Posted by: Scott B (baseball@integritycorp.com) on Tue Jun 25 12:57:09 2002

> Practice 600 or 700 swings per week? No wonder your 12 year old got tired, bored. I would be, too, and I've played ball all my life & love it.
> So here are two observations.
> 1. Success is a virtuous cycle. Do you love baseball because you're good? Do you practice because you love baseball? Are you good because you practice? - the answer needs to be yes to all of the above; that implies some fun quotient....wind springs, pushups, pull-ups, situps and crunches, and weight training if you're old enough (15 yrs up), along with your hitting practice doesn't sound like much fun the way you outline it!
> 2. Incrementality is key. One step at a time - Limited success, with maximum (public)reinforcement from the coach, followed by a little more work begets another little success, another little bit of praise, and by-and-by the kid loves the game, and wants to practice. If a kid wants it (based on some previous successes) the kid will ask for the additional workouts. I don't think you can go about it the other way 'round.
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True, you can't force a kid to want to play, or want to practice. Also true, that 8-12yo's would work at about 2/3's that level, and maybe less if they're playing two games a week. And pizza and ice cream and pats on the back are all great, too.

Also true, practice can be boring. But we don't do the same thing 700 times (13-14yo). We work Epstein's drills (and one of Jack Mankin's) first with a tee, then hit locations with a tee, then go to soft toss, then go to pitching machine with either bunt, two strike, or no strike situations declared, and then go to live pitching with game situations. We review pitch sequences, trying to get the hitter to guess inside, outside, fastball, or off-speed. You take a bucket of 50 balls, go through it 2-3 times, 4-5 times a week, and you've done your reps. If you've designed your practice the right way, you've had a bunch of fun doing it.

This practice gets great results for the kids who work the drills. Some, including one of mine, won't work that hard. So be it. There's always uncomfortable tension between those who believe that leadership matters, and others who think that adult leadership consists of "pushing kids" to go beyond their interest.

For the kid who says "Hey...will this stuff really work", as the poster did at the origin of this thread, I really have to ask them seriously what their goals are, how committed they are to them, and whether they're willing to work for them. Most kids in todays society want all the "candy" without any of the the work.

Leadership matters, hard work pays off, and NO KID should feel that they're a failure at 12 or 14, because a serious of adults chose other kids who developed faster as the "ball players", and wrote them off. But again, ask I ask each one of my players, what is your level of commitment? Do you want to work for it, and work hard?

That's my philosophy, and I advocate it without apology.

Regards.. Scott B