Common Injuries in Baseball and How to Treat Them
By Chris Sloan, 0 CommentsTop Baseball Video Games to Play
By Chris Sloan, 0 CommentsSunday Setting Sights on Success Tip of the Day "“ Knowing What You Can Control
Many kids set their sights on hitting for a certain average or pitching so many shutouts, etc. It is also common for players to have the hitting goal of two hits a game or pitching goal of so many strikeouts per game.
That is fine as goals help motivate players, but unfortunately, those are not very good goals because players do not have control over those. It is important that young players have realistic goals because many things are out of their hands. For example, once the ball is put in play, the ball is often caught even though it may be hit solidly. The best goals are the ones that set one's sights on things the player controls and ones that are simple.
Major League Baseball player Dave Philley holds his "Most Valuable Player" trophy, awarded to him in 1955 by the Baltimore Orioles for leading the club that year in hitting (.299 batting avg.) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
One of my former major league teammates had the goal of hitting the ball hard seven out of every ten at bats. He figured that if he could do that, his batting average would be at, or slightly above, a .300 average. Kind of depressing in a sense, but the point is that he could only control the first part, hitting the ball hard, so that was a realistic goal. The average would end where it would, based on the law of averages and some luck.
As mentioned, setting the goal of hitting for a .300 average was not his goal. Keeping it simpler, as hitting the ball hard as often as possible, was much better and controllable, to some degree anyway..
It is important that young players have realistic goals because many things are out of their hands. The best goals are the ones that set one's sights on things the player controls and ones that are simple, not involving uncontrollable statistics.
After playing major league baseball, Jack Perconte has taught baseball and softball since 1988 and offered valuable coaching training too. He has helped numerous youth players reach their potential, as well as having helped parents and coaches navigate their way through the challenging world of youth sports. Jack is one of the leading authorities in the areas of youth baseball training and coaching training advice.
All Jack Perconte articles are used with copyright permission.There are 0 comments on "365 Days to Better Baseball - Simplifying Goals"
chandler allen says:
"Hi my name is chandler, i’ve enjoyed..."
On Wanting to tryout for summer ball. as an 18 year old
david graham says:
"With no current MLB team in Canada,..."
On With no current MLB team in
Charles Chavez says:
"To All Coaches: Do you have13U or..."
On Looking for Games