365 Days to Better Baseball - Making Routine Plays Win Out

Razzle-Dazzle Play Gets You on ESPN but Making Routine Plays Wins You the Coach's Trust

Routine Trumps Flash and Dance Every Time

Ask any baseball coach and they will tell you that they prefer the player who makes routine plays over the baseball player who makes the occasional great play, but boots a lot of the routine plays.

There is only one way to get on ESPN's web gems of the day, of course, by making some flashy play that excites the TV viewers. Young ball players love it, go out to practice, and try to do it just like the major league players do. That is fine but often kids believe being a good player revolves around making those occasional flashy plays.

Good coaches must continually tell their players that, "What makes a ballplayer is making the routine play, repeatedly." Good baseball coaches follow that up with, "Making great plays, just happen, but making the routine play takes greater focus, practice and discipline." The opportunity at a great play comes every once and awhile but the key to baseball success is making the more common routine play.

Additionally, most baseball coaches will play the player who makes the more common routine play over the flashy player who dazzles occasionally but botches the routine plays, too often. Making the routine play 99 percent of the time will advance a player's career more than making a great, flashy play but screwing up the routine play.