Your role in your child’s sporting life

It’s March and the weather is warming up. And so it the anxiety of parents watching the game from the bleachers.

Let’s face it – supporting your child isn’t easy to do. My oldest daughter, Mackenzi, was introduced to tennis at age 3 in an effort to keep her busy. That same year, she began receiving instruction from a professional tennis coach to ensure she was having fun learning the fundamentals. Ironically, my wife, Kelli, was teaching her the ABCs and phonics so that she could learn to read. Tennis gave them both a breather from all of the flash cards??.

Today, Mackenzi is a 9th grader at Atlanta’s Westminster Schools and is a member of the varsity tennis team. She aspires to compete as a student-athlete tennis player at either the University of Georgia or Georgia Tech.

One of my responsibilities as her father is to ensure she is spending the right time, with the right people, learning the right things. If she does, she will have an opportunity to play at the University of Georgia or Georgia Tech. I truly believe that success in anything is based on desire, knowledge and habits, which are supported by relationships.

That’s the secret sauce right there.

Back to baseball. I believe there are three things causing parents at the baseball field to scratch their heads when they watch from the bleachers.

1. What is my child’s full potential?
2. Can our coach help our child reach his full potential?
3. Can our child compete as a student-athlete (baseball) at the collegiate level?

When you don’t know your child’s full potential, parents began to say things like, “We are only playing for fun.” That’s a very safe statement to make until the potential is revealed or remains concealed.

I believe that everybody can be skilled at something, including baseball. Skills in baseball can earn your child a college scholarship. Developing a skill is obtained by way of high levels of struggle in deeper practice that helps your child develop more myelin. Myelin is living tissue in your brain that wraps around neurons and skill.

• Neurons – what you do
• Habit – how often you do it
• Skill – how well you do it
• Myelin – living tissue in the brain that protects skill

Myelin grows by way of high levels of struggle and deep practice.

It takes 3,000 reps to develop a habit and there are 7 parts of the swing. That’s 21,000 reps to build a habit.

1. Stance/Load
2. Timing
3. Tempo
4. Tracking
5. Approach
6. Contact
7. Extension/Finish

Here are few questions that your family should be able to answer confidently and unapologetically:

• Is my child playing for fun?
• What is my child’s full potential in baseball?
• How far does my child want to go in baseball?
• Does my child know that there are seven parts of the swing?
• Does my child know that it takes 3,000 reps to build a habit?
• What drills does my child use to develop the proper hitting habits?
• Does my child’s coach see potential in him?
• Can this coach convert that potential to a skill?

The priority is to convert potential to productivity, and I can help your child with this. As a professional swing coach, I’ve had lots of success collaborating with players, parents, team coaches (Russell Wrenn, The Westminster School; Lance Oubs, The Lovett School; Mike Brady, The Walker School; Michael Bailey, Whitfield Academy) to convert potential to productivity onsite and on online at my Hitting Lab.

I’ve been providing the blueprint for success for baseball players for close to two decades. Learn how I helped Jason Heyward reach the Majors here.

So, where do you fit in? Check out my upcoming two- part blog, which will reveal the remaining two things that are causing parents at the baseball field to scratch their heads from the bleachers.

Remember: Intelligence trumps being smart.

For more information, visit www.diamonddirectors.com today. Also, check out our Digital Magazine.

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.