19 Mar 2011
by Rob Smith, Creighton Universityin Opinion
We are already seeing stats coming out that the new bats are having an effect on home runs and scoring in general. THANK YOU NCAA! The game has finally returned to balance a little bit. Last year was nothing but home runs and high scoring games. I have heard coaches argue that fans want high scoring games. I would strongly disagree! Who wants to sit through a 3 hour game that ends up 11-10. There are actually real baseball games being played where every play matters, each at bat could be the game winning hit or run. This in contrast to the five run inning just learking out there at anytime.
I hope they keep the standards in check from now on. I am going to predict that college baseball fans are going to love this come world series time! Real baseball! 3-2 games with every at bat meaning something! Lots of pressure if runners are in scoring position. No more of this give up 4 and then score 5 back and forth stuff!
03 Mar 2011
by Rob Smith, Creighton Universityin Inside the Numbers
One of the stats that we track very closley are free bases. We define our free bases as Walks, Hit by Pitch, Wild Pitch, Balk, Passed Ball, Stolen Base allowed and errors. Our goal for every game is to have five free bases or less. As you can tell the majority of that burden falls onto the pitching staff. One of the things though that can be misleading is the fact that there are times that you are willing to concede those bases thus giving you a blurred look at the total number. For example, we had a game the other day where we had 9 free bases. That is usually a high total for us and we were dissapointed after the game in that number. But, after further review I figured out that two of the walks were basically intentional (pitching around guys to get a better match up), one stolen base was a 1st/3rd where we chose not to throw through in that particular instance and the another stolen base came on the heels of us yelling from our dugout “dont worry about the runner, focus on the hitter”, thus our pitcher was a 1.8 to the plate and they walked into 3rd base with two outs.
I guess my point is this…..while stats are huge in regards to making points to your players, they can be a little misleading in regards to the flow of the game. I love the InsideEdge stat program and I think it is a great tool for all coaches, but at the same time, I still like to break down the paper pitching chart for this very reason. A stat sheet alone does not give you the context for which certain things happend. It just gives you raw numbers. The chart itself can help you understand the situations a little better thus giving you a clearer picture as to how things occured.
27 Feb 2011
by Rob Smith, Creighton Universityin Opinion
Something I have always found ridiculous and very closed minded is the notion that pitching coaches can only coach pitchers and should not really have an opinion about other parts of the game. Conversley I find it just as ridiculous if pitching coaches think that hitting coaches or positional coaches cannot have an opinion about pitching. Coaching is coaching regardless of what level you played or what position you played. Playing a position in college or pro ball does not make you a good coach of it. I have had several conversations with hitting coaches who have given me great insight to help me as a pitching coach. I have also learned a lot about hitting in conversations with other pitching coaches.
It is my opinion that coaches who get hung up on this type of stuff are one of two things. They are so egotistical to realize that you DO NOT have to play a certain position to understand how the other works or they are so insecure about their own ability to coach that they have to segment or pigeon hole coaches to not expose themselves.
I also believe this; If you can organize people, communicate information, and inspire young men to work hard you can coach pitchers, hitters, point guards, line backers, goalies, or any other position in sport. Coaching is not all about your playing experience. In fact, it has very little to do with it. Your playing background will give you credibility from the start (deserved or not). Your coaching skills will validate you one way or another.
24 Feb 2011
by Garrett Quinn, Liberty Universityin Mechanics
I have a freshman pitcher on my staff that has consistently battled the same mechanical problem all year. From the windup and stretch, his arm is rarely in a good cocked position when his front foot lands. In fact, it is dangerously low most times. One of the reasons for this problem is that he has had a difficult time getting his top half mechanics aligned with his lower half mechanics. He has a very aggressive leg drive down the mound which has made it difficult to get his arm moving fast enough and quick enough to catch up with the rest of his body.
We have tried many different approaches to correct this problem without compromising his lower half leg drive. Too often I am trying to get players to use their lower half more aggressively so I was determined not to discourage this young man from using his legs.
Some of the approaches that we tried were:
- Quickening the hand break or getting more aggressive in the arm swing.
- Torquing the lower half during the leg kick so the arm would have more time as the body rotated back towards the plate.
- Taking a rocker step to the side so we could eliminate some of his forward momentum prior to his leg kick reaching its highest point.
Well, none of these approaches made the difference we were hoping for. However, the Eureka Moment came one day while watching his video. I was able to determine that he had approximately 20 degrees flexion in his post leg when he began his leg kick. By straightening his post leg to a point where he would only have a few degrees of flexion (approximately 5 degrees) he would have to remain “over the rubber” slightly longer during his leg kick in order to use his legs in the same manner he was accustomed to. In other words, dropping and driving to the plate gave him slightly more time to get his arm moving. We immediately noticed that his arm was getting into a higher cocked position at foot plant. As a result, he is pitching down in the zone and his pitches have two planes! The best part is that he has not had to sacrifice any leg drive or leg power in his delivery. And his arm is bouncing back from bullpens much quicker. Hopefully we will see a velocity jump in the near future.
This was something I felt like sharing. Please feel free to email me any comments (good or bad) at gquinn@liberty.edu
23 Feb 2011
by Chris Maliszewski, University of Iowain Throwing
I was extremely fortuante to take a little of Alan Jaeger’s time roughly two weeks ago (ok, is was more like a lot of his time). My last post began to explain my new train of thought on how I was handling long toss with my players. Alan and I spoke for roughly over an hour regarding several items regarding throwing and long toss. Here are a few things that I took away from it:
1: Long toss is a training tool: Long toss is completely different than pitching and may have to be treated as so. I was in the thought previously that throwing the ball on a higher arc would create poor pitching mechanics on the mound. After allowing my players to throw further distances on an arc I have NOT seen that to be the case. If you force your players to throw with some form of command even at a far distance on an arc they still have to do things mechanically correct and be able to repeat them.
2: Every arm is different: I was always a believer of this. I never only allowed for a certain amount of time at certain distances. I believe you have to allow each individual their personal time and distance while playing long catch. I call it long catch to comfort on a daily basis.
3: Ways to combat indoor facilities: We discussed several ways to combat indoor facilities. One suggestion Alan gave was to allow my pitchers to throw as high up on the facility (aka bubble) to mimic distance. DUH, why didn’t I think of that. We could also throw long toss in our batting cages to simulate distance as we move through the long toss. As a coach, it is our responsibility to be creative in these circumstances.
4: Long toss provides health and endurance: These are the two main staples of any pitcher and by allowing them to attack long toss aggressively as much as possible we are encouraging health and endurance.
I encourage all readers to check out his website www.jaegersports.com to decide for yourself. As is the case with anything, in my opinion, it is our obligation to our players and ourselves to learn as much as possible and decipher how we want to use it should we want to.
16 Feb 2011
by Ryan Sawyers, Purdue Universityin Opinion
There are many coaches that have been coaching a lot longer than I have. I was lucky enough to player for Steve Bazarnic at Allegany College of Maryland and Randy Tenney at West Virginia Wesleyan College. Combined they have 65 seasons at their respective instituions. To put it in perspective, I am in my 15th year in college baseball and 11th year as a college baseball coach.
So why am I bringing this up? Because I am just as excited about the upcoming opening day as I was my first college opening day in the spring of 1997. A spring that ended at the World Series. Time will tell if my second decade of college baseball begins as well as my first decade did, but I can tell you that my enthusiasm to be in college baseball has never waned.
I started coaching because I had such great coaches. I can never thank Coach Bazarnic or Coach Tenneyenough for all that they did for me. They are the reason that I coach. If I can provide the players that I coach with half of the experience that they provided for me then I will consider it the biggest win of all.
I love to hear who inspired others to coach. Don’t hesitate to comment on this post or contact me directly at rsawyers@purdue.edu with your own story.
As we enter yet another season of college baseball I want to thank all of those coaches who have helped make us coaches, better coaches. Here’s to winning baseball games as well as passing on the legacies that have been handed down to us.
16 Feb 2011
by Skylar Meade, Eastern Illinoisin Teaching Points
As someone who went through a shoulder reconstruction almost 6 years ago, I know how hard it is to get comfortable in throwing the baseball as you did pre-injury. Over the weekend I really one of our pitchers who had TJ a year and a half ago made a huge jump, not only in confidence, but also in stuff. He was 83-85 for 10 batters on Tuesday, then just yesterday the same guy who hadnt hit over 85 since March of 2009, threw 88-89 for 6 straight batters. As I sit back and reflect on not only this case, but other players who have come back from an injury, I have come to realize the only way for a player to “let it fly” is to put them in the most intense/gamelike situations possible. Once they are to a point in their rehabiliation where the body is fully recovered it becomes such a mind game as to when they will make the jump to regaining their preinjury success or stuff. The key is to thrust the palyer into a scenario in which they are forced to compete and no longer worry about all of the what if’s that come with an injury. I hope over my years in coaching that I do not have to deal with any more injuries, however it is inevitable that it will happen again in the future. But the next time it does, I will make sure that I put the player in more and more situations that cause all of the fear in their head to wipe away, as they thrust themselves into competing against another person. This way they “let it fly” sooner than later and get back to having optimal success in a reasonable time.
14 Feb 2011
by Tim Dixon, Air Force Academyin Teaching Points, Uncategorized
Less than one week away from game one and as a coach I am constantly running a check to see if I have done everything in my mind to get these young men ready for a great season. The daily grind to hammer out every situation and every detail is the constant battle. This year in particular, I have focused on the mental game more than any year I have coached. I am not sure if this is coincidence, but I feel more prepared than ever and in return the players feel prepared.
Mental meetings before and after practice, visualization, yoga, muscle relaxation, and the breath are just a few of the things we as a coaching staff focus on every day. The ability to stay in the present moment and go one pitch at a time whether you are a pitcher or a position player is a key ingredient to giving yourself the best chance for success.
I have seen a huge transformation of our players from August till now. Yes some if it is physical, but the majority of it is the way they handle adversity. The way they carry themselves on the field. The have confidence in themselves and their ability to deal with anything thrown at them and that is what I am most excited about. Our journey begins in less than a week and I am so proud to experience this journey with some of the finest young men I have ever been around.
Questions about the mental game or some of the things we do, feel free to post your questions.
