Want To Become A .300 Hitter? Learn Your Swing Feelings

Anyone can swing a bat. But learning how to swing doesn’t make you a .300 hitter. I can still hear those very first instructions from my tee ball coach. Point your shoulder to the mound, feet apart, and put the bat up by your inside ear. Eye on the ball. 

Swing!

Those first few swings were both exhilarating and intimidating. But over time, every young player begins to understand the feeling of swinging the bat. But as you mature, that feeling needs to be replaced with the feeling of hitting. Because swinging the bat and hitting a baseball are not the same thing. 

What would you say if I asked you what your swing felt like? What does a smooth, early building trigger feel like? How about your thoughts on the feeling of a long-full-robust extension after contact? Many of you have never stopped for even a fraction of a second to consider how your swing feels. 

That’s...

How to Move From Belief Into The Kind of Confidence That Breeds Success

In our last post, Belief and Hard Work are Actually Only Part of Athletic Success. Here’s Why.

we discussed the subjectivity of belief. We want to be a great athlete. We can believe that we will win the game, the championship, or go undefeated. But the truth behind belief will only take you so far. 

Your belief may produce the right work ethic, a commitment to the team, and the grit needed to keep moving forward when the obstacles are too much. That’s still not enough. The key is transforming your belief into tangible, measurable, and objective proof through simulated execution.

That objective proof is in the execution and the confidence that comes from consistent and successful execution. In other words, putting the time into practice simulating the circumstances you will have to perform in. Then correct the errors, re-simulate, and prove to yourself, your teammates, and...

How To Avoid The Dangerous Trap That Belief and Hard Work Guarantee Success

“If you work hard and believe in yourself, you can accomplish anything.”

You’ve perhaps seen this on a bumper sticker, read it in a book, or heard a video proclaiming this grand truth. If you’re a parent, you’ve likely repeated this to your kids on more than one occasion. And if you’re an athlete, you’ve tried to convince yourself of this every time you’re staring at a lofty goal you want to achieve. 

Except that it’s not true. Make no mistake. We desperately want it to be true. We want it to be that simple. We want confidence that the playing field is level, that my kid has just as much chance as any other, and that we can simply overcome every obstacle if we just believe. 

It makes excellent movies, bumper stickers, books, and even great T-shirts. But it’s not reality. 

Of course, hard work and believing in...

Choking Up On The Bat Doesn’t Make You A Better Hitter. Here’s Why.

Spend a few minutes watching a little league baseball game, and you will undoubtedly hear the coaches instructing some of the smaller players to choke up on the bat. There is this intuitive idea that when the bat is just a bit too long for the size of the young player, choking up reduces the length of the bat, thereby reducing the amount of time and effort it takes to rotate the bat over the plate. 

That same conventional wisdom has extended through the more advanced ranks of the baseball world. Coach tells you to "Choke up when you get two strikes." This is about changing your grip by moving your hands up the bat's handle toward the barrel. To be clear, I am not talking about choking up and staying there throughout your at-bat—Barry Bonds was famous for doing this—or when we face ultra-hard throwers or a game on the line. On these occasions, some hitters will choke just...

Hey Athletes, You Have More In Common With Artists Than You Thought

Athletes and artists are not the same—in fact, they can’t be the same. Two separate groups in schools. Different friend groups, different likes and dislikes, and even different external behaviors. Artists are not generally athletic, and athletes don’t have a knack for creativity. Right? 

Not entirely. 

There was often a clear line of separation between various groups in school, creating boundaries not crossed without causing social ostracism. The creative kids loved theater and often lost themselves in their books, writings, or drawings. They were more interested in discussing color palettes and character arcs. Athletes, on the other hand, didn’t have time for any of that nonsense. We had practice to worry about the next game, getting stronger, faster, and more prepared than our opponent. 

But the truth is, that is nothing more than the typical stereotype. 

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