Practicing Good Baseball Habits

What would happen?

2010-05-13T12:21:00.000-04:00

What would happen if a group of 18 kids were to be dropped off at a baseball field for two hours? What if there were no coaches, no umpires, two bats, two balls, and two helmets? I bet a game of baseball would break out. What if this happened every day...weather permitting? Hierarchies would be created through talent. There would definitely be captains and they may just pick their teams based on who won a match of rock, paper, scissors. The lineups would be made on the fly and there would be open discussion about why one player thinks he should bat in front of another. If a player proves himself to be better suited to a different position, then in the next game or the next inning that position might change. "I'm pitching next inning!" This would be accepted, because that person called it first. That would be followed by a waterfall of "I'm after you! I'm after you!"...and the rotation would be set. A short stop yells to the pitcher, "If you throw another ball, your not pitching anymore!" This is also acceptable because the game is much more FUN when there isn't so many balls being thrown. Walks are boring and not one player on the field wants to just watch guys walk around the bases. If you can't throw strikes, you can't pitch and you won't pitch, because no one will want you to pitch. I guarantee there would be arguments and possibly a fight here and there. Disagreement is built into the game. (Balls vs. Strikes, Out vs. Safe, Fair vs. Foul, Catch vs. No Catch, ect.) These things would work themselves out. No one would be suspended or ejected, but on certain occasions game play may stop for the day. Cooler heads would find themselves back on the field in a day or two. If a player gets hurt during a game, he would sit out until he feels like he can play again. While he is sitting out, his team will play with two outfielders. If a player can't catch the ball, but he or she still wants to play...that player will figure out how to catch or someone on their team will show them, because if you can't catch you can't play. If they don't play there is uneven teams, and if we help them learn how to catch our team is better and it's always cool to help out a teammate. All that being said... Let's PLAY BALL! So again, back to my question...What would happen if there were no coaches or parents at the game? What would happen if we didn't wear our All-Star travel jersey, helmet, spikes, batting gloves, wristbands, or drink out of our AAU water bottle that we got out of our embroidered "District 34 runner-up Champions" bat bag? What would happen if PLAYING didn't involve someone barking at KIDS on how to PLAY correctly. I'll tell you what would happen...The game would go on. The KIDS would run, throw, hit, catch, slide, spit, and scream. They would make mistakes and also do great things. There would be bloopers and highlights, but they would all improve and enjoy the GAME more. I would bet my right arm that some FUN would be had on a regular basis and in a shocking turn of events we might even find more KIDS outside PLAYING variations of the GAME instead of sitting inside in front of the television literally "twiddling their thumbs." What would happen if we gave the GAME back to the KIDS and just let them PLAY?

Baseball's Busy Season

2009-12-16T11:01:00.004-05:00

As odd as it may seem, this is the busy season for baseball. This time of year is when we put the work in to be better players. We PLAY during the season! Winter workouts will determine how well we do in the spring and summer. One of the issues I am having at this point is watching players put in the time, but they are not quite understanding how to get a smart workout in. I work with players of all ages and experience levels. What I keep seeing is players doing the same things they were doing the previous season over and over again. They are not making adjustments or actually improving at all. They should be slowing themselves down, watching video, or watching themselves in the mirror to see what they may be doing wrong. What they are doing is trying to hit and throw harder and harder with the same mechanical flaws they had last season. The only players that I've seen workout that should be doing the same thing they were doing the previous season, are MLB guys who had a good season in 09'. Marlon Byrd is one of those players. I have had the opportunity of speaking with him over the past few off seasons about his workouts and I personally get to watch him work on his hitting. Now, even though I say that it would be fine if he did the same thing this year that he did last year, I know better than that. Marlon will change his workout to be more challenging and he will probably put in more time getting ready this off season then he did last year. If there were more hours in the day I know he would be using them to improve himself. So either way my point is this...If you are going to spent time and money this off season to improve as a player, understand that you are trying create good habits and break bad habits. To do that you must consistently practice good baseball habits. Hence, the name of my company and all my Internet sites PRACTICING GOOD BASEBALL HABITS.

My Pitching analysis of Brad Lidge

2009-10-02T20:59:00.001-04:00

Just Click on the link! See what I think could help Brad Lidge for the playoffs.
http://www.youtube.com/user/MrJecylart

How many is too many?

2009-08-18T12:59:00.004-04:00

Well the summer is winding down but the weather is just now heating up. As a person who loves the summer and the heat I've been finding every reason in the world to not be indoors or by the computer. We are in the midst of our first "heat wave" of the summer. For the past couple months I have been helping out as a coach with the WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP 15U Sophomore American Legion team (2009 New Jersey State Champions). It was nice to be back on the field as a coach for the first time since last year. Even though I still prefer playing and instructing to coaching, I had a great time with the kids on this team. I watched them play hard and aggressive through a long season of baseball. By the time I got to most of the players on this team they had already played between 30-50 games through HS baseball, Travel Ball, Town Ball, Tournament ball, Babe Ruth Districts, some Babe Ruth States ...etc. We had kids from a handful of different teams between the ages of 13-15 years old. I am very proud of what the boys accomplished, but I can't say that I don't have some conflicting feelings about the amount of games these boys are playing. As a team, our record was somewhere near 26-5, or something of that nature. That is 30 more games on top of the almost 50 games some of these kids had already played. This is a great credit to these kids work ethic and I can't leave out that they all participate in some sort of winter baseball workouts. Some play fall baseball, most of them play other sports, and they all do individual practice on their own. I guess my question to you is this: Is this too much playing? In my opinion it is. I think at this age (13-15) More time should be taken practicing on the field than playing in actual games on the field. There are still way too many fundamental flaws being made by players at this age. They keep repeating their bad habits game after game with no correct repetitions taken between games. Well that is just my opinion. Anyway, congratulations to the players who stuck out a long season and came out on top. The off season is always nicer when you know you won the last game played in your league.

I've Got High Hopes!

2009-07-02T22:23:00.003-04:00

So it has been a minute since I decided to write on the blog. Not that you could tell by the comments, but the waters were stirred with the last one. I just received more phone calls than posts. I guess I hit a nerve with some people. Anyway we are moving on to one of my favorite subjects...The Philadelphia Phillies. This post is addressed to the unfaithful and the local media. For example on post game live this evening (Mitch Williams) said, and I quote "It's time to worry." I guess I should expect this "worry" from a guy who justified his inconsistency by accepting a comparison between himself and a gimmicky movie character. So, to the "Wild thing" and the band wagoners...We haven't even hit the half way mark and the Phils still lead the Division. They are down a closer and a starting left fielder right now. The MLB season is a long and bumpy ride. If you are a fan like I am, you have seen this before with every team in MLB every year. For you newly involved fans our World Series Champs are still in a really good position. If you have lived and died with this team you would know that we are still off to a better start than most years. To the players feeling like you just can't win or you just can't lose...Baseball requires it's players to keep an even keel. Don't get too high or too low. Play with a relaxed intensity. Be confident, believe in your team and yourself.

Parent/Coach Blindness! It's an Epidemic!

2009-06-15T15:29:00.005-04:00

I should not just leave it at parent/coach. I should add...parent/manager/assistant/comissioner/parks and rec.board/ect.,ect.,ect. You take a position in the organization to further your child's career or to get him on a travel team, or a tournament team or maybe just to insure some playing time. This post is addressing you fine folks who have convinced yourselves that you are doing your community a favor by volunteering your time for the children of your town or city. As of right now you may have your friends and neighbors on your side , but believe me they are catching on too. They don't understand why your kid plays more innings than their kid when he is not as talented. I work with players of all ages and from different towns and I hear the same thing every year from young players. "The coach's son plays my position and I don't really get a shot at it." "I didn't get to pitch because the coach's son and the assistants son pitched the whole game." "I only get two at bats per game because the coach's son and his friends bat before me." Parent/Coach you are the only one who is blind to the fact that your kid plays out of his league, out of position, and hits way too high in the line up. Doctoring the stats is cheating and your kid is not as good as you wish he was. Stop trying to live through your kid. Be honest with him and yourself. So, Is this for all parent coaches? No...There are some out there that really do have a clue about coaching and can be fair to the entire team, but from what I see they are a dying breed. I know these things tent to weed themselves out later on in HS and College, but too many young players are being discouraged and quiting before they even get to that point. If you happen to read this and get angry, maybe you are guilty. If you are offended by this, quit your position for a couple of years and see if your kid is really that good. I will end this by giving my advice to the players being effected by the type of situation I am describing..."Be better than everyone else on the field and you will never have to deal with politics."

Another South Jersey (GC) Player in MLB!

2009-06-02T10:34:00.002-04:00

This blog is in sorts just a congratulations to Greg Burke. Greg is a 26 year old Gloucester Catholic HS, Duke University (2 degree) Graduate. He is now a relief pitcher for the San Diego Padres. It is always great to see a local product make it to the highest level in all of baseball. His story is great, so if you get a chance to research him do so. Greg showed determination and willingness to get to where he is today by working hard for what he wanted on and off the field. I'm sure everyone that has ever worn the Gloucester Catholic uniform was very proud to see that 1-2-3 inning he had last night against the Philadelphia Phillies. Let Greg be an inspiration to all the young players in the area and I personally wish him the best of luck in his travels.

You don't even have to be an athlete to hustle!

2009-05-28T16:28:00.001-04:00

So last night I participated as a pitcher in a game of baseball. I was pretty much steady pitcher for both teams ages (14 & 13). I must admit I had alot of fun, but I could not get over the way that the players on both teams walked on and off the field, to and from their positions. As the title of this states "You Don't even have to be an athlete to hustle!" My message to the youth players is this...if you don't want to be there stay home, but if you do want to be there, act like you can't wait to get to your position or back into the dugout to hit. Coaches, scouts, fans, and parents all notice hustle, and who knows, if you start now, maybe it will catch on with your teamates before the season is out.

Practicing Good Baseball Habits

2009-05-27T13:55:00.000-04:00

This is the first of many to come. So since I just set this up I am going to explore and custonize before I start getting into the good baseball discussion.