“First and foremost, I’d aim to build a culture obsessed with development and competition.”
https://twitter.com/JasonOchart/status/1032407567039787008?s=20
–Help motivation: Objective feedback is a very powerful tool. The feedback most hitters are used to receiving is the coach’s saying “yeah that looks better!” They’ve been hearing that from every coach in every lesson since they were five. However, when its objective and public, it is very powerful. Furthermore, getting “wins” in training is extremely motivating. When an athlete after two weeks sees that he has gained 3 mph of exit velocity, it validates his hard work, and he will know that the training works. We love talking about how failure and #haters drive us, but what’s often forgotten is that success and progress are very motivating.
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Create Accountability: Players will be more hesitant to slack in the weight room or in training if they know they are retesting every two weeks and that the numbers are important to the coach. Whether coaching high school or college athletes, hitters should not be getting worse over time. They are growing and getting stronger at a rapid rate. Long term, you should be seeing improvements. This holds the trainer (you) and the trainees accountable. If someone isn’t getting better, or is getting worse, you’ll know and can start to look into why: ineffective training? Injury? Lack of sleep/recovery? Diet? etc.
High Performance/High Pressure: Task is relatively easy, but there is pressure to succeed. Pressure can come from coaches, teammates and self. Put something on the line. Losing team does field work, conditioning, or whatever. Be creative. I call these “don’t panic” drills. It’s a task that the athlete knows he can complete, but the stakes are high. If you have an athlete who crumbles under pressure, let’s not wait until season to find out.
- Consecutive line drives v front toss or low velocity
- Execution rounds v standard BP
- Competition: Split into teams, 2-0 count, each player gets 1 swing to hit it hard.
- Endless possibilities here; be creative
Low Pressure/High Performance:
Taking it easy and feeling good.
Goal: build confidence, get loose, flow.
- Standard pre-game BP
- Basic front toss w game bat
- “Feel good” tee work
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