Baseball Coaching Tips - Mind Games Between the Pitcher and Hitter!

Baseball Coaching Tips - Mind Games Between the Pitcher and Hitter!
By guest author: Larry Cicchiello

As you advance to older levels of play, you will find that many baseball hitters will play certain mind games with the pitcher and pitchers will do the same with hitters. Personally, I would NOT recommend getting involved in any mind games until the high school level of play or higher whether you are the pitcher or the hitter. One of the better baseball coaching tips to always remember is that playing good baseball requires clever use of the mind and not just the body.

Hitters will ask for a time out when you are getting ready to make the pitch to annoy you. This is not to say every time a baseball hitter does this he's playing a mind game but sometimes he is. They will wander away from the batter's box while you are kept waiting, hoping to annoy you.

If you are well aware BEFOREHAND that these things are definitely going to happen, it should be easier for you as a pitcher to deal with them. You know batters are going to do it so why let them accomplish what they want to do and let it bother you? If you do, it's a victory for the batter, isn't it?

As a pitcher, you too can play a few mind games with the batter. It is pretty much a proven fact that working quickly on the mound is beneficial to a pitcher because his fielders have to "stay on their toes." There simply isn't any time for their minds to wander. An added plus is that the pitcher is also sending an indirect message to the hitters that he is extremely confident and can't wait to throw the next pitch to them.

There are times however, when it just might be the right time to slow things down a little! When a very aggressive and anxious batter gets to the plate and it appears that he can't wait to hit, it may be a very good time to step off the mound and rub up the baseball. Hey, if the hitter likes things to happen fast, make sure you slow things down which is the exact opposite of what the hitter wants.

It may be the perfect time to talk something over with your catcher. You may want to motion for your catcher to come out to the mound for a chat. Tell your catcher that you simply are "fussing" with the batter and want to simply talk for a minute. Anything to keep the over anxious hitter waiting impatiently.

When I pitched, if a runner was on first base and a real good anxious hitter was up, I would make sure I came to the set position and would pause there for two or three seconds and then lob the ball to first base. I might do it a second or even a third time also.

I may pause in the set position on the rubber for three or four seconds and then step off the rubber. I could literally see the look of anger on the faces of some of these hitters. Many times these mind games will make the batter angry or very impatient at the plate and swing at pitches out of the strike zone!

Obviously, I would much rather have a hitter thinking about how annoyed he is with me instead of focusing strictly on his baseball hitting. That's a victory for me as a pitcher. Disrupting the batter's thinking means that I've won half the battle before it has even begun!

If you are involved in baseball coaching, just remember that mind games should NOT be played with younger players, who are just starting to learn the game of baseball.

Larry is the successful author of several very user friendly eBooks and CD's covering 320 topics on playing or coaching excellent baseball. ANY player, coach or parent who wants to help their child will be fully equipped! Check out some FREE baseball tips on hitting and FREE baseball pitching tips at LarryBaseball.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Larry_Cicchiello

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Game Time Hitting Struggles Solved!

Derek Jeter Hurricane Hitting Machine

By Todd Thomas

As a hitter, your goal should be to have practiced your mechanics so repetitively that they eventually become second nature. I was reading in a book on muscle memory this week and it said it takes about 400 hours of repetition for a skill to become FULLY automatic. That's a lot. So if you are looking for a shortcut, you might want to consider an easier athletic endeavor.

The more a player works on their skill the more second nature it becomes. You want to (and should, beginning right now no matter what level you are at) step into the batter's box and think only of hitting the ball and where you want to hit it. NOT HOW in terms of mechanics you should hit it. If a player is thinking about their mechanics during live game swings, then their chances for success are being severely diminished. The odds are already not in the hitter's favor, why decrease them further?

Think about the animal kingdom. If a lion had the cognitive ability of man, it's hunting effectiveness would be greatly reduced as it would be thinking about HOW to attack it's prey rather than working from conditioned reflexes. A lion doesn't think about how far or high it needs to jump or fast it needs to run in order to catch it's prey. They don't think about what is exactly the proper technique or take lessons on it or question what it did wrong when the prey gets away.

Contrast that with a human with our left side brain power and think about the professional golfer. Cognitively (with the left side of his brain), he contemplates pin placement, prevailing wind conditions, uphill lie, downhill lie, and strategy when preparing for a shot. Then they execute their shot (from the right brain) without thinking about the mechanics of their swing by letting it come naturally. The weekend golfer, on the other hand, uses his cognitive abilities not to think about playing strategies so much but rather about the fundamentals of his swing and how he should execute them correctly. The weekend golfer reduces the swing to it's component parts by thinking about the back swing, hip action, wrist break, arms, legs, and so on. This results in stress and tension in the muscles causing the player to become a victim of "paralysis by analysis". He is trying to perform using the left brain instead of the right.

Such is the same with the baseball and softball player. Even if a player has reached a point from practice and repetition that the required muscle memory is built in for their best swing, IT WILL NOT HAPPEN (certainly not at it's fluid best) between the white lines when the pressure is on IF the player is not confident, relaxed, focused, calm(not nervous), or is afraid (fear ridden). Nervousness and fear manifest themselves from thinking too much or over-analyzing. Worrying (or having fear or nervousness) about what might happen or what has happened is devastating to the ability to relax and to perform at ones peak.

Read the last few sentences again.

The only time an athlete performs their best in an athletic move like a swing is when they are totally and completely confident and RELAXED. If any measure of nervousness is present, the muscles will not be as completely oxygenated as they need to be for smooth performance. As the degree of tenseness increases, performance plummets.

Ever wonder why a player performs like a animal in practice, but looks lost when they step into the batter's box during games? Who hasn't seen the player who crushes the ball at practice but can't hit during games? We all have. At practice, there's nothing to be afraid of. They step into the box relaxed and hit great. Come game time however, fear, nervousness, and worry about results rear their ugly heads and the results speak for themselves. If you've ever wondered why this is true about a player, then now you know.

Players that learn how to be confident, focused and RELAXED are your peak performers.

RELAX! And HIT!

Todd Thomas is a Baseball Coach and Professional Hitting Instructor for Mike Epstein Hitting. Coach Todd's personal hitting website is http://www.HitItHere.net. Coach Todd also enthusiastically endorses http://PlayMyBestBaseball.com as a place where baseball and softball hitters can master the Confidence, Composure, Focus and Consistency of their game so they can reach their full potential.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Todd_Thomas



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Mental Training and Goal Setting

By Nate Barnett

Each year I work with teams of youth baseball players in teaching them the values of the mental game of baseball. Just as there are skills needed to develop the physical side of the sport, there are skills necessary to build the mental side of the game as well. Unfortunately, teaching the mental game is a bit more difficult to teach because the results aren't necessary visible as quickly. Let me assure you however, if you have goals of playing baseball at the collegiate level or above, you will need a sold mental game if you are going to excel.

One of the first things I teach kids is set proper goals. This usually sounds a bit dry and boring, but it's important that a game plan is created in order to form a path to follow as an athlete. There are three important steps involved in setting goals that are functional. Broad goals, process goals, and action habits. Let me explain those below.

If we are talking about a season to season focus, broad goals are essentially what you want to accomplish by the end of the season. These should be something you can measure like batting average, fielding percentage, stolen bases, etc.

Process goals are the middle level of goal setting. There are the things you need to solve or improve upon in order to accomplish your broad goals. They should be specific as far as the things you are going to do daily, but they should be areas in your game that need immediate improvement. So let's say you have a season goal of hitting .400. A process goal would be to improve on your ability to hit off speed pitches. Or, it could be that you need to work on what pitches you choose to swing at.

The last part of this goal setting process is your daily action habits. These are the day to day things that you will do to get better at accomplishing your process goals. Using the example from above, if you process goal is to get better at hitting off speed pitches, your daily action habit might be to spend 15 minutes in the batting cage working on hitting a curveball. Whatever you choose to make it, it should be something that has a time frame attached to it.

Nate Barnett is owner of BMI Baseball designed to improve the mental game of baseball in athletes. Come download a free ebook on dealing with failure and the mental game of baseball.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nate_Barnett

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6 Essentials of a Great Baseball Team

By Arthur Raise

The US lives and breaths baseball, the game runs in the blood and young and old are hooked up to the sport. There are baseball leagues major and little, baseball journalists and reporters, fans who own teams others who collect memorabilia and record histories. With the advent of the World Wide Web baseball has embraced cyber space and now there are websites that cover every aspect of the game and keep a pulse on current as well as past seasons and teams.

Baseball is a team sport and every player and team needs to be committed and passionate about the game. To succeed every team whether major league, minor league, or local needs the following:

1. A team spirit and commitment to the game. The team must work as a single unit and be devoted to the game. They must live and breathe baseball.

2. The team must have a good support system. It is not enough for a team to be devoted to the game, families, team owner, sponsors, the coach, school and college authorities and more need to understand the psyche of the team and create a strong impermeable support system.

3. The team must have a good coach who will lead the team in every way. The coach is the backbone of the team and needs to be tough and yet loving. He or she must care for the team and its every player. The coach must understand the team and its members better than he understands himself or herself.

4. The team must be devoted to the sport and yet understand that there is a world beyond baseball. So, every member must simultaneously prepare for life beyond baseball. Be trained in skills and have qualifications that will allow the player to live a fulfilled life after baseball.

5. Great focus must be placed on balanced nutrition and mental strength training. A strong mind and body makes a great baseball player. Team training must include aspects of health, nutrition, and mental strength. The team must have a balanced diet, a balanced exercise routine that includes breathing exercises and meditation techniques.

6. While winning can be the goal every team must play for sheer joy and each player must focus on his strengths and work out his weaknesses. The team must become an impregnable fort so that the opponents can never use kinks in the armor.

Baseball is a team sport that is often used to teach students and children life values and more. Baseball has gone beyond being a sport it is a way of life.
Arthur Raise is a writer for Discount Baseball Equipment , the premier website to find Baseball, baseball America, baseball history, baseball equipment, baseball field, baseball players, baseball trivia, baseball teams, baseball records, American league baseball teams and many more.


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