A Deeper Dive in Strategic Baseball Advantage Process Level 1 – Unique Baseball Hitting and Baseball Pitching Skills
Tulsa Hitting Lessons:Podcast Transciption:
On today’s show, we’re gonna dive deeper into level two of our Strategic Advantage Baseball Process – Unique Baseball Pitching and Baseball Hitting skills.
Hey guys, welcome back to Strategic Baseball Podcast. Last episode, we started diving deeper into our Strategic Advantage Baseball Process, with the first level being the competitive advantage. And we explained that that’s where baseball player development model we’re currently at, in that there’s so much focused on athletics, mechanics, velocity active block the practice habit, routine them attitudes.
Today, we’re going to dive into level two, which is Unique Baseball Hitting and Baseball Pitching Skills. Geoff and Darrell here and we help baseball players to get to the next level with a strategic advantage that they can play with supreme confidence to get the best players at any level.
And every episode, we promise to deliver value on the strategic side of player development to help your players compete with the players just as good if not better than them.
Today, we’re going to dive deeper into level two of our Strategic Advantage Baseball Process, Tulsa Hitting Lessons which is unique baseball hitting and baseball pitching skills. This is the level where we take the player unique skills and master it. Darrell Coulter did the pitching strategist and Geoff Rottmayer a hitting strategist and this is Strategic Baseball Podcast.
If you are interested in joining our circle, head over to strategic-baseball.com what you can also find in the show note and submit your email. And you always get a reminder each time we release a new episode, get weekly tip from Darrell and Geoff and get a PDF transcription and visual of the previous episode and much more. If you are a player, parent or coach who is interested in learning more about how the Strategic Advantage Baseball Process for your unique situation, please email me at Geoff geoff@athletic-mission.com or email Darrell at dc@starttpitching.com You can find those in the show notes. And we would love to arrange a time to talk and see how we can help you do you’ve been hanging tight listening this whole time? So how are you man?
Good man excited to dig into this next episode. I think this is kind of the differentiator and and let’s rock this thing. I’m ready.
Awesome. Well, let’s get into this man, we have the unique baseball hitting skills and unique baseball pitching skills. Being the second level of our Strategic Advantage Baseball Process. Let’s dive into dues. Imma let you start off.
Yeah, man. Tulsa Hitting Lessons I think on the pitching side, the there’s three things that I really want to focus on when we start talking about now that we have a base understanding of mechanics we understand how we move how we control our body, how we create velocity. And and we found some consistency with that movement pattern. Now we really want to start getting into pitch development and, and mastery. And so when I break it down with these guys here at Athletic Mission Baseball Academy in Tulsa Oklahoma, we really talked about three things pitch matching. And I think this is undervalued. I think now with Rapsodo and Flightscope, and all these different tools, Hittrax, and all these different tools that are out there.
Now, we’re starting to have better conversations about it. But the truth is, every pitcher moves differently. Every pitcher has got a different body type and, and they create power in a different way. And the consistency that we are able to help them see and pitch with that rhythm, tempo and timing becomes eventually their pitches and their ability to command pitches. And I and again, just to kind of lay some groundwork to this. There’s three, three pieces we really break down pitch matching. Does the pitch really match your arm slot? Can you consistently execute that pitch inside your rhythm, tempo and timing and really get the grip wrist and forearm angle and release point, right? That is the basis of how we begin to really learn to develop and design or create a pitch. And then how do we practice it until mastery? And then the second piece of that pitch is what I call pitch mapping and movement mapping. Okay, now do we understand how our grip wrist and forearm angle our grip pressure our release point creates that spin that creates the movement and so can we constantly consistently and constantly execute that hits by velocity of movement to a specific location and I call that the PVML percentage When we start mastering pitches, I want to I want pitchers more focused on Can I throw that pitch by velocity and movement to a specific location on purpose. More than I’m worried about ball strike ratio, ball distract ratio is just the reality of what happens in a baseball game. The ability to master of pitch is not on debility the throw it for a striker ball, it’s on the building to build a throw that pitch by velocity of movement to a specific location on purpose. And then the third piece of that really is how do we master that pitch? How do we create bullpens? Tulsa Hitting Lessons How do we sit here and do a preseason thorens program and, and are in season throwing programs to make sure that that we really stay focused on how do we develop the field? And how do we execute that pitch within a game plan. And that’s kind of the overall unique pitching skill, the kind of the three piece framework that we use here at Athletic Mission Baseball Academy in Tulsa Oklahoma. And the way we break this down is is all of it goes into how do we master a pitch that goes into the decision making process. And we start moving into the next steps, you’re going to see that the way strategy works and the way the pre pitch routine works.
The what we teach here is really that the pre pitch routine is all about the decision making process. And what is that pitchers decision making process. And then what went into the game plan the catcher the the coaches the collaboration that went into it, and then really, what is the the situation in town and see then if we can break pitching down into nothing but a situation account from the first pitch of the game to the last pitch of the game. Now we can honestly help these players develop a strategy based on their opponent based on the individual hitter or pitcher they’re facing. And really understand how to walk away with a decision making process that becomes baseball. It becomes the pitch the pitch the bat to bat and and the ending the ending, and and actually the game and the goal of the game. And so I know that a little bit deeper Geoff than probably what we’re talking about right now in the baseball world. But that’s the reality of how we transition from really having the competitive advantage having physical skills. And then how do we develop those physical skills into individual mastered skilled more of an advanced skill? And then how do we take that and create a strategy with it? And I think that’s the cool part about it. And so I think it’s confusing today, because I think there’s so many mixed messages about how do we make that transition from projectable skill set into actually advanced, advanced pitching or hitting skills. But I think what you’re going to see in the game now, as we really individualize it, and you’re seeing a lot more individualization and in the development and training that you’re going to see guys start to press this strategic piece of it. And that strategy really is the differentiator on game day, especially for for the competence of each individual player. And then honestly, the decision making process that that ends up becoming what Pitts, they decided to throw when that catcher puts a sign down. Tulsa Hitting Lessons And so I think this was cool, man, this is a fun conversation that can go in in 20 different directions, depending on who you’re talking to. But at the same time, I think as you can break down on the hitting side, you really start to see this hitter, pitcher chess match Go on, as we walk through it, which was one of the reasons why you and I ended up get together, because we like that you Yang of being able to train players and have them see both sides of it.
Right and then and then on the hitting side, much like you said, you know, we come to a point where we have a pretty good understanding of our mechanics and and how we move and control our body. And then now it’s about being consistent within that pattern. And when we do that, that’s when we really get into the masterpiece. So there’s a couple things that we work on with with on the master side. The unique hidden skill. The guys that I get to work with, we talk a lot about swing matching. And you know, everyone is different and there are certain things that guys can do. There are certain things that they can’t do. But a lot of times hitters don’t really understand what kind of hitter they are, or leave where they’re at right now currently as a hitter. So we’ve meant a lot of time getting God to understand where they’re at and write that very moment and what they need to work on what they need to develop as a hitter. And so we got to make sure that their swing, it’s going to be able to help them and not hurt them because this is gonna affect how we practice to master the neck B that we have when matching the neck Pete that works I call command hitting. And now that we’ve had a good understanding of how our body moves and how to create the bat path that we want, now we want to be able to execute situational hitting on purpose. So understanding how we can put offer a swing, and hit the ball where we want it. In executing in a situation, that’s a really deep conversation that we have about understanding your zone, which I’m gonna talk about in a minute. And then understanding point of contact, and what you can do with the watts, then to them, then that brings us to the this what I call the stick process, which is the spin, timing, knowledge and swing. So we hear a lot about timing, we hear a lot about the swing, but not so much about reading, spin, and then the knowledge of your own strikes on your yours, your hot zone. Tulsa Hitting Lessons So we feel this is the process. And mastering the process will give you a strategic advantage, when you get ready to go play in a real baseball game, because at the end of the day, everything that we do, and everything that we practice needs to give us a strategic advantage. Otherwise, we shouldn’t be doing it. Seeing the ball the hand, you know, identifying the tip, cues and clues is a learned skill. But once you learn what to see, you see what you look for.
So if you if you understand what you’re looking for you’re I mean it goes up, as long as you’re on time, that would make you know feed the ball hard because you have to understand what you’re looking for. And then you got to be on time for that. But then we have the the reading the spin part, which is going to tell you a ton. And this is something that we focus on a lot, that athletic mission. And then there’s the timing feet and what we tell guys that you got to be on time twice, yep, got to be on time first, but pick up the ball out of hand. And then that can you got to get that foot down on time. Tulsa Hitting Lessons So durability to see the ball at the release window and their ability to judge the ball space, it’s going to affect their timing or help the timing, which is going to lead us to the knowledge of the individual hitting zone. So what could you do they see Well, what pitchers do they hit Well, what pitcher can they get a barrel to and hit it hard. And a lot of guys will think that they like an area in the zone better than other areas, or they’ll think they see the ball in that area. And this is where we do a lot of tracking and try to get data on what they’re seeing where the balls crossing, and where they’re hitting and got to get a good understanding of what bought the hit well, and which ones they don’t. And then try to build that try to master an area of laying off pitches, that’s not in their hog loans, which again, is what make good hitters, it’s not the good hitters, it’s not the pitchers, they swing at it, the pitcher that they take. And that’s the stuff that we talk about with our guys all the time, your ability to lay off good pitches, it’s going to be your key to being a better hitter. That all comes down to knology, or your knowledge of the of your hitting zone. And then now we put all this together, now we’re able to put up our best swing. So this is overall the unique hitting skill framework that we use here at athletic mission. So you know,
all of this is for us to execute in a real game, for us to be able to have a game plan that we can actually deliver on because we have a matching skill of our swing, and then our command hitting and our stick process. And you’re gonna see as we go through the next couple of levels of the the process, you know, it’s our pre pitch routine and our decision making process and our game plan, you know, based on accounting situation, and when we look at baseball, like Darrell said that that’s all this is this theory, that situation that count. And now we can develop a strategy. Tulsa Hitting Lessons So this is what we were talking about in the process it taking skill, and developing master skills so that we can create strategy. And something that we talked about the day when I came up with that athletic mission is, you know, when we are prosthet really the getting guys to mastering strategy. It’s third they got to have clarity and understanding but they got to know the what, where, when, why and of what they’re doing and then they got to understand the How to of what they’re doing. And They don’t have clarity and understanding that we can’t get the mastery. And if we can’t get to mastery, then we really can’t get to strategy. Because we don’t have the the master skilled to execute in a real game.
Yeah, and I think you nailed it, I think. But we got to really try to reinforce to these young players that mastery is not perfection, right? We can perfect the tactic, we can perfect the drill, and not translate to the mound, either in the bullpen or in a real game or in the box as a hitter. And I think that’s where we’ve got caught up into we there’s so much information and a lot of it’s good information about a specific piece or tactic or drill or an aspect of what we’re trying to develop that that once we mastered our mechanics, for instance, then we feel like we’re automatically become a become a high velocity, you know, consistently execute a great pitches. And the truth is mechanics is just the base of, of how we develop a pitch. And it’s just the foundation of what has consistently got to happen, for me to be able to even execute a pitch. Tulsa Hitting Lessons And so we got to start can have the nice conversations about how do we elevate individual mastery, and that it’s really not about perfection, it’s just about your process of really understanding how you control your body, how you consistently do something, and then can we command the way we do it? And I think that piece, then is kind of is it does become a skill set. But at the same time, Jeff, I think it really, that’s the piece that becomes individualized, we got to get out of that compare and convince mindset and really get into the compete, contribute mindset, what do I got to do to compete? And how do I really go through what you and I called the boring practice, the grind practice stuff that we work through. That is, it seems like we should make it more fun.
But the truth is, the brain don’t want it to be more fun to bring once to understand it have clarity and understanding as we’re trying to develop mastery. And and every time we change up or switch it or change our mechanics or change something, then the brain kind of starts all over again. And I think that’s where a lot of these players are confused, they have the physical capability, but they have a hard time getting to mastery because every time they struggle a little bit, they want to go back in and change their mechanics. And a lot of times it’s not it, it’s like what you said they’re not seeing the ball or they’re not feeling their pitches or their grip, wrist and forearm angle might not be on time. And that’s all that that needs to be adjusted. We don’t need to start all over. Tulsa Hitting Lessons And I think if we can get that mindset shift of understanding, what is the foundational competitive advantage? And then Okay, how do I develop my unique skills that’s going to give me the ability to go create a strategy and play in the real game? I think now, people and coaches and parents and players are starting to see this process tied together,
right, and one thing that you see all over the country and all over the internet, it guides gone from one guru, to the next guru, to the next guru to the next guru, thinking that that next guru had the silver bullet that they’re missing. And right, like you said, you’re just confusing the heck out of the brain. Yeah, when you do that, so what guide they’re really needing it clarity and understanding. And once you have that, then you can get to the master. But you know, here, here’s the thing that I feel like, you and I are getting really good that is we’re getting really good at helping guys to understand where they’re at. Yeah, good, everyone trying to chase the next thing. And that’s not who they are right now. You know, and they’re and they got to train and they got to practice where they are at. And then have a strategy and having a Strategic Advantage Baseball Process, which repeat year after year based on where guys are at. So we have to get you to understanding that chaining The next thing is not where that because you’re just confusing the brain and you never get to the to that mastery that we need. And that this is where you and I are we’re trying to push the thing so that we can help more guys get their unique hitting and pitching scared or their man hitting and pitching skills so that they can really
Absolutely and I think that’s probably a good place to wrap up this when it’s really about your current state assessment and being honest with yourself where you’re really at the things that you need to focus on. And again, as we talked about before, these four stages of the Strategic Advantage Baseball Process and developing the strategic advantage mindset happens every year. This is not something that is just this career kind of driven process. This happens every year. You’re going to go through the off-season. Tulsa Hitting Lessons You’re going to go through the preseason, and you’re going to go through, get ready to play in real games. And so this thought process of how do I develop? How do I get better? How do I master my skill set? And then what opponents am I facing and how do I go out and execute against them is a process that you and I teach here at for players to go through every year. And as they get older and more mature and and develop more advanced skills, then obviously the level that they can play at and their ability to compete against the best players anywhere improves, and then that’s when the attention starts coming. And ultimately, that’s what players and parents are really wanting anyway, is how do we say here and develop into a complete player that can play at whatever the highest level they want to compete at?
Yep, and this is gonna conclude this podcast the the unique baseball hitting and baseball pitching skill. And if you’d like this podcast, please go ahead and leave a review and visit strategic-baseball.com to join our list. In the next episode, we’re gonna go deeper into the strategic advantage mindset. And this is stuff that we’re really excited to share. And we look forward to and we’ll see you then.
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