to believe. For some of you it’s going to be even harder to swallow and it might even cause you to become a little angry. But I ask you to at least consider the idea for a moment. Before you right this blog off as crazy take a second to contemplate the possibility that I might be right. Are you ready? Here it is...

Whatever ability level you are currently performing at, whatever situation you might currently be in (starting, not starting, whatever), whatever tools you currently possess, you have chosen them. WHAT! That’s right if you are not currently performing at the level you wish, If you don’t possess the tools necessary to play you have chosen these things for yourself.

I know, I know, I can hear your arguments now. “Why would I choose to have a weak arm?” “Why would I choose for my coach not to give me an opportunity?” “What can I possibly do about my lack of tools I was born this way, I can’t control what genes I was given?”

Believe me, I understand where you’re coming from. For most of my life, most of my playing career I bought into these ideas. I bought into the fact that I was getting screwed, that my coaches just weren’t giving me an opportunity. I bought into the idea that I was small and had a weak arm and that I had to be the guy who “Got the most out of what he was given.” What I didn’t realize at the time was that I could choose for more. I didn’t realize that subconsciously I was accepting what other people were telling me. I was limiting what I was able to accomplish by mentally accepting the limitations others were placing on me.

So what can you do? Choose something more. Decide what skills you wish to possess and then go to work at developing those skills. The important thing is that you must remain open minded to the possibility that you can reach the levels of performance you desire to reach. Don’t judge yourself, don’t allow the judgements of others to limit you. Understand that you are headed in the direction toward the attainment of those skills and keep going that direction until you get there. When you start to judge and label yourself as not having the skills you need then without realizing it you are limiting your ability to reach those levels of performance. Visualize yourself as having the skills you desire to have, work as though it were guaranteed that you will develop these skills, and then allow these skills to develop in their own time. Visualize yourself starting on your team and then without any bitterness, anger, or expectation go out to practice each day and look to improve. Allow yourself to become the starter at the right time. Stay positive, stay focused on what you intend to create for your career, and then allow these things to develop when the time is right.

Basing Success on Hits

Unfortunately we have all been conditioned to focus on our batting average or how many hits we got in a particular game to determine our level of success for that day or that particular season. The problem is that there are so many variables that go into the getting or not of hits that basing your success on simply getting hits could get frustrating. It’s important that we focus on the bigger picture. That our goals are bigger then just getting hits. So what are some of these variables and how do they impact our ability to get hits?

You Are Facing a Pitcher

Many times my hitters will take and “0 for” and immediately want to change something or think that since they didn’t get a hit that something must be wrong and they must work harder or find the “flaw” before the next game. Many times this way of thinking actually creates the flaws we believe are there. You need to keep in mind that just because you didn’t get a hit doesn’t necessarily mean there is something wrong. Why? Because there is another player standing 60 feet away that is doing everything he can to not allow you to get a hit. Sometimes we forget that we are competing, we forget that we are playing in a game where there is an opponent and not just hitting off the tee or in the batting cage. There is a pitcher out there who is in complete control. He knows what he is going to throw you and where. He has the luxury of knowing what pitch is about to be thrown. You don’t! Sometimes the pitcher pitches you great, sometimes he throws you a great pitch. Whatever the case maybe this doesn’t mean there is something wrong. It just means the pitcher did his job and got you out. We need to understand that this is part of the game and focus on the next at-bat so we put ourselves in a situation that gives us the best opportunity to succeed.

You May Have Not Faced Live Pitching in a While

Inevitably every year when a new season rolls around I get a bunch of frustrated players who are upset that they are not getting hits from day 1. We need to remember that it is very difficult to take time off and still be in peak form when you come back to playing games. It is counter productive to be upset over the fact that you aren’t getting hits early on in a season or in your first couple of games. This is one big reason why MLB has spring training. Hitters need to be able to get acclimated to seeing live pitching again. Most of the hitters that are all over 95 mph fastballs during the season are way behind 85 mph fastballs in spring training. Plus you really don’t see them get too upset or frustrated when they make an out or strike out during spring training. They understand that it takes at-bats and time to be able to get into peak condition. Some of them aren’t even ready at the start of the season and they probably already had 100-150 at-bats during spring training. So how can you expect to be at the top of your game at at-bat number 1?

Where You Hit in the Line Up or in a Game Situation

One of the things I hear all the time is parents and players making arguments for why their son should be starting over another player because their batting average is a lot higher or they got a couple of hits while the other guy struck out. Keep in mind that where you bat in the line up or where you bat during the course of a game makes a difference in the pitches you see. Your number 3 hitter is pitched differently then your number 9 hitter. If you come into a blow out game or pinch hit in a 2 outs bases empty situation chances are you are going to get easier pitches to hit. Maybe you lucked out and faced an easier pitcher or maybe you faced the league’s best pitcher while your back up faced some joker. The point is coaches look at other things to determine who the best player is and not just stats. They see body language, your approach, the soundness of your swing, your plate discipline, the pitches you swung at, the pitches you took, etc., etc., etc. If you’re in a situation where you are battling for a spot don’t do the math. Don’t watch the other guy and assume that since he is getting more hits than you or that you are getting more hits then him then that means he or you is going to win the spot. Instead, focus on what you can control. Put yourself in the best position possible to succeed by eliminating anything that would detract you from your success.

So What Should Determine Your Level of Success

As I am sure you know by now (if you’ve read any of my other blogs) I believe that the best thing to focus on is having a “Quality At-bat”. But more than that you should focus on achieving mastery over yourself as a baseball player. Mastery over your physical mechanics, mastery over you mind, mastery over your approach, and mastery over your emotions. Look at each at-bat as an opportunity to improve both as a hitter and as a baseball player. See your opponent as a needed piece of the puzzle that is constantly pushing you to be better. Focus on what you can control, your preparation, your approach, and taking good mechanically sound swings at hittable pitches. Anything beyond that is beyond your control and worrying about it only takes you away from your development.

There are many reasons for getting or not getting hits. Sometimes you get lucky. You take a terrible swing at a poor pitch and it finds a hole. Sometimes you do everything correctly and hit the ball right at somebody. In either scenario basing your success on whether or not you got a hit would be counter productive. The athlete who got the hit would think everything is okay and even though it wasn’t. His belief that he’s fine because he got the hit stifles his development. Similarly the athlete who got out will stifle his development by searching for “what’s wrong”. Do yourself a favor and don’t base your success on whether or not you got a hit. Focus on improving and seeing everything we do on the field as a learning opportunity.