Learn baseball and softball mental game approach tips to improve pitching and hitting toughness skills from Joe Yurko in this part-2 interview. Discover his coach program examples, exercises, and research.
How To Improve Your Mental Game In Baseball Part-2 Interview With Joe Yurko
In this how to improve your mental game in baseball interview with Coach Joe Yurko, we go over a little sports psychology. One of my favorite subjects when it comes to hitting a ball!! This is a Part-2 interview with Joe on our Swing Smarter Hitting Training Podcast. If you missed Part-1, then CLICK HERE.
Here are some of the how to improve your mental game in baseball topics we discussed:
Review of Joe’s 10 Sports Psychology principles that are a part of his hitting system
Fear: “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Ichabod Crane, in the story, he was afraid, but it was his own imagination that caused him to be afraid, there was no Headless Horseman.”
“These kids were walking around saying, we’re going to face a guy throwing 95 miles an hour. I’m trying to counter that.”
Conscious Brain: “…your thinking parts, the parts that land rockets on the moon and invent sticky notes and whiteout and things like that.”
“The moment you said, I don’t care anymore, you just turned your brain on.”
“He called it the paradox that the upper parts of our brains invent the games that we play… Then the lower parts are the ones that play it.”
CLICK HERE if you want a copy of the Joe Yurko how to improve your mental game in baseball interview transcript in pdf format.
https://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/how-to-improve-your-mental-game-in-baseball.png423800Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2022-07-05 10:00:352022-07-07 05:26:16Baseball Softball Mental Game Approach Tips To Improve Pitching Hitting Toughness Skills | Coach Program Training Examples, Exercises, & Research
Discover how to build mental game toughness approach, acquire skills, and find tips that work for baseball softball pitching, hitting, or any sport for that matter. In this interview with Joe Yurko, learn a coach training program he’s been developing over the years with examples, mental exercises, and research to support.
“What Do You Mean by You Can’t ‘Try’ To Hit?” – Joe Yurko Interview on the Baseball Mental Game
In this baseball mental game interview with Coach Joe Yurko, we go over a little sports psychology. One of my favorite subjects when it comes to hitting a ball!! Interestingly, I published this interview on our Swing Smarter Hitting Training Podcast, and Click Here for Part-2 to this interview.
Here are some of the baseball mental game topics we discussed:
Teacher-coach, what you were teaching, the psychology side, give everybody a little bit of a background…
Joe Yurko’s 10 Rules for Sports Psychology Success…
What do you mean by you can’t ‘try’ to hit?
“The better you are at what you do, the more you can forget it; the more you forget it, the better you do it.” – Lawrence Shainberg
How did you get out of your head and just react when you play?
The ‘Pattern Interrupt’…
“The mind’s a great thing as long as you don’t have to use it.” – Tim McCarver
Joe, where can people find you?
Joe has been a follower of mine for some time, and what I like about him is he is as obsessed about how sports psychology applies to baseball as I am with mechanics. He taught sports psychology in school and coached baseball for many decades. I feel he’s formulated and used a system with his past team players and with his current players, as an instructor, I feel the information would be useful to parents, coaches, and instructors out there.
CLICK HERE if you want a copy of the Joe Yurko baseball mental game interview transcript in pdf format, then you can click the preceding link to follow along.
Some other great mental health, training, and approach posts:
https://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/baseball-mental-game-e1636046360716.png281500Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2022-07-05 09:45:302022-07-07 05:26:14How To Build Mental Game Toughness Approach, Skills, Tips For Baseball Softball Pitching, Hitting, & Sports | Coach Training Program Examples, Exercises, and Research
Fun ways to teach a beginner kid (get them to buy in) to hit with power and improve batting timing for baseball and softball players. Helpful drills and tips for 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, & 12 year olds.
Softball Hitting Tips for Beginners: 5 Little Known Ways To Improve Hitters
This is one of my online lessons out in Pennsylvania (I’m in Cali), 11yo Jackson. 2.5 months between BEFORE/AFTER’s.
A great softball hitting tips for beginners question came in recently, from a reader (relates well to baseball too)…
“What percentage of hitters that you have coached got no improvement or no benefit from your program? How many swings per day would you recommend for a 10yr old hitter (what’s too much and not enough?”
Here’s what we’ll cover in this softball hitting tips for beginners post:
Improvement depends on these 5 things…, AND
How many swings are too much & not enough?
Improvement Depends on these 5 Things…
This is one of my online fastpitch hitters 15yo Mia out in Florida.
I’d be lying to you if I said that ALL my online and local hitters are continually improving or benefiting from my system.
Sadly, this holds true for anyone’s system…effective or ineffective.
Unless…
The instructor is HIGHLY selective on who they accept as a client.
Although, it must be said those hitters being taught ineffective mechanics will get cut much sooner than ones learning how to hit employing human movement principles that are validated by science.
We coaches and instructors can control only so much.
We’re like a flashlight guiding the way in the dark. We can illuminate where we want the hitter to go and how to get there, but ultimately it’s up to the hitter to do their homework.
Here are FIVE critical factors for seeing constant improvement with hitters…
SCIENCE-BASED TRAINING:
Improve your hitting strategy dramatically by applying human movement principles.
Learn not only how and what to train but also the science behind the methods.
Softball Hitting Tips for Beginners #1: Motivation/Inspiration
Like Tony Robbins says, “Motivation is like a warm bath”. Motivation wears off in the short term. But inspiration can last up to months, if not years, from its inception.
There’s a time and place for each.
Think of motivation as PUSHING the player, whereas inspiration allows them to be PULLED by their own self-motivation.
The latter is obviously ideal, but the challenge is that every player is inspired and motivated by different things.
There’s nothing more frustrating for a hitting coach or the parents, than an unmotivated and/or uninspired player…
Which we may have to face the conclusion that this player is probably not in the right sport or activity.
Softball Hitting Tips for Beginners #2: Effective mechanics
Is the hitter applying human movement principles – that are validated by science – to hitting a ball?
You see, effectiveness is doing the right things, while efficiency is doing those things right.
In other words, I can get real good at ‘squashing the bug’, ‘chopping down on the ball’, and ‘sitting back’ but my playing career will be dwarfed in comparison to executing more effective body movements.
One of the biggest competitive advantages I would recommend to any coach, would be to invest and read Thomas Myers’s book Anatomy Trains. Here’s a short video from Thomas Myers explaining “What is Tensegrity”:
Softball Hitting Tips for Beginners #3: Effective coaching cues
As most of you coaches know, player learning styles are different. Do you know how many learning styles there are?
Here’s a clue…
Neuro-Linguistic Programming, or NLP, says there are 3 main ones (acronym – VAK):
Visual (sight/pictures),
Auditory (sound), and
Kinesthetic (feel).
Furthermore, vague coaching cues like ‘get on top of the ball’ or ‘be short to the ball’, which can be used effectively as adjustment cues, are too general and broad in scope to teach as a default swing strategy.
Without extended explanation, these cues aren’t very intuitive, and are ultimately ineffective on a broad scale.
On the other hand, ‘show your numbers to the pitcher’ or ‘land shorter’, will require minimal explanation to get the hitter executing exactly what you want them to do.
Softball Hitting Tips for Beginners #4: Feedback systems
I think it was Peter Drucker that said what gets measured, gets managed.
If you’re a hitting coach that DOES NOT use slow motion analysis, then you’re not being effective.
With free slow motion video phone apps like CoachesEye and HudlTech, and inexpensive PC/MAC software like Powerchalk, there’s ZERO excuse to not do slow motion analysis with your hitters.
Also, swing apps like Zepp, SwingTracker, and the more expensive HitTrax cage system are great for getting more in depth in measuring a hitter’s outcomes.
There are also intuitive hitting aids out there that help to cut down the learning curve when teaching a hitter specific swing movements. One inexpensive one giving audible feedback of when the barrel is accelerating is the Swing Blaster.
The point is, there are great forms of technology and a few hitting aids out there to aid in your feedback systems. These modalities give hitters INSTANT feedback on where to improve.
Softball Hitting Tips for Beginners #5: Doing the work
This shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone. Even if you’ve checked the previous FOUR factors off your list, if the hitter isn’t putting the work in, then they’ll get better…but can take years to see consistent improvement.
The overarching theme of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s biography, in his tell all book Total Recall, was:
Goals,
Steps, and then
Reps.
You see, if the hitter is inspired/motivated, employing effective mechanics and coaching cues, using feedback systems to manage what’s measurable, then it’s all about putting the work in.
Do the right things, then get outstanding at doing those things right.
'Add 40-Feet' To Batted Ball Distance
Swing Study reveals how tens of thousands of hitters are adding 40-feet to batted ball distance by using one simple strategy.
Click the button below to access the FREE video that's been downloaded over 30K times!!
Positive Coaching Alliance website is PositiveCoach.org
Fine Line Between Motivation & Inspiration
Remember motivation is like a warm bath, good in the moment, but will soon cool. Inspiration is the PULL of self-motivation we want to cultivate in our athletes.
Most young athletes ARE NOT inspired to go to practice. Most go because they want to have fun and connect with friends and teammates. It’s the 1/3 Rule:
1/3 of your team wants to be there AND get better,
1/3 of your team wants to be there, and the last
1/3 of the team DOES NOT want to be there & could care less about getting better.
And unfortunately, coaches have to spend most of their time on strengthening the weakest links. This at least holds true for school ball, whereas the parents to have to pay to play.
I find leaning on an organization like the Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) to help equip coaches, players, umpires, and parents on how to build, motivate, and inspire better athletes, resulting in better people later in life.
Over-Practicing
The International Youth Conditioning Association, whom I’m certified with, talks about how long is too long to have young athletes train or practice.
If we’re coaching 12u, practices SHOULD NOT be more than 45-60 mins, 3 times per week. More than that is too much. 30-mins or less for 8u. Middle School should be around 1 hour 30-mins, High School 2 hours 30 mins, college 3-5 hours (depending on weight training days).
And if you feel that’s not enough time to get things done, then you’re not being effective and/or efficient with your practices.
CLICK HERE for an insightful interview with NCAA college Hall of Fame baseball Coach Bob Bennett (my coach for 3 years at Fresno State). He outlines what MUST be the highest priority for practices.
Do you know how to tell if an athlete is over training?
CLICK HERE to read this BreakingMuscle.com article to see how to by just monitoring an athlete’s resting heart rate.
At-Home Sweet Spot
I recommend to all my hitters, to start with 5-15 minutes/day of purposeful quality swing reps at home. 4-5 days per week. This range will depend on self-motivation of course. Players can put in more time, but only if they’re feeling it on that day. The point is to get them REVISITING the material everyday.
By the way, this is outside of normal team practice time. This is time on their own without coach around.
And they need to know, less frequency will translate to a larger learning curve. In other words, it’ll take LONGER to improve.
And lastly,
Look for the Signs
When practicing or training, look for signs of frustration/anger, boredom, or shutdown.
You’ve seen these before, for example…
When a player is getting frustrated, you may see tears welling up in their eyes…OR anger may be taking unfocused swings as hard as they can.
When a player is bored, you may see them yawn, or being distracted. The latter could be ADD/ADHD. The point is they’re not into what you’re teaching them, so you have to make an adjustment. Make practice a game, and more fun. That will grab their attention…and keep it.
When a player looks shutdown, it’s time to shut down their session. Go back to the drawing board and start anew tomorrow.
An outstanding coach is an observant one. Don’t try to fit a round peg in a square hole.
Above all, PLEASE use common sense.
'Add 40-Feet' To Batted Ball Distance
Swing Study reveals how tens of thousands of hitters are adding 40-feet to batted ball distance by using one simple strategy.
Click the button below to access the FREE video that's been downloaded over 30K times!!
https://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/softball-hitting-tips-for-beginners-jackson11.png309600Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2022-06-22 09:00:042023-05-18 18:26:21Fun Beginner Ways To Teach A Kid To Hit With Power And Improve Batting Timing For Baseball & Softball | Drills And Tips for 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, & 12 Year Olds
Improve sports vision training when hitting, keep eye on the baseball, and learn how to see softball better. Discover the North Virginia Doctors of Optometry, Falls Church apps, glasses, and drills training.
Baseball Vision Training That Bryce Harper Is Talking About
Check out Bryce Harper’s amber tinted lenses that help with the sun and different hitting backgrounds in the 2012 playoffs. Photo courtesy WashingtonPost.com
I have the honor and privilege of introducing baseball vision training expert Dr. Keith Smithson to you.
What does he do? I HIGHLY recommend CLICKING HERE for a piece the Washington Post did about his baseball vision training, titled, “Washington Nationals Go Beyond The Eye Chart With Vision Training”.
In a nutshell, Dr. Keith helps his hitting athletes try and ‘buy time’. By the way, his baseball vision training works for fastpitch softball as well! His background? Dr. Keith Smithson is the:
Director of Visual Performance for the Washington Nationals,
Team Optometrist for the Washington Wizards, Washington Mystics, Washington Spirit and DC United, and
Visual Performance Consultant for the Washington Redskins, Washington Capitals and Nike.
He’s also graciously contributed more BONUS baseball vision training videos that I’m including in my Reaction Time Mastery online video course that will help hitters track pitches crystal clear, accelerate decision-making reaction time, & get ON-TIME without losing swing effectiveness.
SCIENCE-BASED TRAINING:
Improve your hitting strategy dramatically by applying human movement principles.
Learn not only how and what to train but also the science behind the methods.
You’ll find nothing like this course in the hitting industry.
Dr. Smithson has also agreed to share new technologies and strategies with HPL in the future, so you guys and gals will truly be on the cutting edge of vision and tracking!
The Doc is a very busy guy, but he agreed to answer a couple interview questions, so without further adieu,
Enter Dr. Keith Smithson…
If you were to train me for four weeks for a HUGE tournament and had a million dollars on the line, what would the baseball vision training look like? What if I trained for eight weeks?
I would begin with a comprehensive visual performance enhancement using the latest dynamic vision testing technology such as the RightEye system.
Based on objectively quantifiable test scores, we would begin a protocol of in-office and home based visual performance enhancement.
We would discuss visual acuity and contrast enhancement using corrective lenses and nutritional supplementation. We would maximize eye muscle function, as well as neurological visual processing function and achieve results, as current studies predict.
What makes you different? Who trained you or influenced you?
VIERA, FL February 15 : Dr. Keith Smithson, sports vision specialist. works with Washington Nationals second baseman Steve Lombardozzi (1) on his vision skills where they would toss a ring and call out a color and they would attempt to catch the color during spring training workouts on February 15, 2013 in Viera, FL (Photo by Jonathan Newton / The Washington Post)
All of my testing and training methods are scientifically driven. I use objectively quantifiable testing and training tools to establish performance baselines before training and follow those results throughout training to target the training program and customize each program per the individual athlete’s needs.
I also work with multiple different professional sports teams, therefore I gain a vast understanding of the complex and differing needs of these athletes specific to their sport and position in that sport. I truly learn as much from them, as I trust they learn from me.
What are the biggest mistakes and myths you see in hitting? What are the biggest wastes of time?
By in large baseball players are the most passionate about understanding the visual needs of their sport and are the most open to emerging technologies to maximize their visual potential.
The biggest misconception is that eye dominance plays an important role in visual performance in baseball. A study was done several years ago that showed equal hitting performance for same sided and cross dominant athletes.
It is far more important to have equal visual ability and a coordinated eye muscle system to ensure proper eye tracking and depth perception judgements.
Also, as per Dr. Smithson’s recommendation, sports vision doctors can be found using the doctor locator on aoa.org.
Grab This FREE 'Timing Master Class' Video
Struggling to get your hitters ON-TIME in games? Discover HOW TO build effective laser-focused timing, so your hitters can be ON-TIME more often. These principles are validated by REAL science.
Click the button below to access the FREE video that has been downloaded over 6K times!
https://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/bryce-harper-tinted-lenses.jpg341606Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2022-06-21 09:30:122022-06-22 16:09:48Improve Sports Vision Training When Hitting, Keep Eye On Baseball, & How To See Softball Better | North Virginia Doctors Of Optometry Falls Church Apps, Glasses, & Drills
What college coaches and scouts look for in baseball or softball player recruits and what are the chances of getting a scholarship in 2022-2023. Learn some parenting advice from Coach Mark Gonzalez about how to get your son or daughter noticed and does your kid have to play travel ball?
GoBigRecruiting.com says this about the chances of getting a scholarship… (true for baseball and softball)
“There are only about 300 division one programs, and they all only have 12 scholarships. With hundreds of thousands of HS softball players out there, the odds are less than 5%.“
“You Can Have Average Mechanics and If You Have A Good Approach, You Can Still Be Successful” – Mark Gonzalez Dad Advice on How To Hit a Baseball
How to hit a baseball interview with super parent Mark Gonzalez, and his 7+ tips for other parents out there raising an athlete in a competitive sports environment.
In this how to hit a baseball post interview with Mark Gonzalez, aka East Bay Mark – @NorCal_Trojan on Twitter, and inspirational parent coaching his High School Junior hitter, joined me on the Swing Smarter Hitting Training Podcast and here’s what we covered:
What do you find to be the biggest mistake, one or two mistakes on how to hit a baseball that you see out there?
Was there an aha moment at some point where you finally said Oh, you know what, I might be over overdoing this being the helicopter parent?
“You can have average mechanics and if you have a good approach, you can still be successful…”
Is how to hit a baseball all about hitting dingers and doubles?
What ever happened to playing Whiffle Ball in the street, and can kids learn anything from video games?
What things have you guys been doing on the recruiting side?
“If this college wants a certain type of hitting approach and if that’s the hitting approach you really don’t like well maybe that’s not the school for you…”
Any other how to hit a baseball parting thoughts that you would give to those parents out there with freshmen, sophomores, juniors in high school, coming from a dad who’s coaching their own kid?
Where can people find you Coach Mark and powerful BONUS tips???
CLICK HERE to download and save the how to hit a baseball transcript PDF.
Enjoy!
About travel ball, nowadays it’s a good idea, but in my opinion it doesn’t have to be all year round. Get kids playing other sports in the off season if you can. Above all, make sure they’re working on the right things, and then working on doing those things right. Also, here are two other helpful recruiting links:
https://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/how-to-hit-a-baseball.png423800Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2022-06-21 09:00:292022-06-22 16:11:10What College Coaches And Scouts Look For In Baseball Or Softball Recruits & Chances Of Scholarship 2022-2023 | Parent Advice: How To Get Son Or Daughter Noticed & Do You Have To Play Travel Ball?
Discover simple timing and rhythm hitting tips from Matt Nokes to quickly improve and fix a too early or late swing for baseball and softball batters. Get the front foot down on time and in games.
Timing Drills For Hitting A Softball Video: Quickly & Easily Get Hitters On-Time w/ “Snap Drill”
I don’t give much of my time to others’ timing drills for hitting a softball. And it’s not because I think I’m God’s green gift to baseball and softball. Actually, since January of 2013, I took a needed break learning hitting mechanics from others in the field, no matter how popular. I wanted to shed the hitting “BEER GOGGLES” that have stubbornly held this industry back for decades.
People ask me if I know anything about Tewks, Epstein, “Teacher Man”, etc. I don’t. And that’s the honest truth. I see their posts on Twitter and Facebook, but don’t give them anymore thought. The main reason? I’m still learning my own system!!
Matt Nokes talking about “leaning in and compressing the ball”. Photo courtesy: Matt Nokes’s YouTube channel
Besides, everyone has a different approach, view, and style. As you probably know, the timing drills for hitting a softball language can get quite confusing.
Back in 2013, I decided to stick to resources on Bio-mechanics, Physics, Psychology, etc. Because THIS is where the answers are. It’s not opinion, or someone’s theory or philosophy based on playing or coaching experience.
My #1 rule is to digest information that is validated by science. Don’t seek the footsteps of others, but seek the resources the “others” sought. In other words, don’t just take my timing drills for hitting a softball word for it.
That being said, there are a couple hitting coaches I do listen to, and one is Matt Nokes. I think he has an unmatched passionate curiosity for hitting, authentically wants to help hitters, is open to new ideas (can’t say that for many online gurus), and gets dramatic results with his hitters in a reasonably short amount of time.
As always, I’ve taken video notes for you, so you can skip around to what interests you most. Some of the things you’ll learn in the video are:
Swing intention: what Matt Nokes means when he tells his hitters to “lean on it and compress it” (this will upset the ‘bug squisher’ coaches out there),
Why hitters MUST swing in the same direction as their “swing motor” (and it’s not what you think),
The “Snap Drill” that will easily and quickly get your hitters on-time (an Ah-ha moment for me!), and
Much more…
Enjoy!
SCIENCE-BASED TRAINING:
Improve your hitting strategy dramatically by applying human movement principles.
Learn not only how and what to train but also the science behind the methods.
About 1:00 minute mark, Matt didn’t think about Bat Speed when he was playing, he was trying to “lean on it and compress it”. He calls this “directional force”, in which he says it takes 8,000 pounds per square inch in one direction, to hit a ball 400-feet. CLICK HERE to see our Directional Force drill video.
About 2:15 minute mark, Matt talks about how hips, knees and feet are the base, core is the motor, and arms are swing levers. What happens when swinging off the plane of the core motor. Swing in same direction as swing motor.
About 3:30 minute mark, Matt distinguishes between keeping the barrel above hands as a cue versus what really happens. Don’t miss this. He uses this oftentimes blanket-used-coaching-cue to get the hitter flattening his/her barrel to the pitch plane. Barrel MUST match shoulder plane.
About 5:30 minute mark, Matt defines a timing drills for hitting a softball approach as summing up what you’re trying to do mechanically into a one or two word cue. Ever changing because getting new info, new feelings, new observations. Talks about 2-3 minute “priming” movements before heading into battle.
About 10:15 minute mark, great hitters don’t “keep their hands inside the ball” in a way that creates what Matt calls slack. He refers to the Fence Swing Drill that exaggerate swinging down.
About 12:00 minute mark, Matt talks about transferring force with a bent landing knee, comparing to a Pole Vaulter’s pole when it sticks into the ground before propelling the athlete up. Landing bent allows for adjustment. “The front knee isn’t straightened, it gets straightened. The back leg doesn’t turn, it gets turned. The core moves the legs.”
About 14:45 minute mark, Matt breaks down how to “flatten” the swing. Tells hitter minimal movement from lower half swings, just focus on moving shoulders, hands, and bat. Matt gives limited parameters, and let’s hitter learn the lesson…in other words, he doesn’t map out step by step how to move the way he wants the hitter to move. Gives hitter an outcome and allows them to fill in the blanks.
About 16:30 minute mark, Matt talks about swing approach like what you’d do to chop down a tree. You wouldn’t think about how did I swing the ax yesterday. You’d just start swinging it! Finishing low with the hands and following the line of impact. I call this driving the big nail (Matt’s bat in the video) flush into the wall. At about 20:00 minute mark, Matt adds to this and tells hitter to “lean on this” and “compress it” (referring to his bat). He says that he just gave hitter permission to hit the crap out of the ball.
About 18:30 minute mark, compares big picture timing drills for hitting a softball cues to Fence Swing Drills. The latter being ineffective as a default way to hit. You have to hit with big picture in mind of what you want to do to the ball. Swing intention.
About 21:00 minute mark, Matt begins to talk about timing. Timing is a distance, and to make it simple by synchronizing timing from release to contact. Matt talked about how he took a guy hitting the ball 360-380 feet to hitting it 480-feet in 2.5 months…over the fence, 400-feet off a tee. “Feel” contact…stay sideways and feel contact by leaning and compressing the ball. Matt talks about the “Snap Drill”. This is golden! He also talks about the “Ride” part of “Ride & Stride” that Matt promotes within his system.
If you remember one timing drills for hitting a softball thing from this video, it’s from the 21st minute on… 🙂 Golden.
Unlike most MLB players and coaches, Matt Nokes has an intuitive sense of the swing. He can explain it from a “real” point of view, and transition that into “feel”. His system seems to fill in the blanks that I’ve always had about the swing. The good news about his principles is they’re very simple and easy to implement. Matt has a very common sense approach to hitting.
CLICK HERE to visit his Hitting Solutions website to get more information,
Struggling to get your hitters ON-TIME in games? Discover HOW TO build effective laser-focused timing, so your hitters can be ON-TIME more often. These principles are validated by REAL science.
Click the button below to access the FREE video that has been downloaded over 6K times!
https://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/matt-nokes-timing-drill-post-e1510198314546.png307500Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2022-06-13 09:45:482022-08-15 17:44:35Timing Rhythm Hitting Tips To Quickly Improve Early Or Late Swing For Baseball & Softball Batters | Get Front Foot Down On Time In Games
Learn how to avoid fear of getting hit by the baseball or softball thrown at you while batting. Discover simple drills that teach how to overcome phobia and scared kids at the plate.
Baseball Batting Tricks: Putting Fear in the Corner
This baseball batting tricks “Hit-Bit”, or hitting tid-bit, is an answer to questions from my readers when I asked them, “If you could have a private conversation with me, what two questions would you ask?”The answers are meant to be short, actionable, and tips you can use today.
Today’s Hit-Bit answers the reader question:
“How do you remove fear out of a “scared” hitter? Peer vs Peer What exercises do you use in off a tee?”
We go over:
Fear will always be there,
Get comfortable with baby steps, and
Drills for getting comfortable in the box…
Fear will Always be There
fear is always there, or else we’d all just walk in front of oncoming trains. We have to shrink fear down, and push it to the corner where it belongs.
SCIENCE-BASED TRAINING:
Improve your hitting strategy dramatically by applying human movement principles.
Learn not only how and what to train but also the science behind the methods.
In order to do this, we have to equip hitters on how to deal with a particular “fear of”, that’s getting in the way of success.
Drills for Getting Comfortable in the Box
We’ll talk about baseball batting tricks and strategies young hitters should be practicing, then we’ll go into how to practice it in a safe environment. And most importantly, we’ll build the hitter’s self confidence by tweaking the practice to apply “the move” in a real game situation.
Make sure when the hitter practices “turning away” ONLY, they don’t take a shortcut by NOT striding (like me in the video). FYI, future Hit-Bit videos will between two to three minutes long.
CLICK HEREto enter for your chance to Win free online access to The Truth About Explosive Rotational Power course (a $77 value). The offer ends Friday, September 25th, at 5:00pm Pacific Standard Time. Sharing your unique Giveaway link on social media will help your chances of winning.
(SORRY, this giveaway has closed. Congrats to the WINNER: Brent Bingham)
'Add 40-Feet' To Batted Ball Distance
Swing Study reveals how tens of thousands of hitters are adding 40-feet to batted ball distance by using one simple strategy.
Click the button below to access the FREE video that's been downloaded over 30K times!!
https://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Best-Way-To-Avoid-Getting-Hit-By-Thrown-Baseball-Or-Softball-e1660339229489.png281500Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2022-06-13 09:30:472022-08-12 21:21:18How To Avoid Fear Of Getting Hit By Baseball Or Softball Thrown At You While Batting | Drills Teaching To Overcome Phobia & Scared Kids At The Plate
Stop Hitter From Pulling Their Head Out Before Contact Is Even Made
That’s a comment someone made about one of their biggest frustrations with hitting right now. The above video will fix it! A BIG thank you to Coach Matt Nokes for this!
The following is the bullet point outline to the above video…ENJOY!
Swinging Across Face Drill
In this drill video, we discuss:
Define Swinging Across Face v. Chasing Face,
Where eyes go, head follows, and where head goes, body follows,
Process v. Performance,
Over-swinging and control, and
Regression-progressions:
Beginner – Dry and tee swings
Intermediate – Soft toss and LIVE swings
Advanced – LIVE swings, 2-plate, random pitch
SCIENCE-BASED TRAINING:
Improve your hitting strategy dramatically by applying human movement principles.
Learn not only how and what to train but also the science behind the methods.
https://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/FIX-Head-Movement-Pulling-Head-Off-Baseball-Or-Softball.png423800Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2022-06-07 09:45:312022-09-15 18:44:04FIX Head Movement, Pulling Off Ball, Stepping Out Of Box, And Overcoming Hitting Fear In Baseball & Softball | How Batters Keep Eye On Ball & See Better
Find the best fascia strength training program for baseball and softball hitters to improve power. Works for pitchers too! See how you can do these workouts and exercises for 11 and 12 year olds at home and in the off-season.
4 Tips On How To Train Springy Fascia
I frequently get questions on how to train springy fascia. The following 4 tips from Tom Myers, author of the book Anatomy Trains, will help shed light on how to do just that. The following videos are NO MORE THAN 2-mins long each. Enjoy!
Tip #1: Varying Vectors
Includes tendons, ligaments, and fascial fabric of the body…not the same as training muscles and nerves.
Vary the vectors – difference between working on gym machines v. Rope systems, throwing things, etc.
Machines are good for rehabbing muscles, but don’t prepare you for life’s movement challenges.
How does this apply to hitters?
How to train springy fascia. Image is of fascia stretching. Photo courtesy: Tom Myers Anatomy Trains YouTube
Functional training in the weight room is great for this. Squatting, lunging, hip hinging, twisting, rolling, crawling, single leg hopping, single arm pressing, horizontal pushing, vertical pushing, horizontal pulling, vertical pulling.
Training on different planes: Sagittal, Frontal, and Transverse. Some of the best environments for varying training vectors are Parkour, American Ninja Warrior, Gymnastics, Martial Arts, Dance, Rock Climbing, Yoga, and Pilates.
A quick tip for training this when hitting would be to do the reverse strike zone drill, where the hitter has to swing at pitches outside the strike zone, and take anything in the zone.
If trying to lengthen fascia, then to be safe, lengthen slowly. Slow sustained stretching like you’d find in Yoga, this avoids damaging the fascia.
Fascia isn’t well vasculated, meaning blood doesn’t move to and through fascia very well, so repair of fascial tears takes a lot of time to heal. Muscles regenerate after 90-days, but ligaments can take over 200-days!!
If you want to stretch the fascia, then think Yoga or Tai Chi speeds. NOT athletic speeds.
How does this apply to hitters?
Studies show today’s athletes are sitting 80% of their day, so again, Gymnastics, Martial Arts, Dance, and Rock Climbing are great counter-balancers to this reality. Long slow stretching in the mid-split, front split, and stretching associated with handstand work are great for young athletes spending a lot of time with their bottom on a seat, and spilling their brain out on mobile devices developing “text neck”.
Tip #3: Hydration
Most important that fascia gets hydrated…did you know your Achilles tendon is 63% water?
Hydrating fascia IS NOT necessarily about how many bottles of water you drink.
The question is, does water get to specific bottle-necked areas of fascial fabric in the body, such as the Achilles tendon. Hydration matters – where the water you drink gets to.
“Squeezing the sponge” – big muscular effort helps this, Fascial rolling using a Self-Myofascial Release tool (SMR), self or professional massage, Rolfing.
How does this apply to hitters?
A couple things…
Young athletes MUST drink water, how much? According to world renowned strength and conditioning Coach Charles Poliquin, take half their body-weight, add 30%, and drink that in ounces. A 100-lb player for example, 100-lbs/2 = 50 X 30% = 15 + the halved 50 = 65-ounces of water throughout the day (that’s about FIVE 12-ounce bottles of water).
CLICK HERE for a SMR foam rolling routine video I did a few years back.
Tip #4: Elasticity (Bounce)
Stretch-shortening cycle – we stretch out the muscle to get it to contract (shorten). Fascia works the same way.
We can encourage and cultivate elasticity in fascia. Elasticity is a property of youthful tissue. If baby falls down stairs, they bounce. Grandma falls down stairs, she doesn’t bounce.
Ballistic stretching. Rhythmic motions such as running, jogging, jumping rope, etc…cultivate “bounce” within a 0.8 to 1.2 second stretch-shortening cycle. This is the opposite of Yoga and Tai Chi speeds.
How does this apply to hitters?
If you want the fascia to perform, then we have to do rhythmically bouncy movements where the stretch-shortening cycle lasts between 0.8 to 1.2 seconds. Running, jump rope, jogging, skipping, single leg hopping, etc.
I’m beginning to sharpen my thoughts on this as it pertains to the Catapult Loading System. I used to teach the hitter had an option to start in the CLS position, in the stance like Hunter Pence, then hold and maintain until stride landing. But now I’m reconditioning my hitters to do a later CLS move (during the forward momentum phase), and to bounce from that into the turn. Miggy, Trout, Khris Davis are great examples of this. As a matter of fact, most elite hitters you see using the CLS, time the move with a bounce into the turn.
What’s funny is, this post has been “bouncing” around in my head the past week (pun intended), and speak of the devil, my good golfing friend Lee Comeaux recently text me a new-to-me resource for training springy fascia. It’s called the Rotex Motion(YouTube channel). Some cool stuff there!
'Add 40-Feet' To Batted Ball Distance
Swing Study reveals how tens of thousands of hitters are adding 40-feet to batted ball distance by using one simple strategy.
Click the button below to access the FREE video that's been downloaded over 30K times!!
https://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/how-to-train-springy-fascia-e1539637937726.png335500Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2022-06-07 09:30:382022-06-07 21:31:55Best Youth Fascia Strength Training Program For Baseball & Softball Hitters To Improve Power, Pitchers Too! | At Home Off-Season Workouts And Exercises For 11 & 12 Year Olds
Discover the science of successful learning behind how to teach beginner youth 4, 6, 8, 9, and 10 year olds to hit a baseball or softball. Learn the principles of how to teach fun hitting drills to help a struggling hitter improve their power.
I had a couple coaches reach out over email and social media,
Saying although they agreed with not teaching older hitters to ‘squish the bug’, they disagreed that it’s okay to teach younger hitters.
Let me be clear, I don’t typically get into weight transfer with hitters less than 7-years-old. HOWEVER, it can be done, and that’s what this post is all about.
So, is it the young hitter that’s incapable of learning how to do what the best do?
OR…
Is the instructor incapable of teaching what the best do?
The answer will become clear in following.
We’ll discuss:
What science of learning says, and
Regression to progression models for teaching.
SCIENCE-BASED TRAINING:
Improve your hitting strategy dramatically by applying human movement principles.
Learn not only how and what to train but also the science behind the methods.
One Facebook reader shared that he has 12-years in the child development field, in addition to having 8-years of coaching at different levels.
He agreed with the aforementioned ‘squishing bugs is dumb’ post, but said what he’s seen in child development research is that the majority of 6-year-olds are incapable of shifting their weight and hitting a pitched ball. He added that only the top 1% of kids can.
He also referenced a kid with what he called “no athletic” ability as an example.
This is an interesting comment coming from someone with his professional background. And I asked myself, okay, what am I missing because my experience has been much different.
Since this gentleman is convinced “normal” 6yos can’t be taught to weight shift and hit a ball (exclude mutants and bottom 1% from the equation), then…
He responded with, well it’s different in Russia because they’re more disciplined.
Wa??!
I said oh, so if the kids practice, then it’s possible for “normal” athletes?
No response from him on that.
I then went on to talk about how the International Youth & Conditioning Association, which I am a certified member of, shared their own child development research that children between the ages of two to five years old should developmentally be able to run, hop, jump, forward skip, and sideways skip.
Weight shifting, like in a stride, is very similar to side skipping. Think about throwing a Frisbee as far as you can. And, Pitchers do this all the time, in addition to first baseman when stretching to receive a throw from an infielder (okay, this is more of a front step, but you get the idea).
This gentleman said although this may be true, normal kids cannot side step AND hit a moving pitch.
We’ll get into the progression I used with my own boy when he was 2-years-old, at the end of this post. But hey, maybe he’s part of the top 1%…I dunno 😛 lol You be the judge.
Back to the child development expert, I mentioned the following book to him Don’t Shoot The Dog: The New Art Of Teaching And Training, by Karen Pryor, which is about using positive and negative reinforcers in behavioral conditioning. Basically, it’s a dog training book (worst title ever by the way!!), but the info is just as applicable to humans, horses, dolphins, and any other thing that has flippers, 2-4 legs, and breathes air. Also, this is what was used to train the two ping-pong pigeons in the video above.
PIGEONS! I’ve also read somewhere, might have been in the Don’t Shoot The Dog book, that a scientist once taught a chicken to turn the pages of a book…a CHICKEN!!!
Let that sink in for a moment…
Here’s what I took away from the conversation with Mr. Child Development Expert…
The brain and eyes have a contract with each other…the eyes are only suppose to look for what the brain wants to see. You can read about that in the book Stumbling Upon Happiness by Daniel Gilbert.
And this child development expert was biased towards information confirming his belief that “normal” 6yos cannot side step and hit a moving ball.
BREAKING NEWS!!
I’m biased too! But on the opposite side of the spectrum. I operate from the perspective that if the young athlete isn’t getting what I want him or her to do, then I’m NOT doing something right. Not the other way around. I find a way, and look for information validated by science to support my claim.
So which coach would you rather work with?
Let me repeat,
Teaching hitters to ‘squish the bug’ has NOTHING to do with what the best do. And an instructor that defaults to this when teaching young hitters is like a grade school teacher teaching his 1st Grade students that 2 +2 = 5, because they’re incapable of learning that the real answer is 4.
Look, some of you may be thinking that ‘squishing the bug’ is about “getting the hips through”. My good friends Matt Nokes AND Homer Bush dispelled this myth in the following posts:
I was told this is a BOLD statement…to say teaching ‘bug squishing’ is WRONG.
It is wrong.
You may feel I’m judging you, but I’m not. I have an issue with what you’re teaching and WHY. NOT with you.
I think you’re better than that. It’s not personal.
But be honest with yourself. It’s not what the best do, but I do understand you’re frustrated working with these younger hitters.
…And may have a solution…
'Add 40-Feet' To Batted Ball Distance
Swing Study reveals how tens of thousands of hitters are adding 40-feet to batted ball distance by using one simple strategy.
Click the button below to access the FREE video that's been downloaded over 30K times!!
I’m not going to get into how to teach side stepping in this post. If your kid can side skip, or side step, then they’re fully capable of a weight shift.
The question is how to get them to hit a moving ball.
And before I get there, I wanted to share a quick story I read in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s autobiography Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story, that highlights the learning process.
Remember this scene in the movie Terminator 2…? (video should start there, but watch at about the 5:00 min. mark)…
In the book, Arnold discussed how he learned to load a shotgun with one hand, while riding a Harley Davidson motorcycle, and at the same time shooting the padlock off a chain-link fence.
According to him, this was his process:
NOTE: He spent time in the Austrian Army as a tank driver in his younger days, so he knew how to shoot a weapon beforehand.
He spent many repetitions loading this particular shot gun with one hand, seated on the Harley.
He spent many repetitions loading the shotgun, seated on the Harley, shooting a small target.
He spent many repetitions loading the shotgun while riding the motorcycle.
He spent many repetitions loading the shotgun, riding the Harley, and shooting the target.
His whole thing was “reps, reps, reps”, until the action he practiced became second nature.
This is also what Josh Waitzkin calls “making small circles”, in his bookThe Art Of Learning: A Journey in Pursuit of Excellence. Josh was a young chess prodigy, and his life was the basis for the movie “Searching for Bobby Fischer”.
How did I teach my 2-year-old son how to hit a moving ball? Here’s the process:
Starting at about 1.5 years old, we practiced hitting different sized balls off a little tee with a big plastic blue bat,
A few months before he turned two years old, I started throwing a big beach ball at him while he hit it with his big plastic bat,
We then started slowly shrinking the ball down until after a few months past his second birthday, he was hitting baseball sized whiffle balls with his big plastic bat, and then
We shrunk the bat down to a conventional yellow whiffle ball bat, so at about 2.5-3 years old, he was able to hit a baseball sized whiffle ball with the slim yellow bat.
Truth be told at 3yo, he wasn’t hitting every pitch I threw at him, but he was hitting the ball harder more often, other than just ‘tipping it’ or totally swinging and missing like most his age or older, who didn’t have the prior progressions.
'Add 40-Feet' To Batted Ball Distance
Swing Study reveals how tens of thousands of hitters are adding 40-feet to batted ball distance by using one simple strategy.
Click the button below to access the FREE video that's been downloaded over 30K times!!
If 3 year old girls are learning tennis in Russia, golf in Korea, and gymnastics in China, then your hitters can learn how to step sideways and hit a moving ball. If discipline is an issue, use the Minimum Effective Dosage Rule, practice only 4-5 days per week, for only 5-mins each day. It’s not about length of time, but frequency of reviewing the material.
If you can teach a chicken to turn the pages of a book, and train two pigeons to play ping-pong, then YES you can train “normal” kids to step sideways and hit a moving ball.
If you cannot, then the fault most likely falls – I know this may be hard to swallow for some – with the instructor, not the child. Set the ego aside. Every day, ask yourself the question:
https://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/2-pigeons-playing-ping-pong-e1506661794466.jpg330450Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2022-06-07 09:15:592023-06-14 23:12:09How To Teach Beginner Youth 4, 6, 8, 9 & 10 Year Olds To Hit A Baseball Or Softball | Teaching Fun Hitting Drills To Help Struggling Hitter Improve Power
. Here’s a short video from Thomas Myers explaining “What is Tensegrity”:
, and the more expensive 
or a 
to measure Ball Exit Speeds.
.
, was:
by David Epstein in the Heritage Study).
: Greatness Isn’t Made. It’s Grown. Here’s How.
, by Karen Pryor, which is about using positive and negative reinforcers in behavioral conditioning. Basically, it’s a dog training book (worst title ever by the way!!), but the info is just as applicable to humans, horses, dolphins, and any other thing that has flippers, 2-4 legs, and breathes air. Also, this is what was used to train the two ping-pong pigeons in the video above.
by Daniel Gilbert.
, that highlights the learning process.
. Josh was a young chess prodigy, and his life was the basis for the movie “Searching for Bobby Fischer”.
