Posted by: george stanley (saint_george13@yahoo.com) on Wed Dec 5 11:26:17 2007

> > before we head to the cage, i ask ALL my students these 9 questions..
> > i invite any & all to give me a little input on what you think iare the best answers.
> > depending on response, in a few days i will post what i think are the best answers.
> > thank you in advance for your input.
> > 1. assuming a 90 MPH pitch, from the instant of release how long does it take to cross the plate?
> > 2. what is a hitter's most precious commodity? that is, what is the one thing he has only a finite amount of, & is always in short supply, always need more of .. so it is always at a premium.
> > 3. what is a hitter's greatest asset? that is, what is the one thing he wishes he could do better than anything or anyone that would improve his success the most?
> > 4. when a hitter swings the bat, what happens most frequently ?
> > 5. what are the 2 major aspects of hitting ?
> > 6. what are the 2 parts of the 2nd aspect mentioned in question #4 ?
> > 7. what is a hitter's primary goal on a day to day basis?
> > 8. what is a batting coach's 4 major duties?
> > 9. you are shooting a rifle at a standard target. in order to score maximum points, what do you aim at?
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> 1. assuming a 90 MPH pitch, from the instant of release how long does it take to cross the plate? (.40 of a second or slightly more)
>
> 2. what is a hitter's most precious commodity? that is, what is the one thing he has only a finite amount of, & is always in short supply, always need more of .. so it is always at a premium. (time)
>
> 3. what is a hitter's greatest asset? that is, what is the one thing he wishes he could do better than anything or anyone that would improve his success the most? (see the ball longer)
>
> 4. when a hitter swings the bat, what happens most frequently? (he swings under the ball)
>
> 5. what are the 2 major aspects of hitting? (timing and pitch recognition) Or as Ted William said 1)Get a good ball to hit 2)Go up there with the proper thinking)3 Be quick with the bat
>
> 6. what are the 2 parts of the 2nd aspect mentioned in question #4 (your strike zone and the umpire's strike zone)?
>
> 7. what is a hitter's primary goal on a day to day basis? (consistency)
>
> 8. what is a batting coach's 4 major duties? (1. get the hitter to a workable stance, 2. establish basic components of his swing, 3. get the hitter consistent through repetition, 4) be able to recognize when the hitter deviates from the above
>
> 9. you are shooting a rifle at a standard target. in order to score maximum points, what do you aim at? (the bottom half of the target)

helLo, THG!

you did better than most.. in fact of all the people i have talked to you have been most in agreement with what i believe to be the best answer for these questions.

1. CORRECT! within a few hundredths.. i ask this question 1st thing of hitters, because so few have any idea how long they have to
a. decide whether or not to swing
b. actually swing
c. (here's the tricky part) get the bat to an optimum spot about a foot in front of the plate to MEET THE BALL WHEN IT GETS THERE!!
most hitters are most frequently late to the ball.. they just don't realize why. the train is leaving, regardless of when you get there.
they don't have a clue, mostly

2. CORRECT! hitters must understand that they must get there on time... yet they do not an overwhelming majority of the time.

3. i believe the ONE thing which seperates the winners from the losers is BATSPEED! at least this site gets it.. maximum batspeed will get you to more pitches on time, thus driving pitches lesser hitters are popping up, fouling off, missing completely.

4. CORRECT!.. mostly.. i say mostly hitters fail.. fail being described as not hitting the ball on the button.. i point out to my students, that counting ALL swings, including foul offs & complete misses, a hitter fails to get a hit 5 out of 6 swings, which is a
REAL BA of .167 for the best of MLB hitters.. i mention this to make hitters understand i don't want to talk to them about the 17 times they succeed, i want to talk about the 83 times they fail.. that is a huge room from which to work for improvement.. i want them to realize the possibility for improvement is very great.

5. i like to identify the 2 aspects of hitting as being the MENTAL & PHYSICAL... i like hitters to understand BOTH ARE OF EQUAL IMPORTANCE.. it is a symbiotic relationship... that is, if one is not as strong as the other, it will drag down the overall performance. both must be at optimum levels for the most successful results.. this is paramount to getting a hitter to understand the mental aspect needs more work than most hitters are giving.. i believe this is a major reason a lot of hitters are not as successful as they might be.

6. i believe the 2 major parts to the physical aspect are the stance & the swing... any physical actions the hitter implements are either part of one or the other.. i would say the strike zones you mentioned are part of the mental aspect.. for instance if the ump is calling pitches 2" off the black for a strike, then you must realize that & adjust accordingly by understanding the pitcher is saying to himself "well if he's going to gimme that pitch, i'm gonna keep throwing it, or at least when i get 2 strikes for sure".. then you must get up even closer to the plate, so you can put some good wood on that pitch..

7. in an effort to make hitters more GOAL SPECIFIC than they are,this question helps to serve that purpose.. your answer is a good one, but not as GOAL SPECIFIC as it could be.. however LOGIC would say if you aspire to be as good today as you were yesterday, then you will remain as good or bad as you have always been.. i want hitters to understand that no matter what their name is, or how large their paycheck is, THERE IS ALWAYS ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT..so i would like my hitters to try to understand what their weaknesses are, & try to eliminate them by trying to improve on a daily basis, rather than just try to be the same as they were yesterday.

8.i like your mentality on this question.. i would like to first say you mentioned the stance & the swing in your answer, which means you are aware of these 2 main parts of the PHYSICAL aspect. well done!!!
your answers are not wrong...i believe they just don't go far enough.. assuming you have already constructed a stance & swing for your hitter, & assuming they are already playing on a daily basis,
& because of this they already have some consistency based on numerous repetitions... now comes the tricky parts
1. identify the hitter's errors AND (just as important as the first part) make the hitter understand what they are
2. make the hitter understand not only WHAT he is doing wrong, but also WHY it is a weakness
3. conceive of a solution to the problem.. that is, construct an adjustment or change to correct the error & eliminate the weakness.
4. make the hitter understand the adjustment & WHY it will eliminate the error & improve his success rate.
these are a little more GOAL SPECIFIC than what you mentioned.. they are more of a specific worksheet, that helps the coach look more specifically for the reason a hitter never puts in play a pitch belt high inner half..i like to ask the hitter why he is having problems with a certain pitch, & what HE thinks is a good adjustment.. that is where as a coach you will shine.

9. this is the ultimate GOAL SPECIFIC question...most people say "the bullseye".. which is a good answer..as far as it goes.. but i like to have my students think about THE CENTER of the bullseye.. "what's the difference?" they ask. well.. if you aim for the bullseye, & you are just a little off, then you are out of the bullseye.. but if you aim for the CENTER of the bullseye, & you are just a little off, YOU WILL STILL BE IN THE BULLSEYE! what i am trying to do is make hitters more conscious of being GOAL SPECIFIC reagrdless of the situation. i follow up with a second question.. "when you step in the box, what are you trying to do?".. most often i get "i dunno, get a hit!".. that is all well & good.. as far as it goes. all of my hitters have become GOAL SPECIFIC to the point they will answer "i am ready to rip on a straight-as-a-nail FB thigh-high on the inner half, & I WILL NOT MISS IT!! anything else, i will let it go." so now they have a pretty idea of what kind of pitch they will hack at to the exclusion of all others.. i have hammered them into thinking if they are ready to fire on certain pitches in certain circumstances such as 1st pitch or hitter's counts & don't miss it, they will thrive & improve .. so far they have

overall i would say anyone who answered most of these questions as you did, has an excellent mindset for the basis of both hitting & coaching.. i would encourage you to step back & take more of an overview of what you are doing.. sometimes it works to just take a piece of paper & write down your wish list for whatever specific endeavor you are involved in... then figure out the specific actions you need to take to make it happen..i encourage you to try to improve on a daily basis.. i don't believe hitters or coaches put enough effort into the mental aspect of hitting...
if you were to want to be a jet fighter pilot, it would take 1 1/2 years.. becoming an MLB hitter takes longer, so it must be more difficult. yet the pilots sit in a classsroom FOR MONTHS learning the LOGIC & PHYSICS of every aspect of the plane before they are allowed to fly the plane.. a baseball player grabs a bat, & SHAZAM !!! he's a hitter !!!... NOT !! I don't think there is anywhere enough mental work on the concepts involved with successful hitting.. i would encourage everyone to explore that aspect of the endeavor..
thank you for your response.. hope i inspired you in some way.
best of luck to you and yours
drive careful

george stanley