Mental Notes and Mechanics
Most of our blog posts so far have been on mechanical topics or concepts. We've said that mechanics are super important in becoming a great hitter, but we also want to emphasize the non-mechanical points. Last night after our hitting session, we had a great discussion with the group. There were three main points discussed, none of which were mechanics specific.
Staying Positive
This sounds so simple, but keeping a positive mindset as a hitter is super important. You're going to hear the phrase "baseball is a game of failure" a ton in your career. This is a statement of fact, but it's also such a negative thing to have in your mind all the time.
We had a few hitters getting frustrated last night, struggling to find a nice groove in their drills. This is perfectly OK. You are going to get frustrated as a hitter and as a person with other things that occur in your life. How do we get out of that feeling of frustration?
This part of the conversation was about finding routines when the going gets tough. Find a routine that gets you out of that mental state of frustration. Focus on your breath to reset yourself in that moment. Envision all the good things you've done in your career. I once heard Klay Thompson talk about how when he's struggling he goes on YouTube and watches highlight videos of himself. That's how he resets himself. So next time you struggle in the cage, step out of the box, breath, and step back in. Take just one solid rep and get out on that positive.
Controlling Adrenaline
We did a tee drill last night with the purpose of fine focus and adding a bit of pressure. Before you were allowed to move on to front toss, you needed to hit 7 out of 10 balls off the back net. We had a few guys that ended up at 6 of 9 one way or another. This puts pressure on that last rep.
This isn't an apples to apples comparison to hitting with the tying run on second and two outs, but we thought it was a good time to talk about controlling adrenaline. In big games and pressure situations, naturally you're going to have an adrenaline boost. Learning what this means and how to harness it is super important for a hitter.
With an adrenaline boost, your bat speed and power are going to receive a little increase. Also your reaction time is going to decrease. Generally what this means is you get over anxious. Maybe you pull balls foul or you swing at pitches that you normally wouldn't. When you get into this situation, really try to slow everything down. Slow your breath down (like we talked about above) to control your heart rate. Then understand you are going to be quicker. Fine focus on letting the ball get deeper into the strike zone. Just understanding in the moment that you have an adrenaline rush is going to help you in these situations.
Hitting With Fatigue
Hitters yesterday got A TON of hacks at our session. We've put an emphasis on short rounds (rounds of 5) to combat fatigue within a round. As you start to fatigue, you are going to fall back into your natural mechanics. What we hadn't talked about, is the endurance factor over an entire session.
Hitting at the end of an hour period, you're going to start to get tired. This is great because it can simulate the end of a long day. A lot of you have played in a mid-summer Double Header in the 115 degree heat in Arizona. Those last few innings of the day can be brutal, but it can also be when you have your most important at-bat.
When you are starting to feel this kind of fatigue, focus on what your tendencies are. Ask yourself "when I am tired, where are my misses?" Maybe you tend to miss underneath the ball. Maybe you start to stand up and come out of your swing early because your legs are tired. This knowledge can aid you on your swing thought for those at-bats.
