Okay, so most of you know how I feel about Manny Ramirez. It’s not a stretch to say that he isn’t my favorite player. I mean, aside from the whole “Manny being Manny” stuff (that I think is a disgrace to baseball) the guy has played for my two least favorite teams (Sorry to all the Dodger and Red Sox fans out there). That all being said there is no denying the fact that Manny is a great hitter. Probably one of the greatest hitters of our generation. He has an amazing ability to repeat proper mechanics. In fact if you guys remember the homerun he hit in the playoffs against the Cubs in Chicago where it looked like he reached out for that really low pitch, well when you break that swing down it is almost mechanically perfect. Most hitters would have to breakdown their mechanics to hit that pitch but Manny was able put a very mechanically sound swing on that pitch which enabled him to hit the ball the way he did.
Manny’s ability to repeat his mechanics so frequently is directly linked to how hard he works on hitting and (most importantly) how he practices. I came across an article yesterday that was written about what Manny does during spring training. How much and how he goes through his daily work. The excerpt below is Don Mattingly discussing how Manny goes about his tee work. I think that what he is saying is very relevant to the blogs I have written about deliberate practice. Pay attention to what Mattingly is saying, notice how Manny takes every swing, “as a whole at-bat”. In addition pay attention to what Mattingly is saying about Manny’s swing and think about the things you are learning. Mattingly talks about “simplicity” and “path to the ball” which is what we are always working on. Head stability, stride foot down early, no big movements are all the things we use to keep your swing simple. The top hand work and hip separation are both necessary for the direct, simple bat path.
Finally notice how Manny uses his mind during his practice session. Like we have discussed before, too many of you simply go out and perform mindless repetition. In order to achieve true mastery it is imperative that you incorporate your mind. Perform less swings, but think about what you are doing. Using your mind will enable you to develop the repeatable swing you need to be successful. Enjoy the excerpt, it you want the whole article let me know and I will email it to you.
"Nothing's changed from last year. He just keeps a simple path to the ball," said Mattingly. "He's patient. He knows there's almost a full Spring Training left and he doesn't feel he has to rush. How many at-bats did he get last Spring Training? I figure 40-50 for the older guys is enough."
Ramirez had 34 at-bats last Spring with the Red Sox, but theirs was a Spring Training shortened by unusual travel as they opened the regular season March 25-26 in Japan.
Mattingly said Ramirez's batting approach is successful because of its simplicity.
"I used to think my approach to hitting was simple, but not nearly as simple as his," Mattingly, the 1984 American League batting champ, said of Ramirez, the 2002 AL batting champ." Now I look back and, by comparison, I made it more difficult. His swing is the way to go.
"By 8 [a.m.], he's in the cage. He'll only take 30 to 35 balls, but he's almost perfect with them. He does it slow. He doesn't rush. He's not firing ball after ball. He takes his time with each swing. It's like each swing is a whole at-bat. He thinks about what he wants to do and then he thinks about what he just did. Every swing he takes with a purpose. And he doesn't talk much when he's hitting. But if he doesn't like one, he'll ask what you think he did.”
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Limited Mindset Equals Limited Performance
Baseball is crazy! I mean, I love it of course but at the same time baseball and the belief system we have in baseball is enough to drive me nuts. Baseball, more than any other sport is attached to the past. While this attachment provides baseball with the richest history of any other sport it also robs us of progress. Baseball’s attachment to the past and it’s attachment to it’s records doesn’t allow for improvement. It doesn’t allow us to ponder, “What is possible?” I mean we think we already know. For some reason in baseball we have decided what the limits to human performance are. We have decided that hitting .300 or 60 homeruns is the limit to what we can do naturally. If for some reason these numbers are to be surpassed then we immediately believe that the player who did it must have been cheating.
Think about it! It’s almost blasphemy to say that Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, or Lou Gehrig couldn’t compete today with the mechanics they had back then. We want to believe that we will never see anyone who can live up to their talents. This mindset prevents us from surpassing the records these athletes set. Could they really compete today? Could a car, even the best car, built in the 1920’s compete in a race with an average car today? Of course not! The game doesn’t resemble the game these athletes played in. Their mechanics would be exploited in today’s game and they wouldn’t come near the level of success they had back then in today’s game.
The one thing these athletes had however was a limitless mindset. Babe Ruth who played in an era where whole teams were hitting around 20 homeruns a year, saw no reason why he couldn’t hit 60 and as a result he did. Ted Williams saw no reason why he couldn’t hit .400 and he did that very thing. It was their mindset that allowed them to reach these levels not their mechanics. It was this mindset that would cause them to change their mechanics if they played today. If Babe Ruth or Ted Williams played today I believe their swings would look vastly different then the ones we remember. As such they would have been able to compete today but not with their old mechanics.
Over the years and through advances in training, instruction, video analysis, etc., players have become better and more efficient at producing a desired result. Just like in the development of cars, tvs, and other technological advances, we make small improvements over time. When we develop something ground breaking we immediately go to work to make that item a little better. We go from black and white tvs to color, from color to cable, from cable to plasma, from plasma to HD. We didn’t jump from black and white to HD overnight, we made small improvements over time. So then why have the statistics of players not gotten that much better considering they are stronger, faster and better mechanically?
It has everything to do with our mindset as a group. In baseball, when an athlete at any level hits .300 or a certain number of homeruns we immediately think, “He’s got it. He knows what he is doing.” Once they hit these numbers we stop looking for ways for that athlete to improve. We take the, “We just don’t want him to loose it” approach and we are happy with that production. Nobody ever steps back and wonders if we could do more. Nobody wants to take the risk of, “screwing him up” in order to improve upon already good statistics. Everyone wants to believe that .300 is good enough and that hitting .400 is impossible. But what about .450? What about 80 homeruns in a season? Is this possible? I believe it is.
Think of other sports. Every 4 years in track and field we see what we think is the limit to human performance and every 4 years those limits are erased. Look at extreme sports, every couple of months or so we see someone do the “impossible” only to have someone perform an even more difficult trick a few months later. Why is it that there is so much progress in other sports but not in baseball? The track and field athlete is completely focused on running faster then the world record. They know it’s possible and as such they study and look for improvements in training, nutrition, mechanics, and mental skills to make this feat possible. They don’t just shut it down because they are winning races, they are racing against the clock. They are focused on breaking records, their mindset, their goals are focused on doing the impossible. And guess what? They do it all the time.
As everyone knows, baseball has had a run of bad press. We have just finished what could probably be the darkest time baseball has ever seen. Baseball needs someone to change the game. It needs someone to do the “impossible”. We need to improve the sport from the inside out and show the world that it truly is the greatest sport ever invented. In order to accomplish this we have to change our mindset. The limited mindset leads to steroid abuse, the limited mindset leads to complacency and causes our sport to grow stale. The impossible is possible. We can hit .450 in the major leagues. We can hit 80 homeruns in a season. Don’t let the past dictate what you accomplish in the future. Believe in what is possible, change your mindset and help me change this great game.
Think about it! It’s almost blasphemy to say that Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, or Lou Gehrig couldn’t compete today with the mechanics they had back then. We want to believe that we will never see anyone who can live up to their talents. This mindset prevents us from surpassing the records these athletes set. Could they really compete today? Could a car, even the best car, built in the 1920’s compete in a race with an average car today? Of course not! The game doesn’t resemble the game these athletes played in. Their mechanics would be exploited in today’s game and they wouldn’t come near the level of success they had back then in today’s game.
The one thing these athletes had however was a limitless mindset. Babe Ruth who played in an era where whole teams were hitting around 20 homeruns a year, saw no reason why he couldn’t hit 60 and as a result he did. Ted Williams saw no reason why he couldn’t hit .400 and he did that very thing. It was their mindset that allowed them to reach these levels not their mechanics. It was this mindset that would cause them to change their mechanics if they played today. If Babe Ruth or Ted Williams played today I believe their swings would look vastly different then the ones we remember. As such they would have been able to compete today but not with their old mechanics.
Over the years and through advances in training, instruction, video analysis, etc., players have become better and more efficient at producing a desired result. Just like in the development of cars, tvs, and other technological advances, we make small improvements over time. When we develop something ground breaking we immediately go to work to make that item a little better. We go from black and white tvs to color, from color to cable, from cable to plasma, from plasma to HD. We didn’t jump from black and white to HD overnight, we made small improvements over time. So then why have the statistics of players not gotten that much better considering they are stronger, faster and better mechanically?
It has everything to do with our mindset as a group. In baseball, when an athlete at any level hits .300 or a certain number of homeruns we immediately think, “He’s got it. He knows what he is doing.” Once they hit these numbers we stop looking for ways for that athlete to improve. We take the, “We just don’t want him to loose it” approach and we are happy with that production. Nobody ever steps back and wonders if we could do more. Nobody wants to take the risk of, “screwing him up” in order to improve upon already good statistics. Everyone wants to believe that .300 is good enough and that hitting .400 is impossible. But what about .450? What about 80 homeruns in a season? Is this possible? I believe it is.
Think of other sports. Every 4 years in track and field we see what we think is the limit to human performance and every 4 years those limits are erased. Look at extreme sports, every couple of months or so we see someone do the “impossible” only to have someone perform an even more difficult trick a few months later. Why is it that there is so much progress in other sports but not in baseball? The track and field athlete is completely focused on running faster then the world record. They know it’s possible and as such they study and look for improvements in training, nutrition, mechanics, and mental skills to make this feat possible. They don’t just shut it down because they are winning races, they are racing against the clock. They are focused on breaking records, their mindset, their goals are focused on doing the impossible. And guess what? They do it all the time.
As everyone knows, baseball has had a run of bad press. We have just finished what could probably be the darkest time baseball has ever seen. Baseball needs someone to change the game. It needs someone to do the “impossible”. We need to improve the sport from the inside out and show the world that it truly is the greatest sport ever invented. In order to accomplish this we have to change our mindset. The limited mindset leads to steroid abuse, the limited mindset leads to complacency and causes our sport to grow stale. The impossible is possible. We can hit .450 in the major leagues. We can hit 80 homeruns in a season. Don’t let the past dictate what you accomplish in the future. Believe in what is possible, change your mindset and help me change this great game.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Head Stability: Allowing for Repeatable Mechanics
You have all heard me talk about mechanical repeatability. How the most successful athletes are the ones who repeat proper mechanics more often then anyone else. These athletes seem to have greater control over their body then do most people. They seem to repeat their mechanics with greater ease and effortlessness then do athletes with lesser abilities. What allows them to do this?
Control over one’s head is probably the most important and most overlooked aspect of mechanics in any athletic movement. Hitting, pitching, fielding, running, whatever movement you are trying to perform you will be able to perform the mechanics much easier if you are able to have a stable head. We spend so much time on the different aspects of mechanics but we rarely spend any time working on keeping the head stable. In my experience I have found that in many cases stabilizing the head of an athlete takes care of many of the athlete’s mechanical issues and their ability to repeat those mechanics.
Think of your head as a big bowling ball sitting on top of your body. With this weight sitting on top of your body it has the ability to direct what the rest of the body does. When the head moves the body always follows. In hitting for example: if the head tilts to the side the shoulders will follow the head. As a result the bat will follow the shoulders causing the swing to lengthen out. In pitching it’s the same thing. Many times athletes try and throw harder by jerking their head to the side producing more effort. The problem is when the athlete jerks their head the body pulls to the side with it. The end result is the pitcher is not able to get the most behind their pitch. While the pitcher placed more effort into that particular pitch they will end up with a worse result.
Head stability is especially important in any sport that is rotational. Hitting and throwing are obviously rotation in nature. In order to rotate the body to it’s maximum speed the body needs an axis to spin around. The head acts as this axis. If the head is stable it allows the body to rotate faster. If however, the head moves forward, back, or side to side the athlete’s rotation will be slowed and they will not be able to produce the results they desire.
If you are having trouble repeating your mechanics check your head. Focus on keeping your head as still and as straight as possible and you will be surprised at how easy it becomes to repeat your mechanics. Head stability will enable you to repeat your mechanics more often and rotate faster. It’s often overlooked but probably the most important aspect of all athletic mechanics. Stabilize your head and your results will improve.
Control over one’s head is probably the most important and most overlooked aspect of mechanics in any athletic movement. Hitting, pitching, fielding, running, whatever movement you are trying to perform you will be able to perform the mechanics much easier if you are able to have a stable head. We spend so much time on the different aspects of mechanics but we rarely spend any time working on keeping the head stable. In my experience I have found that in many cases stabilizing the head of an athlete takes care of many of the athlete’s mechanical issues and their ability to repeat those mechanics.
Think of your head as a big bowling ball sitting on top of your body. With this weight sitting on top of your body it has the ability to direct what the rest of the body does. When the head moves the body always follows. In hitting for example: if the head tilts to the side the shoulders will follow the head. As a result the bat will follow the shoulders causing the swing to lengthen out. In pitching it’s the same thing. Many times athletes try and throw harder by jerking their head to the side producing more effort. The problem is when the athlete jerks their head the body pulls to the side with it. The end result is the pitcher is not able to get the most behind their pitch. While the pitcher placed more effort into that particular pitch they will end up with a worse result.
Head stability is especially important in any sport that is rotational. Hitting and throwing are obviously rotation in nature. In order to rotate the body to it’s maximum speed the body needs an axis to spin around. The head acts as this axis. If the head is stable it allows the body to rotate faster. If however, the head moves forward, back, or side to side the athlete’s rotation will be slowed and they will not be able to produce the results they desire.
If you are having trouble repeating your mechanics check your head. Focus on keeping your head as still and as straight as possible and you will be surprised at how easy it becomes to repeat your mechanics. Head stability will enable you to repeat your mechanics more often and rotate faster. It’s often overlooked but probably the most important aspect of all athletic mechanics. Stabilize your head and your results will improve.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Deliberate Practice Part 4
For our next discussion on “Deliberate Practice” we will focus on the importance of feedback. For a practice session to really be effective you must be able to gain feedback on your performance. Now remember, I am not talking about feedback from the standpoint of the results you produce. I am rather talking about feedback on the different aspects of your mechanics. This is where a quality coach or instructor becomes extremely valuable. After each swing they have the ability to provide you with feedback on what improvements you can make for the next swing. They have the ability to see things that you might not be able to feel.
If you are basing your feedback on the results you produce you might try and fix something that doesn’t need fixed. An instructor can tell you what exactly you need to fix in order to improve as the practice session goes along. Now, is an instructor necessary? Well, no. However, most hitters, especially young hitters, are not educated enough in the mechanics of the swing to be able to feel, determine mistakes, and fix those mistakes on their own.
That being said there are ways that a hitter can get feedback during practice when they don’t have the opportunity to work with an instructor. I am a huge believer in the use of a mirror. Let’s say a coach tells a hitter about a particular aspect of the swing that they need to work on. That coach usually won’t be able to be around to watch and guarantee that the hitter is performing the movement correctly. In that case the best thing the hitter can use is the mirror. Swings in front of the mirror allow the hitter to get instant feedback on what aspects of their mechanics they need to improve on. The hitter can take a swing, see and feel what their body did, make the necessary adjustments, and take another swing. The mirror allows the hitter to begin to “feel” what the proper movement should feel like. When a hitter can feel what proper mechanics should feel like they are going to be more likely to be able to make adjustments when they are not in front of the mirror.
Secondly, when an athlete does work in front of the mirror it helps to reinforce good mechanics into the subconscious mind. When good mechanics are reinforced into the subconscious mind the hitter is going to learn the proper movement faster and it makes it more likely that the hitter will develop a repeatable swing.
Now I know that a lot of you believe that in order to work on hitting you must be physically hitting a ball. Remember that our goal is to develop a repeatable swing. Mirror work allows you to develop the repeatable swing and provides you with feedback during your practice session faster and more efficiently then any other form of practice. If you don’t have access to an instructor (a good one) then use the mirror. You will be surprised at how fast you improve.
So let’s review what we have covered so far. In order for a practice session to be a “deliberate practice” session it must:
If you are basing your feedback on the results you produce you might try and fix something that doesn’t need fixed. An instructor can tell you what exactly you need to fix in order to improve as the practice session goes along. Now, is an instructor necessary? Well, no. However, most hitters, especially young hitters, are not educated enough in the mechanics of the swing to be able to feel, determine mistakes, and fix those mistakes on their own.
That being said there are ways that a hitter can get feedback during practice when they don’t have the opportunity to work with an instructor. I am a huge believer in the use of a mirror. Let’s say a coach tells a hitter about a particular aspect of the swing that they need to work on. That coach usually won’t be able to be around to watch and guarantee that the hitter is performing the movement correctly. In that case the best thing the hitter can use is the mirror. Swings in front of the mirror allow the hitter to get instant feedback on what aspects of their mechanics they need to improve on. The hitter can take a swing, see and feel what their body did, make the necessary adjustments, and take another swing. The mirror allows the hitter to begin to “feel” what the proper movement should feel like. When a hitter can feel what proper mechanics should feel like they are going to be more likely to be able to make adjustments when they are not in front of the mirror.
Secondly, when an athlete does work in front of the mirror it helps to reinforce good mechanics into the subconscious mind. When good mechanics are reinforced into the subconscious mind the hitter is going to learn the proper movement faster and it makes it more likely that the hitter will develop a repeatable swing.
Now I know that a lot of you believe that in order to work on hitting you must be physically hitting a ball. Remember that our goal is to develop a repeatable swing. Mirror work allows you to develop the repeatable swing and provides you with feedback during your practice session faster and more efficiently then any other form of practice. If you don’t have access to an instructor (a good one) then use the mirror. You will be surprised at how fast you improve.
So let’s review what we have covered so far. In order for a practice session to be a “deliberate practice” session it must:
- Be specific
- Be highly repeatable
- Be able to gain feedback on your performance
Monday, March 2, 2009
The Load
The load is a very important and often overlooked aspect of the swing. The load is a small movement with the hands when the stride foot begins forward. The load is important because it gives the body the an eccentric contraction in the upper body prior to the hands starting forward. This contraction is necessary to maximize muscle performance in the upper body. Think of stretching out a rubber band and letting go. The “stretching back” of the rubber band produces the power when you let go. The same is true in hitting.
Secondly, the load allows the hitter to get the bat in good position to perform the proper bat path needed. Many times the importance of the load is ignored and as a result there is breakdown somewhere later in the swing.
As you can see from the video a good load involves the hitter moving his hands both up and back. It’s important that the hitter doesn’t move their arms straight back causing the arms to straighten out. In order to maintain a good downhill bat path it’s important that the hitter maintains some bend in the arms. The easiest way to accomplish this is for the hitter to use the top hand to load the bat. If the hitter uses the bottom hand it has a tendency to push the bat straight back, straightening out the arms. This will cause the bat to drop and loop as the bat comes forward.
Another important aspect of the load is that the front shoulder does not roll inward. Again, if the hitter uses their top hand to load this should prevent them from rolling the front shoulder inward. If the front shoulder does roll in it will have to roll out again before the bat gets to the hitting zone. This will cause a “lengthening out” of the swing, causing the barrel to drop.
A great way to work on the load is to have the hitter stand in their stance in front of a mirror. In front of the mirror they can take their stride and their load and look at what the front shoulder, arms, and bat are doing. They will be able to feel what a proper load is supposed to look like and over time they will be able to load the bat without looking. This will go a long way in power production and helping them achieve mechanical repeatability.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Effort vs. Results
Have you ever noticed that the greatest athletes in the world almost look as though they aren’t trying? Have you noticed that the best hitters in baseball look as though they swinging at less than 100%? The game is easy for them and all of their movements seem to be slow and smooth. Then how is it that they are able to produce such amazing results? Young athletes are raised to believe that their level of success is directly proportional to the amount of effort the put out. Think about it! In all the different aspects of our life (here in America) we applaud the blue collar worker. We root for the underdog, we appreciate the guy who tries hard and “gives it his all”. Some of us take pride in how hard our life has been and wear our struggles as a badge of honor. At the same time we despise the people who make life look easy. We immediately believe that they must be cheating or getting over on someone because after all “life is hard!”
This conditioning is also apparent in sports. Our young athletes are always told to, “Give 110%” and we expect them to look like they are giving everything they have at all times. The crazy thing is we never stop and ask, “Does this really create results?” We simply believe that if we try hard enough we will succeed. We don’t ever question whether this advice is true or not, we just simply take it for what it’s worth and then go about our lives trying hard to “make things happen” and all the while we are actually getting in our own way of really producing the results we want.
I know, I know, I sound crazy. Before you completely dismiss what I am saying give it a chance and read through the rest of this article. I mean what if you could produce the results you want with far less effort then you are already putting forth? You’d be crazy not to do it, right? I mean why would anyone try to break down a wall to get through it if they could simply open then door and allow themselves to pass right through?
For years we have watched top athletes perform and we are all amazed at the ease and effortlessness for which they play. We have the belief that their superior athleticism allows them to play the game with less effort then the rest of us. Have you ever stopped and considered that maybe their effortlessness allows them to be more athletic? Maybe we have had it backwards all these years. Maybe if we back off on our effort level a little we might be able to perform our mechanics much easier.
The more I study baseball and human performance the more I begin to realize that, “effort” actually stifles results. That the harder we try the farther we actually get from our goals. Now before I start to explain why I want you to understand that I don’t mean that you shouldn’t play hard. There is a big difference between running your fastest to first, diving for balls, and playing the game right and putting out maximum effort when you play. You should always play the game right however you should do it in a way that allows you to produce the results that you desire.
I began to really understand this concept while working with my martial arts instructor. In a drill called, “sticky hands” a student (me) is to keep his hands stuck to the hands of the instructor. The instructor will take the student through various blocks and movements performed in the art. As the drill progresses the instructor begins to move faster and faster. What I realized was the faster my instructor moved the harder I would try to keep up with him. The harder I tried the worse I got at being able to perform the proper movement. When I began to understand that I needed to slow down, to use less effort my body began to perform movements I had just learned at an incredible speed. I was able to keep up with the instructor even though I had just learned the movement. However, once I began to “try” it was all out the window and I couldn’t even perform basic movements.
I began to wonder how this could help my hitters. I have always preached mechanical repeatability and I started to wonder that if this approach would not only help their bat speed but also improve their ability to repeat their mechanics? As I tried it myself I found that indeed my bat speed increased dramatically and it was far easier to repeat my mechanics. In addition I found that the ball was coming off the bat much faster and I was hitting balls much further then I ever was trying to hit the ball as hard as I could. I then experimented with my running. Time and time again my times were substantially faster when I ran at 80% then they were when I was running at 100%. I was convinced! I began to share my findings with my athletes. Just as I thought each athlete had significant improvements in bat speed, exit velocity, and repeatability.
So how and why does this work? Why is it that our long held belief that effort creates results is wrong and that creating results has nothing to do with exerting maximum effort? From a physical stand point effort creates muscle tension. When an athlete exerts their maximum effort the muscles in the body tense up which leads to a decrease in the athlete’s control over fine motor movements. When this happens the athlete is unable to repeat proper mechanics. In addition muscle tension creates friction. The muscles can not move with any fluidity. They actually have to fight each other to perform the movement. Think of a car with it’s parking brake on, you can hold the accelerator down and the car will be giving a lot of effort but it won’t be going anywhere or producing any results. If you simply release the parking brake you can then produce more results with far less effort. The same is true in athletics.
From a mental stand point, effort comes from a place of doubt. Truly confident athletes don’t have to place maximum effort into their movements because they know that if they just perform the movement correctly they will produce a desired result. You see when we “try” or when we really give a lot of effort toward a goal we are not confident that we will attain that goal. We think that we have to try to “make it happen” because if we don’t then it won’t happen. Successful athletes believe that whatever happens things will work out their way in the long run. That they will produce a desired result and therefore don’t have to force themselves to produce that result. This confidence, this belief in themselves enables them to play with the ease and effortlessness we all witness. There is not doubt that they will produce the result they want and as such they almost always produce that result.
The same is true as I write this article. As I sit here I am not trying to write this. I am simply allowing the thoughts in my head to produce the result that I want. If I were to try to write this I would be blocked, I wouldn’t be able to communicate what I want to get across to you.
Coaches across America love to see effort. They love to see their athletes trying hard but the ones who play are the athletes that produce results. Many coaches preach about effort and giving it all you have but time and time again the athletes who play produce results, the ones who make it look easy are the ones who progress onto higher levels of play. You basically have to ask yourself one question, “Do I want to look like I’m trying hard or do I want to produce results?” The answer to that question could make the difference in your career. The answer to that question could finally allow you to produce the results you desire.
This conditioning is also apparent in sports. Our young athletes are always told to, “Give 110%” and we expect them to look like they are giving everything they have at all times. The crazy thing is we never stop and ask, “Does this really create results?” We simply believe that if we try hard enough we will succeed. We don’t ever question whether this advice is true or not, we just simply take it for what it’s worth and then go about our lives trying hard to “make things happen” and all the while we are actually getting in our own way of really producing the results we want.
I know, I know, I sound crazy. Before you completely dismiss what I am saying give it a chance and read through the rest of this article. I mean what if you could produce the results you want with far less effort then you are already putting forth? You’d be crazy not to do it, right? I mean why would anyone try to break down a wall to get through it if they could simply open then door and allow themselves to pass right through?
For years we have watched top athletes perform and we are all amazed at the ease and effortlessness for which they play. We have the belief that their superior athleticism allows them to play the game with less effort then the rest of us. Have you ever stopped and considered that maybe their effortlessness allows them to be more athletic? Maybe we have had it backwards all these years. Maybe if we back off on our effort level a little we might be able to perform our mechanics much easier.
The more I study baseball and human performance the more I begin to realize that, “effort” actually stifles results. That the harder we try the farther we actually get from our goals. Now before I start to explain why I want you to understand that I don’t mean that you shouldn’t play hard. There is a big difference between running your fastest to first, diving for balls, and playing the game right and putting out maximum effort when you play. You should always play the game right however you should do it in a way that allows you to produce the results that you desire.
I began to really understand this concept while working with my martial arts instructor. In a drill called, “sticky hands” a student (me) is to keep his hands stuck to the hands of the instructor. The instructor will take the student through various blocks and movements performed in the art. As the drill progresses the instructor begins to move faster and faster. What I realized was the faster my instructor moved the harder I would try to keep up with him. The harder I tried the worse I got at being able to perform the proper movement. When I began to understand that I needed to slow down, to use less effort my body began to perform movements I had just learned at an incredible speed. I was able to keep up with the instructor even though I had just learned the movement. However, once I began to “try” it was all out the window and I couldn’t even perform basic movements.
I began to wonder how this could help my hitters. I have always preached mechanical repeatability and I started to wonder that if this approach would not only help their bat speed but also improve their ability to repeat their mechanics? As I tried it myself I found that indeed my bat speed increased dramatically and it was far easier to repeat my mechanics. In addition I found that the ball was coming off the bat much faster and I was hitting balls much further then I ever was trying to hit the ball as hard as I could. I then experimented with my running. Time and time again my times were substantially faster when I ran at 80% then they were when I was running at 100%. I was convinced! I began to share my findings with my athletes. Just as I thought each athlete had significant improvements in bat speed, exit velocity, and repeatability.
So how and why does this work? Why is it that our long held belief that effort creates results is wrong and that creating results has nothing to do with exerting maximum effort? From a physical stand point effort creates muscle tension. When an athlete exerts their maximum effort the muscles in the body tense up which leads to a decrease in the athlete’s control over fine motor movements. When this happens the athlete is unable to repeat proper mechanics. In addition muscle tension creates friction. The muscles can not move with any fluidity. They actually have to fight each other to perform the movement. Think of a car with it’s parking brake on, you can hold the accelerator down and the car will be giving a lot of effort but it won’t be going anywhere or producing any results. If you simply release the parking brake you can then produce more results with far less effort. The same is true in athletics.
From a mental stand point, effort comes from a place of doubt. Truly confident athletes don’t have to place maximum effort into their movements because they know that if they just perform the movement correctly they will produce a desired result. You see when we “try” or when we really give a lot of effort toward a goal we are not confident that we will attain that goal. We think that we have to try to “make it happen” because if we don’t then it won’t happen. Successful athletes believe that whatever happens things will work out their way in the long run. That they will produce a desired result and therefore don’t have to force themselves to produce that result. This confidence, this belief in themselves enables them to play with the ease and effortlessness we all witness. There is not doubt that they will produce the result they want and as such they almost always produce that result.
The same is true as I write this article. As I sit here I am not trying to write this. I am simply allowing the thoughts in my head to produce the result that I want. If I were to try to write this I would be blocked, I wouldn’t be able to communicate what I want to get across to you.
Coaches across America love to see effort. They love to see their athletes trying hard but the ones who play are the athletes that produce results. Many coaches preach about effort and giving it all you have but time and time again the athletes who play produce results, the ones who make it look easy are the ones who progress onto higher levels of play. You basically have to ask yourself one question, “Do I want to look like I’m trying hard or do I want to produce results?” The answer to that question could make the difference in your career. The answer to that question could finally allow you to produce the results you desire.
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