Young hitters and coaches spend so much time on hitting mechanics. To be specific, I would say that 95 percent of the development time used for hitting drills focuses on mechanics, while 5 percent is indirectly and/or accidentally focused on the mental development.
The irony is that 95 percent of hitting is mental.
Successful people have passion, belief in their skills and understand how to think. It is vital to understand the mechanics of your swing. In addition, you must be able to convert what you understand to action based on mental skills.
Without the mental skills, you still can enjoy the game of baseball as a fan.
The three most important things that support hitting mechanics are passion, belief and thinking. Here’s why:
No. 1 – The Power of Passion
If passion can be taught, I haven’t figured out how to do it. Passion is a strong and barely controllable emotion. Coaches require passion from their players, but fail to clearly explain what it is.
Why do you need it?
For starters, being successful is difficult. Having a .300 batting average in the Major Leagues means you have reached a level of success. But remember, that still means you fail 70 percent of the time.
Passion is the fuel you need when you become frustrated and don’t have the energy to practice. If you aren’t passionate about playing baseball, you most likely will quit. Every great baseball player has thought about quitting at some point in his career. If you haven’t reached that point yet, keep playing. It’s that difficult.
How do you know when you have it?
You know when failure causes you to ask questions about yourself and your coaches in an effort to make adjustments.
How do you know when you don’t have it?
You know when you to complain, blame and, ultimately, quit – in that order.
Make it your mission to surpass your competition through passion, and stop worrying about who has the most hits and the newest arm sleeve.
No. 2 – The Power of Believing
Believing is when you accept something as being true. For example, sometimes we have to lie to ourselves by saying, “I can do it.”
Why do you need it?
You must believe in yourself, because baseball will provide countless opportunities to fail. Along with failure comes doubt, especially when you don’t accept that failure is a part of the game. Failure also comes when you fail to make immediate adjustments.
How do you know when you have it?
You know when your response to failure is, “I know what adjustment I have to make and I will make it right now.”
How do you know when you don’t have it?
You know when your response to failure causes you to complain, blame and, ultimately, quit – in that order.
Tip of the week – The Finish
No. 3 – The Power of Thinking
Thinking is the process of using your mind to process or reason about something. Coaches often ask hitters to refrain from thinking while they are in the batter’s box. That’s not an intelligent request, unless, of course the hitter has great hitting habits. Thinking only stops when sustainable habits exist.
It takes 3,000 reps to develop a habit. There are seven parts of the swing, including stance/load, timing, tempo, tracking, approach, contact and extension/finish. That means it takes 21,000 reps to develop a habit. How are your habits? If they aren’t great, you better be thinking.
Why do you need it?
You must think in order to become successful. Here is an intelligent thinking pattern:
- I understand what success is.
- I’m physically aware that I failed.
- I understand what physical adjustment to make on the next pitch.
- I make the physical adjustment.
- I have achieved success.
- I repeat success until I fail again, and then the process of thinking starts again.
How do you know when you have it?
You know you’re thinking when you experience calm after you fail. Failure is an opportunity to adjust and succeed. Failure is a cue to make an adjustment the next time around.
How do you know when you don’t have it?
You know you aren’t thinking when you experience panic after you fail.
The wisdom that I share here is based on my experience as a player who climbed from the youth ranks to the professional level, as well as a professional coach for 18 years. What I’m asking you to do in this blog is to spend your development time wisely.
Physical – 5%
Swing Mechanics – 1%
- Stance/Load
- Timing
- Tempo
- Tracking
- Approach
- Contact
- Extension/Finish
Strength – 1%
- Upper body
- Lower body
- Core
- Flexibility
Nutrition – 3%
- Protein – build muscle
- Carbs – provide energy
- Fiber – breaks down protein and carbs
Mental 95%
Passion – 30%
What are 10 specific things you are passionate about in life? Here is my top 10:
- Spiritual relationship with God/church
- My health
- My wife
- My daughters
- Baseball
- My extended family
- Serving others in my community
- Reading
- Writing
- Traveling
Belief – 30%
What are 10 specific things you believe you can do well in life? Here’s my top 10:
- Husband to my wife
- Fatherhood
- Vision casting
- Praying for others
- Christian discipleship
- Developing hitters
- Mentoring young males
- Networking
- Connecting others
- Eating
Thinking – 35%
What are 10 specific habits you must develop as a hitter that will allow you to be successful while preventing you from thinking about hitting mechanics? Here’s my top 10:
- Discipline
- Focus
- Awareness of what’s right
- Awareness of what’s wrong
- Ability to listen
- Ability to learn
- Ability to make an adjustment
- Ability to repeat what’s right
- Ability to repeat what’s right without attempting to do it better
- Ability to start back at #3 when I do something wrong
Remember: Good hitters don’t work hard; they work smart.
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BIO
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, CJ 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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