SwingAway Instructional Blog

You are browsing the archives of swingaway.

Winners are made in practice. Everyone says, “You have to practice like you play,” but very few know what that really means, and even fewer do it. Practicing like you play is quality practice, and it takes mental toughness to practice with that knid of intensity and desire. Watching Greg Maddox and Roger Clemens practice their pitching between starts, you can see their intensity and concentration. When they throw a bad pitch, they do not have the attitude, “It’s okay; it’s only practice.” Instead, Maddox and Clemens both respond like they do in a game; they get upset. When they do not execute a pitch the way they want to in a game, they adjust, refocus, and get it right. This is also exactly how they behave when they practice.

The follow through should be a personal preference. While many hitters feel like they have a better swing with a two handed finish; other feel the one handed finish works best for them. Some hitters use both methods depending on where the pitch is. For example, many hitter finish with two hands on the inside pitch while releasing their top hand on the ball away, this allows them to stay through the ball better.

Sports giants are people willing to pay the price for excellence. Brooks Robinson took 200 ground balls a day from the time he was 12 year old until the end of his career.

Here’s to a Happy New Year from the entire team here at SwingAway!

What is a pressure situation? In baseball a pressure situation can be any possible turning point in a game, or perhaps any time a player feels an urgency or a necessity to perform in the “right now” as if the game was on the line. Pressure situations rarely announce themselves. Pressure situations can be the bottom of the 9th in the final game of the World Series, or a clutch at bat in the first inning of a Little League game.

Before continuing, I would like you to distinguish between two important kinds of goals: outcome goals and performance goals. Outcome goals are the end of products of achievement, such as hitting .300, or making the All-Star team. Performance goals are explained below.

Have you ever watched hitters on TV or at the ball park and wonder why one stands forward in the box and another stands deep in the box? Why one is close and the other far from the plate? There are various places to stand in the box. One of the most important concepts to realize when choosing where you are going to stand in the box, is that you must have good plate coverage. You need to be able to cover the outside corner of the plate, however you do not want to stand too close to the plate. So where is the ideal place for a hitter to stand? Part of the answer to this question has to do with the length of the bat you use and also the length of your arms.

When a player is “hot,” it is imperative that he not pressure himself to maintain that pace. If so, he starts trying too hard, thereby switching the mind to the left hemisphere, where trouble is certain. Solution? Leave your mind on automatic, and keep positive HEAD GAMES within your control.

We have a hitter on our American Legion Team who claims that keeping his back elbow up at the point that he completes his stride; i.e. getting into a “Position of Power”, or “launch” position, or “loaded” position, allows him to attack the ball with a downward approach. His back elbow, at the end of his stride, is parallel to the ground. As i understand biomechanics, this position has to elongate the swing. It also seems to me that his hands and arms have to be really quick for pitchers that have some pop on their fastball, as well as good offspeed pitches, to compensate for the longer path that the hands have to take to the ball. In coaching hitters, I have difficulty convincing them that starting with the back elbow at a 45 degree (or so) angle in their stance and keeping it there after their stride gives them more time to decide if they want to commit to the pitch; in part, because they see so many major leaguers starting with the back elbow up and parallel to the ground.

I receive numerous calls, e-mails and other contacts inquiring ifHead Games is effective in other sports. The answer is a resounding yes!! And, not only in sports, but life generally. Many players, coaches and parents are involved in other sports and need the benefit of sound, proven mental techniques to enhance their particular game(s). This past season, I worked with a National Hockey League player who had never heard of the benefit of playing out of the right hemisphere of the mind and had never used abdominal breathing. Although a first round draft pick, he has never realized his potential.