The Epiphany

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Here is an a-ha moment if I ever had one. I’m sitting around minding my own business, when a thought creeps into my head. “You know,” I say to myself, “The swing happens so fast, you don’t have time to think about. It is all done by muscle memory!” I am…master of the obvious. That’s why I get paid the big bucks, to figure these things out that nobody else can. It lends itself back to my last blog where on the bottom of the article I mentioned a few drills to work on. Boring, yet effective. If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a thousand times…practice doesn’t make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect. With a baseball swing, nothing can be more dead on.

So here’s the rub, I teach good habits. In order for me teach good habits, the hitter must be doing something wrong, something I would like corrected, in my humble opinion. No big deal, I bet even Manny wasn’t born with a bat in his hands. It takes work. Hard work. Period. I am going to attach my hitting mechanics worksheet. See how your swing equates with some of the greats.

The point I am trying to make is to take great swings…all the time. Build muscle memory. You don’t have to take live batting practice to create muscle memory. You don’t even have to hit off a tee. If I go one step further and say you don’t even need an instructor, I’m out of a job, so I won’t go that far. Ha. Spend 15 minutes a day swinging the bat. Take 40-50 swings, perfect swings. See how it feels. Commit it to muscle memory because when we are at the plate the only thing we are thinking about is…………seeing the ball…right. Want to see a couple phenomenal swings…follow the link below. Wow.

http://www.beabetterhitter.com/text/hittingdrills/hips%20knees%20elbows/Hips-KneesElbows.htm

If any of you have been around me long enough you know my favorite story. The best year I ever had in AAA I did not take live batting practice all winter. All I did was hit off a tee in my garage. At the time I couldn’t figure out why, but now I can. A-HA. Again, that’s why I get the big bucks.

Stay dry and have a great week!

Coach Joe