August, September and October represent an important phase in how I develop hitters. I call it the Assessment Phase. Fall baseball should not simply be about winning games or putting up numbers. It should be a laboratory.
This is the time for hitters to try things, test things, fail at things, make adjustments, and discover what they can actually do.
You cannot truly know what works until you have enough freedom to discover what doesn’t work. That is one of the reasons I believe fall baseball is so important for development. Players need an environment where they can experiment without feeling like every failure is a crisis.
Failure during this phase gives us information. It tells us what needs to be trained.
During the Assessment Phase, I want my hitters to understand the difference between four things: ignorance, smart, intelligence and arrogance. Understanding where you are within these four areas can help you determine what you need to do next.
Ignorance: I Don’t Know
Ignorance simply means not knowing. A hitter may not know how to recognize spin. He may not understand how his load affects his timing. He may not know which pitches he handles best or what adjustment he needs to make with two strikes.
There is nothing wrong with beginning in ignorance. We all start there when learning something new. The problem is remaining ignorant because you refuse to ask questions, receive coaching, study, or pay attention to what the game is teaching you.
The way out of ignorance is curiosity.
Ask questions.
Study the game.
Watch video.
Listen to coaches.
Pay attention to your at bats.
Become interested in why you succeeded and why you failed.
Ignorance says, “I don’t know.” The Assessment Phase gives you an opportunity to find out.
Smart: I Know, But I Can’t Consistently Do
Being smart means you know what to do, but you may not yet have the physical ability or skill to consistently execute it.
A hitter can explain exactly what he is supposed to do against a breaking ball and still not be able to hit one. He can tell you what a good two strike approach is and then fail to execute it when he gets two strikes. He knows. That’s valuable, but for a player, knowledge alone isn’t enough.
Knowing and not being able to do can work for coaches and scouts because their jobs require them to know, evaluate, teach, and communicate. Some coaches and scouts have also had successful playing careers themselves. But the player’s responsibility is different. Players have to perform.
The way a hitter moves from being smart to becoming intelligent is through reps.
Train against velocity.
Work on pitch recognition.
Face live pitching.
Practice making decisions.
Put yourself in situations that expose the difference between what you know and what you can actually do.
Being smart says, “I know what to do.” Intelligence asks the next question: “Can you do it?”
Intelligence: I Know, I Can Do, and I Do
This is where I want my hitters.
My definition of intelligence for a player is knowing the right thing to do and doing it based on your ability to do it. Intelligence requires knowledge, but it also requires execution.
This is where confidence becomes important. Confidence and belief are not the same thing. You can believe you can do something that you’ve never done before. Confidence comes from evidence. You trained it. You tested it. You failed at it. You adjusted. Then you successfully executed it. Now you have something to be confident about.
An intelligent hitter doesn’t simply know that he should attack a certain pitch in a certain count. He understands whether that is actually a pitch he can handle, and he has developed the physical ability to execute when he gets it.
That’s why the process matters.
Learn it.
Train it.
Test it.
Fail at it.
Adjust it.
Execute it.
Repeat it.
Eventually, knowledge becomes ability, and ability produces confidence.
Intelligence says, “I know what to do, I know what I can do, and I have the confidence to execute it.”
Arrogance: I Think I Can Do More Than I’ve Proven
Arrogance is overconfidence. It happens when what a player thinks he can do exceeds what his preparation and performance have demonstrated that he can consistently do.
A hitter may believe he can hit every pitch. He may think he doesn’t need to make an adjustment. He may believe his talent alone is enough. Baseball has a way of exposing that very quickly.
The answer to arrogance isn’t destroying a player’s confidence. The answer is assessment. Let the game provide evidence.
Measure performance.
Accept feedback.
Study failure.
Know your strengths and acknowledge your weaknesses.
Compare what you think you can do with what you’ve actually demonstrated you can do.
Arrogance says, “I can do it because I say I can.” Intelligence says, “I know I can do it because I’ve prepared, I’ve done it, and I have evidence.”
That’s What Fall Baseball Is For
This is why I love August, September and October for player development. Fall baseball should give players permission to experiment.
Try the adjustment.
Try the new stance.
Work on using the opposite field.
Attack the breaking ball.
Change your two strike approach.
Learn to handle velocity.
Fail.
Adjust.
Try again.
The objective isn’t to create reckless hitters who experiment without purpose. The objective is to create hitters who use experimentation to gather information about themselves.
Every rep is data.
Every swing teaches you something.
Every at bat provides feedback.
By the end of the Assessment Phase, I want a hitter to have a much clearer understanding of what they can do, what they cannot do yet and what they need to train next.
Once we know those three things, we can build a real development plan.
That’s also why I don’t want hitters walking to the plate simply believing they can succeed. I want them developing evidence that gives them confidence. There’s a difference between saying, “Coach told me I can hit velocity,” and saying, “I’ve trained against velocity enough that I know what I can handle.”
There’s a difference between knowing you should recognize a breaking ball and having seen enough breaking balls that you can recognize one and respond.
That’s the journey from ignorance, to smart, to intelligence while avoiding arrogance.
The fall gives us time to make that journey.
Assess.
Experiment.
Fail.
Adjust.
Execute.
Evaluate.
Repeat.
Don’t hide from failure during the Assessment Phase. Use it. If you’re afraid to find out what you can’t do, you’ll never clearly understand what you can do. And if you don’t know the difference, you aren’t yet operating with intelligence.
That’s what August, September and October are for.
Assess yourself.
Try things.
Make mistakes.
Gather evidence.
Build skills.
Earn confidence.
Because when the games eventually matter most, I don’t want my hitters simply knowing what to do.
I want them knowing what to do, knowing they can do it, and having the confidence to execute.
That’s an intelligent hitter.
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 associate scout for the Cincinnati Reds. As founder and CEO of Diamond Directors Player Development, C.J. has more than 22 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 a track record of success that can work for you.
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