Jackie Robinson was the first Black man to play Major League Baseball in the modern era, but he wasn’t the first Black man to ever do it. Moses Fleetwood Walker was the first. Mr. Walker made his MLB debut on May 1, 1884, playing for the Toledo Blue Stockings.
I obviously never met Mr. Walker, but I would assume that there are skills he possessed that allowed him to be successful during that time of segregation. The top three skills that I assume that Mr. Walker had are the ones that I know that hitters must have if they want to be successful today.
- How to practice
- How to play
- How to perform
Talent is something you do well, while a habit is something you do well repeatedly without thought. A skill is something you do well repeatedly without thought under stress.
Practice
In the 1800s, I’m pretty sure that they didn’t have indoor batting cages or hitting coaches who taught them how to hit a baseball. #sarcasm
What they did have was a lot of rocks, which they could hit by tossing them up in the air. I would imagine this is something that they could have done all day long. It’s a drill that doesn’t require a parter. Just a bat or stick, some rocks, and some good old-fashion commitment and discipline.
Commitment is a promise you make to yourself, while discipline is doing the things that need to be done even when you don’t want to do them.
Remember: It takes 3,000 reps to build a habit. There are seven parts of the swing. That’s 21,000 reps to build a habit. It takes another 21,000 reps to convert the habit to a skill.
Every time Mr. Walker threw a rock in the air and swung, he was developing hitting habits. Here are the seven parts of the swing required to hit a rock when you toss it in the air:
- Stance/Load
- Timing
- Tempo
- Tracking
- Approach
- Contact
- Extension/Finish
If you don’t know how to practice by yourself, you’ll never become great at anything.
Play
As a child, I assume that Mr. Walker played baseball on an open field like a lot of kids had to back in the day. Those games didn’t have umpires, chalked lines or safety bases.
I bet they had one ball and one bat, which everybody had to share. They most likely used anything they could find as bases. There were no coaches around to disturb their development process. Uninterrupted failure is the best teacher, especially when you have players who are critical thinkers.
- Are you a critical thinker?
- Does you coach have to tell you how to hit a baseball?
One of my favorite baseball games as a kid was Any Hop. Playing games prepare you for the next practice. Your failure in those games enables you to know exactly what you need to focus on when you’re practicing alone or with your coach.
For the sake of developing your skills faster, don’t underestimate the power of playing baseball games in your neighborhood uninterrupted by coaching.
Perform
Mr. Walker had to perform in order to play and stay in the Majors. You must have skills in order to stay and play.
A skill is something you do well repeatedly without thought while under stress. Remember what I stated earlier, it takes 21,000 reps to develop a habit? Well, it takes another 21,000 reps to convert the habit to a skill.
It was stressful for Mr. Walker and Jackie Robinson to play in the Majors as Black men when millions of people were cheering against them because of their race.
Does your performance rise or fall in your baseball games while stress is present?
In the end, you will develop skills by doing tough stuff. You must practice under stress in order to develop a skill. And as we know, skills pay the bills.
Hitting a ball off a tee gets stressful when you’re trying to hit a quarter size target that’s 30 feet away. Try it. The key is to create stress for yourself in your next game by being on time to track the pitch every time, regardless of the outcome.
- Here’s how I teach timing.
- Use the Dartfish Express app to analyze your timing skills.
You can learn more about Moses Fleetwood Walker
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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