What is competition? On one hand, competition is making your opponents better, regardless of their skill level or yours. On the other hand, competition is a minimum standard that must be realized in order to compete. Let’s go deeper on both.
While playing in the minors in the Chicago Cubs organization, I faced 90-plus fastballs daily. That wasn’t the case for me in high school or even in college. I was able to develop the bat speed to hit 90-plus fastballs because I was seeing them so often. The pitchers were making me better.
There are several levels of the minors, ranging from Rookie to AAA, before reaching the Majors. Being promoted as a hitter and pitcher is based on your ability to repeat your swing and delivery.
Major League hitters can repeat their swing 70 percent of the time, while pitchers repeat their delivery at the same rate.
Therefore, if you’re a hitter that repeats his swing 40 percent of the time against a pitcher that repeats his delivery 70 percent of the time, as a hitter, you aren’t competing because you don’t meet the standard.
Be respectful of others, because there is a responsibility you have when you are better than others. Falling down from a position of privilege is faster than climbing up from a position of pain.
Understanding both of these definitions is critical for today’s Travel baseball coaches, parents and players to understand, because the word compete is thrown out by all three too loosely.
Congratulations if your Travel team is No. 1 in America. You now have a responsibility to help lesser opponents improve without compromising your development. In fact, lesser talented teams are helping you be or become humble.
You must also recognize that your top tier Travel team in America may not be able to compete against the top team in Japan or Dominican Republic where baseball is often considered a religion.
In order to compete, check your head and heart before your hands. With your head and heart, be humble. Being humble doesn’t mean that you should think less than of yourself. It means that you should think of others more.
Be respectful of others, because there is a responsibility you have when you are better than others. Falling down from a position of privilege is faster than climbing up from a position of pain.
Remember: Intelligence tops being smart.
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C.J. Stewart has built a reputation as one of the leading professional hitting instructors in the country. He is a former professional baseball player in the Chicago Cubs organization and has also served as an area scout for the Cincinnati Reds. As founder and CEO of Diamond Directors Player Development, C.J. has more than 12 years of player development experience and has built an impressive list of clients, including some of the top young prospects in baseball today. If your desire is to change your game for the better, C.J. Stewart has a proven system of development and track record of success that can work for you.
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