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Hitting Training For Baseball & Softball Swing Trainers | Hitting Performance Lab

True OR False: “If you think science is fact you’re horribly mistaken”

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“If you want to argue with “science” as you refer to it, you are welcome and encouraged to do so…but bring your superior evidence and data to the argument!”

Scientist Dr. Richard Feynman

One of the most revered Scientists of our day, the late Dr. Richard Feyman. Photo courtesy: PopularMechanics.com

Science can be tricky.  However, just like with everything else, use proper judgement, and don’t outrun your common sense.

I want to preface a recent insightful Facebook conversation on this with a couple things…

According to Wikipedia,

“Richard Phillips Feynman was an American theoretical physicist, known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics, and the physics of the super-fluidity of super-cooled liquid helium, as well as in particle physics for which he proposed the parton model. For his contributions to the development of quantum electrodynamics, Feynman, jointly with Julian Schwinger and Shin’ichirō Tomonaga, received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965.”

It’s okay.  I know you’re eyes glazed over reading that paragraph.  All you need to know is yeah, Dr. Richard Feynman was a super smart dude.  “…varying degrees of certainty” are the keywords to pay attention to in the Tweet.  He was a true student of Science, using the Scientific Method, and trying to be as objective and unbiased as any human can be.  He had a passionate curiosity of how all things worked.  A true blue scientist.  I highly recommend Dr. Feynman’s book titled, “Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character“.  It’s not a very technical read, goes fast, and is fascinating.

Wondering how to how to spot BAD Science?  Try this book titled, “Bad Science: Quacks, Hacks, and Big Pharma Flacks“ by Dr. Ben Goldacre.  Dr. Goldacre’s humor and sarcasm goes a long way in getting through this one.

Okay, now that that’s over, let’s get to this week’s post…

I wanted to share a recent Facebook conversation I had with a couple gents.  One I will name “Coach”, so as to not put his name on blast.  Do you believe this statement: “…science is today’s religion. Ppl take it as, fact. If you think science is fact your horribly mistaken.”?  

I interjected in the following conversation, but mainly to confirm Jason O’Conner’s points.  He did a great job of picking apart this objection.  Feel free to use this as fire power for those coaches justifying NOT using science to mold effective swings.  At the end, I’ll put proof in the pudding.  The conversation went a little like this…

Coach:

“…yes u can argue with science. Science is religion not fact. Its guessing and testing not thinking and proving. Very little is proven fact in science. Science is only science until better science comes along. For example. The science of hitting….. there’s ppl out there that say he wasn’t completely right. Then there will be someone new saying the same of your doctor…..i find it funny scientists who can’t hit anything telling ppl the proper way to hit.*”

Jason O’Conner:

“Science is neither religion or guessing and testing. It is the discipline of seeking knowledge in pursuit of the truth and understanding. Whether being applied to medicine, the weather or the baseball swing, that understanding is only as good as the currently available information (data), and yes a process of observation, testing and retesting as tools improve necessarily updates our knowledge and improve our understanding. It does not rely on faith as religion does. It relies on evidence and data. “Hard anywhere” is a result. It doesn’t explain or teach how in fact one hits the ball hard anywhere consistently. That requires some understanding of how the bio-mechanics of the swing works and can be made most efficient for each player. If you want to argue with “science” as you refer to it, you are welcome and encouraged to do so…but bring your superior evidence and data to the argument!”

Coach:

“…science is today’s religion. Ppl take it as, fact. If you think science is fact your horribly mistaken…And i equate science to religion because ppl believe in it like a, religion. Examples being global warming, salt. Salt every day goes back and forth on being good or bad for u. Some think its bad…. others good….. And they all think that way because science told them to. That’s my problem with science. And, again……when better science comes along your science will no longer be science…… like i said. Hitting was figured out scientifically in the 70’s…….But today’s science said they were wrong. Yet they hit better back then.”

Jason O’Conner:

“…better science cannot come along and replace anything. Science uses better information and better data to improve understanding. Usually this happens as a result of technological advance. This is a pointless debate here. But of two things I am convinced:

  1. Your problem is not with science it is with people who may have referred to science to argue a viewpoint you disagree with…science requires critical debate of evidence to come to the most likely conclusion and
  2. As a generality, the elite athletes of today are superior to those of 30+ years ago. Trout would be the best hitter in any era. That is my opinion. Olympic athletes use bio-metrics in every aspect of their training, and there are few world records more than 10 years old.”

*I have a big problem with coaches who are arm-chair quarterbacks.  Saying something like, “I find it funny scientists who can’t hit anything telling ppl the proper way to hit”…is laughable, and a total slap in the face to hard working scientists like Dr. Richard Feynman.  This statement comes from a coach possessing a stubborn Fixed Mindset.  If every arm-chair QB would seek the truth like a Dr. Feynman, Dr. Serge Gracovetsky (The Spinal Engine), Dr. Kelly Starrett (Becoming A Supple Leopard), or Dr. Erik Dalton (Dynamic Body), they wouldn’t chronically suffer from foot-in-mouth disease.

Here’s a quote from Dr. Ben Goldacre that packages this coaching paradox nicely:

“I spend a lot of time talking to people who disagree with me – I would go so far as to say that it’s my favorite leisure activity – and repeatedly I meet individuals who are eager to share their views on science despite the fact that they have never done an experiment. They have never tested an idea for themselves, using their own hands, or seen the results of that test, using their own eyes, and they have never thought carefully about what those results mean for the idea they are testing, using their own brain. To these people “science” is a monolith, a mystery, and an authority, rather than a method.” – Ben Goldacre

I’m 100% CERTAIN there is BAD Science out there.  But coaches, it’s your job to weed out the good from the bad.  Just because 20% of Science may be bad, doesn’t mean we should not listen to the other 80%.  Don’t be a fool.  Knock the chip off your shoulder you may have about Science.  Don’t outrun it, but exercise common sense.  Please, please, PLEASE!

You can eat soup with a fork, knife, or spoon, but only one way is more effective.  Teaching hitters is the same.  There are hundreds of ways to teach hitting that’s for certain.  However, applying human movement principles that are validated by REAL science to hitting a ball, NOT because-I-said-so “bro-science”, is the pathway to power.

Coaches, have a higher standard for your hitters.  WHY?  Because your hitters are counting on you.

Success leaves clues.  I wanted to share a couple of my most recent testimonials received from parents (within the last week or so), unsolicited by the way.  Words can’t express the gratitude I feel on a weekly basis, almost daily, from parents and coaches sharing how these human movement principles are helping their hard working hitters…enjoy!

Josh, text message after coming up to Fresno from Los Angeles to hit for 2-hours, sons: Matt (Senior HS), Jonny (8th Grade), & James (6th Grade) come up…

“Thank you again for working with the boys. Both James and Jonny crushed a hit last night.  Jonny went 2-for-2 with 2 triples. James got his first double in a long time.  Field we played on had no fence so ball kept rolling…U should have heard the convo on the way home.  How they told their teammates their hitting instructor is the GOAT. Hilarious”

Chris, email about son Aidan (11yo) who has been working with me in my online video lesson program The Feedback Lab since 2017

“Joey, a sincere note of thanks for your guidance over the past two seasons in helping Aidan at the plate.  The All-Star team of which he’s a part won the State 11u tournament this past weekend and now moves on to the Midwest Region.  Since the team was selected, he’s worked his way up from batting 10th in the first tournament to 5th in the State Finals.  He’s gone 10/25 (.400) with 8 singles, 2 doubles and 8 RBI.  The last double came with 2 outs in the bottom of the 6th, bases loaded, and our team trailing 3-0.  Pretty pressure-filled situation being down to the last out with the season on the line.  He drove in 2 runs on a line drive down the left field line and went on to score the winning run.    

In no way is this meant to be boastful.  Sure—we’re really proud of him, but I truly believe the work he’s put in based on your instruction has given him the confidence as one of the smallest kids on the team to hit the ball with authority against any pitcher he faces.  Many thanks!”

Peter, email about son Ethan (9yo) who has been working with me in my online video lesson program The Feedback Lab since February of 2018.

“Thanks Joey, great feedback and analysis as always. The great part is that I’m also learning from you as we continue along. As I was getting ready to send you the last video I was seeing a lot of what you discussed in your analysis; keeping the shoulder angle and showing numbers to landing, and the top hand coming off way too soon. But I was struck by the consistency with his swing, every one had good barrel angel at landing, head movement after landing is way down and as you mentioned you can really see a much more confident swing!  Thanks again Joey, we couldn’t be happier! Looking forward to getting back at it! Talk again in a few weeks!”

Jason, email about son Bleau (12yo) who flew from Knoxville, TN with his best friend Jaser (11yo) and his family to hit, catch some Cali sun, and MLB baseball games. We hit for 10-hours spread out over 3 days.

“Joey, we had a wonderful dinner tonight down in Fisherman’s wharf. I asked the boys what their favorite part of the trip was thus far. Bleau said that ‘Joey is my favorite part’. Thank you for coming through and investing in him. We look forward to meeting your family.”

And last, but certainly not least, an updated on Hudson White, who if you remember was showcased in this post highlighting his performance at the National Power Showcase…

“This year he was a freshman on varsity at Byron Nelson high school. He was starting 2nd and 3 hole. He led all north Texas in hits most of the season and finished 7th overall with 45.  He was hitting the ball hard somewhere! Hudson was named District 5-6A Unanimous Newcomer Of The Year and All – Area Newcomer of the year finishing 7th in area with 45 hits, 25 RBI, 21 runs, 16 SB

https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/high-school/high-schools/2018/06/21/sportsdayhs-2018-area-baseball-teams-postseason-awards

He also just got back from the Wilson Midwest wood bat championship where he was names MVP  for hitting two home runs. He went 9-18 and only 1 single. The rest were doubles,triples and dingers!  Here’s his MVP interview:

https://twitter.com/martinbwhite/status/1007094716427653120?s=12

He has been on a tear hitting 6 home runs in the last 3 weeks with either wood or an old rusty metal bbcor bat.  Just an FYI update to all the haters and naysayers😂 its the Indian not the arrow. I appreciate your help and instruction. The proof is in the pudding.” – Marty White, email update about his son Hudson “The Hawk” (16yo)

TRUE or FALSE: “If you think science is fact you’re horribly mistaken”…FALSE.  Saying Science is just a “glorified opinion” is nonsense.  If that’s truly what you think, then you’re obviously spending time on the wrong things.  The little bit of BAD Science shouldn’t take away from the majority of good out there.  Coaches, please use some common sense, and as always test this stuff out for yourself – don’t just take my word for it.  And I think true-blue scientists like Dr. Richard Feynman would agree.

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Hitting Training For Baseball & Softball Swing Trainers | Hitting Performance Lab

How-To Optimize Learning At Home

17 Little Known Ways to Optimize Learning at Home

What follows is a recommended post for my parents who jump into my online lesson program The Feedback Lab.

I’ve done a tremendous amount of research and study into the science of successful learning over the last two years, and wanted to share 17 quick down-and-dirty tips with you.

As many of you parents know, the work involved to progress a swing DOES NOT stop after the local or online lesson is over.  Many times, it’s the parent and hitter that bares more of a burden, than I do as the teacher.

So that being said, I hope this list helps.  There are also recommended book resources peppered throughout, so…

Enjoy!

 

Guiding the Rider, Motivating the Elephant, and Shaping the Path

Optimize Learning at Home: Rider, Elephant, & Path metaphor

Photo courtesy: blog.iprofs.nl

There are three important ingredients to have success in The Feedback Lab:

  1. Goals,
  2. Steps, and
  3. Reps.

“Goals” are relatively simple to uncover with young athletes using the “So What” Method.

Ask your hitter what they want to accomplish at the plate, and respond to them with “So What”. Keep responding that way until you’ve reached the root of their motivation.

“The Steps” are very important and require a certain sequence.  Like dialing a phone number in the old days…if you dialed a friend’s digits, but were one number off, you wouldn’t reach them.  Much like email addresses nowadays.

We base “The Steps” in our pattern on human movement rules that are validated by science.  Neuro Linguistic Programming calls this modeling.  The NLP, according to Wikipedia:

“Its creators, Richard Bandler and John Grinder, claim a connection between the neurological processes (“neuro”), language (“linguistic”) and behavioral patterns learned through experience (“programming”) and that these can be changed to achieve specific goals in life.”

For a quite a few of my hitting students (and parents), “The Reps” are the hard part.  Which leads me to the following analogy…

The Directing the Rider, Motivating the Elephant, and Shaping the Path analogy I borrowed from: Switch: How To Change Things When Change Is Hard, by Dan & Chip Heath.  The metaphor helps with “The Reps”.

Here’s the context:

  • Guiding the Rider (Neo-Cortex): the part of our brain that is responsible for analytics and logic.  Information has to make sense, and be presented in a way that’s comprehensible to learners.  I often refer to this as ‘sticky’ coaching.  This can also be “The Goal”.
  • Motivating the Elephant (Limbic System): emotional part of our brain.  I often describe this by asking the question, “How would you eat an elephant?”  One piece at a time.  As John Wooden says, “Seek small improvement, one day at a time…don’t seek the big improvements.” If we overwhelm the Elephant with too much ‘stuff’, then de-motivation ensues, and as a result, limited action will be taken.
  • Shaping the Path: the actual roadmap of where to go.  We could have the Rider and Elephant onboard, but if neither knows how to get to their destination, then they’re both stuck. This is “The Steps” part of the equation above.

You see, without one of these puzzle pieces, the remaining two don’t have a chance.

 

Optimize Learning at Home: 17-Point Checklist 

The Science Of Sticky Coaching book goes into more depth on the following points.  I’ve scraped the most relative 16 tips for our purposes in The Feedback Lab:

  1. Focus on Developing Better Movements.  Don’t focus on outcomes/results at first.  For instance, focus on “showing the numbers to the pitcher”, versus how much of a fiery hole the hitter can punch through the batting cage net.  Later, we’ll use ball flight outcomes to reverse engineer where the hitter is being ineffective with their mechanics.
  2. DOWNLOAD the Weekly Accountability Worksheet.  This is for tracking the training and results.  Also keeps the hitter accountable because it requires the parent or coach to sign off on training.  CLICK to Download the Excel Spreadsheet Version – for those looking to fill in online, save to their computer, and send back to the instructor via email.  CLICK to Download the PDF Version – for those looking to print out, write on, and either scan or take a camera-phone snapshot and email to the instructor.
  3. RAMP Warmup Before Training.  R.A.M.P. stands for Range of Motion, Activation, and Movement Preparation.  I have my hitters take 7-10 mins at the beginning of our session to do this exact same warm up.
  4. Stress Discipline (to build Self-Discipline).  Again, I refer back to the Rider, Elephant, and Path metaphor from above.  According to The Talent Code: Greatness Isn’t Born.  It’s Grown.  Here’s How. by author Daniel Coyle, self-discipline is twice as accurate at predicting high GPA scores than IQ is.  The more self-discipline, the better the student, and better the athlete can be. Self-discipline starts with discipline.  Making their bed as soon as the feet hit the ground in the morning, cleaning up after themselves, doing chores around the house, reading a book before bed, etc.  One of my parents creates and laminates a checklist, their kids have to get signed off (by the parent) for doing things mentioned above.
  5. “How Did that Feel?”  Get your hitters to be aware of their body positioning with each movement they perform.  They need to know how it felt to do it wrong.  And they need to know what it felt like to do it right.  Check in every five swings or so.  Or else they won’t learn to do this on there own.  Keep feedback to a minimum.  CLICK HERE for a post I did on “Giving Feedback to Hitters”.
  6. The ‘Right Way’ Sandwich.  According to John Wooden, for his players, he’d modeled the right way to do it, then the wrong way, then the right way again.  The advantage of the Reptilian (primitive-automatic) part of our brain is it does really well with pictures.  In other words, copying another person’s movements.
  7. Being Constructive with Criticism. In Tony LaRussa’s book One Last Strike, he talks about the “Pat & Pop”.  You offer the ‘pat on the back’ of what the hitter is doing great, then offer up the ‘pop in the face’ of what they will be working on.  Works great with my local and online lessons!
  8. No Hyper-Parenting ALLOWED.  Also known as “Helicopter Parenting”.  It stunts learning, according to John Medina in his book, Brain Rules For Baby: How-To Raise a Smarter and Happy Child from Zero to Five.  It can hurt a kid in three ways: 1) Extreme expectations stunt higher-level thinking, 2) Pressure can extinguish curiosity, and 3) Continual anger or disappointment becomes toxic stress.
  9. Perfecting the Fine Art of Empathy.  Just like Steven Covey says from his book The 7 Habits Of Highly Successful People, “Seek first to understand, then to be understood”.  John Medina in his book Brain Rules for Baby, said you can use this while interacting with your hitter in these two steps: 1) Describe what emotional changes you think you see, and 2) Make a guess as to where those emotional changes came from.
  10. Praise for Effort.  NOT praise for intellect.  Good praise: “You must have worked really hard!”  Bad praise: “You must be really smart” or  saying “Good job”.  I could give you studies and go on and on about why you should be praising for effort, but I’d urge you to read this article titled, “5 Reasons to Stop Saying “Good Job!”  It’s shocking actually, how two words can turn off the motivation to be self-disciplined and self-reliant.
  11. Model a Favorite Player.  Every hitter needs to experiment and tinker with their swing after a favorite player’s.  Ideal ones include: Hank Aaron, David Wright, Jose Bautista, Robinson Cano, Andrew McCutchen, Chris Davis, and Miguel Cabrera.  Have them get FatHeads of these guys, and put them all over their bedroom walls.  The deepest darkest corner of our brain responds to and remembers pictures very well!
  12. Speed & Tempo.  According to Daniel Coyle in his book The Talent Code, “It’s not how fast you can do it, but how slow you can do it correctly.”  Make the hitter slow the movement down if they can’t execute it at game speeds.  Speed and tempo play an important role in the learning process.
  13. Struggling isn’t an Option.  It’s a Biological Requirement.  Daniel Coyle said this in The Talent Code.  If a young hitter isn’t wrestling enough with a specific movement, then they never engage in the deeper learning process necessary for skill mastery.  It’s okay to be frustrated.  When you sense your hitter getting frustrated, take a break, and come back to it when they’ve cooled off.  Coyle adds these three things: 1) Fire the circuit, 2) Attend to mistakes, then 3) Fire it again.  The brain and body only learn by DOING!!
  14. Data Collection.  To transfer practice to game repetitions, the hitter has to see a lot of LIVE pitching.  Meaning, it must see a flesh and blood human throwing to them.  NO wheel machines!  Timing is everything.  Have the hitter passively (and safely) sit in on pitchers’ bullpens.  No swinging, just Floating and Falling to the Fight Position.
  15. How Many Reps Per Day?  I stopped using how many reps with my students because it tends to overwhelm the Elephant.  So I use time now.  I tell my Little Leaguers to start off with five minutes a day, with perfect reps.  Then as they get consistent with their work, we up the ante.  Set an alarm, and when it sounds, the player is done!  They should be doing their drills everyday.
  16. Focus.  Consistency.  Fun.  Remember, one movement focus at a time until you begin to see them be more proficient at repeating the movement, then add another mechanical layer.  Keep it simple (elephant)…and most importantly, stay consistent with the work, everyday (Rider).  To make it fun…one of my parents shared a  point system they use at home for productive and unproductive tasks (elephant) with their kids.  Productive tasks includes: doing homework, reading a book, or doing their prescribed hitting drill.  Unproductive tasks includes: video games, watching television, or eating McDonalds.  The key is to reward productivity with a fraction of unproductive behavior.
  17. Swing Progressions.  Dry run swings, utilizing slower tempos until the body can catch up to the brain.  I drill this usually in front of a mirror.  Then graduate to hitting off the tee, slow down or break apart the swing if necessary until hitter gets more fluent with the new movement.  Once we get about 60-70% consistent with the new movement, then progress to a moving ball, both soft toss, LIVE front toss, and/or batting practice.  Then regress if their mechanics “meltdown”.

If you have any points to add that piggy-back on how to optimize learning at home, please share them below…

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