|
|
 |
|
Welcome
Hello and Welcome to the home of the Virginia Nationals Baseball Team. We are a 15-AA travel team based out of Salem, VA. We play U.S.S.S.A. baseball. Hope to see you at the ball field.
GREAT WEB SITE
If you are into baseball then you need to check out this web site. It is called Rounding Third. You can click on the link on the leftside of this site to get there. Check it daily. Hope that you will find it helpful and enjoy it.
BEING PART OF THE TEAM IS MORE THEN PLAYING
Make The Most of Your Opportunity
"You don't lose when you get knocked down, you lose when you decide to not get up."
I can't remember where I saw this quote or who said it. I'm not even sure I have the right words. It's just one of those thoughts that I recall from time to time and it gets me through a tough situation at work. I'm one of those odd parents that often see quotes that I think would inspire my kids. I usually print them out and lay them inconspicuously by the computer where they do their homework. They never acknowledge that they see any of these quotes and I never ask them if they saw it. The quote will just sit there for a few days and get tossed on weekends when my wife does her clean sweep of the house. But, I'm pretty sure they see it and think how weird their father is and then quickly move on to explore the wonders of Facebook or I-Tunes. Nevertheless, maybe it's one of those subliminal messages that just pop up in their mind when they need it the most. They have had tremendous success with baseball and have a pretty terrific attitude, so maybe....
This quote pops up in my mind because we have been receiving an inordinate amount of e-mails from parents that think their kid is getting the shaft from not playing enough high school baseball. Most are from parents of underclassmen and that will be the focus of this post.
First, just because a player is not starting or getting as much playing time as you, as a parent would like, doesn't mean that he is not learning, developing or a valuable asset to the team. Being on a baseball team is more than just playing or starting. Everyone on that roster has a role. Many high school teams have mid week scrimmages, and situational practices in which everyone participates. We talked about this in a a previous post. Those scrimmages and practices are just as important as the games to many coaches. If a player is good, then his skills may motivate someone else that doesn't want to lose their position to that underclassman. Many of you parents with bench sitting sons need to sit down with them and ask them what is their motivation? Is your son setting goals and working harder in practice to achieve those goals? Does he have the desire and the drive to want to be the first on the field and the last to leave? Does he hustle the most? Is he the most attentive when the coaches speak?
If so, then his time will come. If not...then that may be the problem at hand. Because practice and scrimmages are where you learn and develop skills...it's not always in regular season games. The coach may have picked up on that. The only way to turn this situation around is giving 110% effort, learning, developing and setting goals to get out of that mental rut that is often caused by sitting on the bench. If he truly loves baseball, he needs to truly love the journey to get there as well. That means paying dues, working harder, hustling and doing everything he is asked to do and more in practice.
But even if that player never gets his chance or is just not as physically talented enough to crack an everyday line-up, attitude and enthusiasm is still important. A player must realize that this is still a team sport and that there are other team members that need their support...a dead dug-out often results in dud of a game. There really is no room for negative attitudes in the dug-out just because a player is sitting the bench.
There used to be a kid we knew who was a smallish infielder who also never played much...but he never gave up trying. He was the inspiration in the dug-out, leading the team in other ways like spirit and upbeat chatter on the bench. He usually only got in games that were blow-outs, but when he got up to bat, he received more vocal support from his team mates than anyone else. He never even thought about quitting or giving up. He was having fun just being on the team, with his friends and for the love of the game. At the end of the season, the coach gave him a special award for being the most inspirational player on the team. He never played much, but I guarantee that he learned and developed in many ways other than just baseball.
Players, if you are sitting the bench, try something new and turn it up a notch and see what happens. The coach hasn't cut you. You ARE on the roster and he must see something in you right? Even if things still don't change then at least you can hold your head high and be very proud that you gave it your all and played the best of your ability day in and day out. You may not have a career in baseball, but that work ethic that you learned between the lines will pay you HUGE dividends later in your adult life.
HOW DO YOU LOOK
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
I love to use this quotation during difficult times on the field of competition. The game of baseball as well as the game of life is full of opportunities to show what we are really made of. It is easy to be filled with confidence and composure when we are in the middle of success and things are going well. Often athletes speak of being “In a Zone” when things are going good. Feeling as if they are playing outside themselves and just letting things happen. Not knowing how or why things are going the way they are, but just happy they are going that way. Or a team might be in the middle of a winning streak.
Someway, somehow, they seem to be getting all the breaks whether it is their own actions, or the untimely failure of their opponent. But the true test is how we handle those moments, or periods, where success seems to be running away from us. No matter what the team does, or players individually, they seem to be on the short end of opportunity after opportunity. Collectively, the team or player just seems to not be able to overcome small obstacles along the way to be victorious.
Baseball is a game of failure. A hitter will fail 6-7 times out of ten at bats and be considered successful. Teams rarely go an entire season without a loss. The test is mentally, how do we handle those failures? How do we handle those times of challenge?
The dreaded “slump”. Every athlete, regardless of their sport, will endure periods where success seems to be hiding from them. It seems like no matter what a person does, they can not get that “break” that will get them over this hump. Often times, you will see an athlete try and push harder, try and fight themselves out of this period. Sometimes the consequences are harsh; digging themselves deeper and deeper into this quagmire of
unsuccessful times. It is our ego and basic human instincts that will drive us to want to fight our way out of this.
The test is not to give up and maintain our composure at all costs. The measure is how we respond. We can control how we respond to these situations. Easy words to say, but never easy actions to find within ourselves. You have to find that “special something” deep inside you which continues to drive you during these times. During these times the answer may be to just “let go” as you do during the periods of success. The letting go though, is letting go of the negative thoughts, the self doubt, and the blame towards other forces or people. You need to have faith in your abilities. You need to find faith in those around you that they will support you and that you do not need to do everything yourself.
Focus on your actions and what you are doing to stay strong and continue to battle. Ensure that you respond with positive actions and continue to battle. Someone on the team needs to step up and be that strength for others if needed. One person, maintaining this strength, can be the driving force that will bring everyone else along and help the team endure. This faith, or confidence, must be your driving force. During this time, you need to let go of the easy road. The easy road of giving up, or placing blame on other people or things.
During these times you have to find a way to eliminate all the negatives. No matter what the issue or what the obstacle, there can be no negatives. You must find a way to look at everything as a special opportunity to improve, reflect on and continue to move forward in a positive way. Remove the focus on results. Do not judge each individual step along the way, each hit or out. But rather, judge the process by which you are taking.
Was it a good At Bat? Did I swing at good pitches? As a Pitcher, did I throw the pitch well? Did I commit to the pitch? By doing this you will be in a much stronger position to overcome anything. In the end, you will be “measured” by how you responded and handled these periods. You will be remembered for your courage, strength and endurance of challenge. Those that judge us whether they are coaches at the next level, scouts, family or friends, love to see us fail. For it is not in the enjoyment of seeing the failure, but rather the joy in seeing what lies deep inside us to help us overcome the failure or difficulty. It is our response to these “so called” failures. Quite possibly, the only person who will remember this is you.
We ALL fail or endure challenge throughout our life. But it will be the source of strength the next time you need to endure difficult times and what gives you the confidence to endure. So how do you want to be measured? Even if the only one measuring is you!
The next Level
Rewind...What Colleges Should You Contact?
Did you know that there are 270 NCAA Division I programs? Are you good at math? That's over 9,400 student/athletes on D-1 baseball rosters right now. Want more? There are 1,200 Division II, Division III, NAIA, and Junior College teams. (See link of NCAA Colleges that have baseball teams in the Sidebar to the right under Useful Sites and Links)Based on the same 35 man roster, there are 42,000 active players at D-2 or lower. No problem right? Your son should be a shoe-in to play college ball...Right???? Well, not exactly. There are several other factors you should consider before you start packing up the trailer for college. First and foremost, college baseball doesn't usually hand out 100% scholarships. In fact, they are required to only offer 33%. If you want more than that and want to attend a top school, the your son better be one of the top 100 players in the country. If he isn't, here's help...
If your son is a freshman, start researching camps and showcases and make sure he is on one of the top travel teams...If he is a sophomore...start now!!!
Grades and Talent
You hear stories about how easy academics are for student athletes in college...Well, it is NOT! Especially in baseball. If your son is to play at the college level he must have good grades...period!!! He must also have projectable baseball tools that the college programs are looking for to fill their immediate needs.
As soon as he enters high school, his focus should be on the books. Establish a good grade point early, because as he gets older and the demands of high school baseball get greater, he will need some cushion. But high school baseball is only a small part of the process. In the summer, he needs to get serious and attend "select" camps at colleges where he might want to go to school, and play on a competitive select, travel ball summer and fall team. Scouts tend to follow the teams with the better athletes that enter the better tournaments. Simple economy of scale.
In the summer following his sophomore year, he should develop a list of realistic schools -- Again be realistic...that list should be all inclusive...from junior colleges to top 50 D-1 or D-2 programs. Parents should listen at the camp and showcase scouts...they will tell you what level your son can play or what he needs to work on to get there.
The following is an excerpt from Baseball Parent Magazine...
...How do you market your son's baseball talents? Who might really be interested in him? How many -- if any -athletic "exemptions" (special academic consideration for athletes) do prospective colleges allow? Where does your son want to play? What will determine where he chooses to play? And will anyone help you with the search? Probably / maybe not. You and your son just may have to do it all by yourselves.
For starters, his high school coach may be too busy to worry about your son's college career. On the other hand, he might be a great help in steering your son to the best program, for him. He might take the initiative to send introductory letters to coaches notifying them of your son's interest in playing college ball and his legitimacy as a prospect. He might also provide spring, summer and fall game schedules and post-season statistics. Over the course of a several month recruiting process, he might spend hours on the telephone with coaches promoting your son. Some coaches may even spend still more hours helping your family weigh his decision.
Early on in the process you'll want to assess the reputations of college baseball programs that are of interest. Eventually you'll want to make visits to check out baseball facilities; the coaching staff; the quality of the program; the off-season conditioning and training facilities; the number of fall, intersquad, exhibition, and regular season games (which could be as many as 100); and to check out the community support.
Explore the possibility of signing early, in November of your son's senior year. For some families, this can be a good decision, because it could spare your son the frustration of a prolonged search and allow him to enjoy a less anxious senior year waiting to see who wants him. If an early signing is an option, college visits should begin during the fall or winter of your son's junior year.
HITTING
By Jon Doyle
As you may know there are numerous hitting methods and styles that exist in the world of baseball. They all claim the same thing: that they are the best. So who’s right and who’s wrong? They all are. Now you are probably saying, “This guy must be nuts. What the heck is he talking about? He doesn’t even make any sense.”
My point being is that if a certain hitting style works for a particular player then that style is the best for him. However, that same style won’t necessarily work for you. It may, but it may not. That is because if a certain style doesn’t work for you it’s not the best.
We must remember that hitting is an art. Trying to carbon copy hitters is the worst possible thing you can do. I encourage you to try different approaches, stances and follow throughs to see what works and doesn’t work for you. Let’s look at the 7 common traits shared among great hitters, no matter what hitting method is used.
1. Confidence
Believing in yourself and your ability is vital to becoming a great hitter. If you don’t believe in yourself who will? Questioning yourself on deck or in the batters box is pointless because it is way too late at that point to worry about anything. You must trust that the work you put in has gotten you ready to perform, no matter the pitcher or the situation. I firmly believe that most hitters get themselves out more often than the pitcher gets them out. Simply doing the correct preparation, both mentally and physically, can place you in the mind frame needed to be a great hitter.
2. Comfort
If you are not comfortable you will not hit. Period. Yes, when first experimenting with a new stance or hand position or whatever you might feel a bit uncomfortable. However, this should soon disappear as you practice this new technique. If it doesn’t disappear it probably is a sign that it’s not the best for you. However, remember that you can come back to this at a later time and it might feel great. That is the beauty of the swing. It can be an ever changing art form. The bottom line is: find your comfort zone and work from there.
3. Baseball Specific Vision
The ability to recognize and react to pitches is evident in all great hitters. You have a miniscule amount of time to see the ball, recognize the pitch, its velocity and location and then have the ability to generate the mechanics to make hard contact. There is a specific way to develop the vision skills that great hitters possess. However, virtually nobody knows about it. Vision drills that use colored balls (Never quite understood this one as we all know a baseball is white with red stitches), video games and other wacky equipment may improve certain aspects of “vision”, but not the vision need to track and react to a baseball. I’ve tried them all on both myself and my students. I have tested them in the real world. I know what works and what doesn’t. This skill is obviously vital as the old saying goes “You can’t hit what you can’t see.”
4. Reactive Strength and Abilities
Your ability to react will determine how good, or bad, of a baseball player you are. The game is consistently challenging you on how quickly you react to different situations. For example do you know where to swing the bat before the pitch is thrown? Of course not. You have an idea of what you want to do with the pitch, but have no clue where it is going until it leaves the pitchers hand. In very simplistic terms you are reacting to the pitch. Great hitters react very well, bad hitter don’t really react much at all. For a deeper, more in depth explanation on this I will be releasing a three-part series titled “The Biggest Secret in Baseball.”
5. Triple Threat Torso – Quick, Powerful and Flexible
You must develop a torso that has the above three qualities. If you lack even one you are severely limiting your potential. Everything else happens as a result of the torso. Leg movement, path of the hands, contact position and follow through all are effected by the abilities of your torso, or core. By developing these abilities every aspect of your swing will improve. Trust me you won’t get the triple threat by training the core in a manner that is shown on late night television infomercials or by balancing on a wobble board. Baseball specific training with the correct exercises, weights and tempo can deliver a triple threat torso to die for.
6. Short Swing
We all know that you must keep your hands inside the ball in order to consistently make hard contact on the sweet spot, especially against a good fastball. No matter which hitting method you follow, a short, compact stroke is a major emphasis and is crucial to success. I like to say, “If you swing is long, your day will be as well.”
7. Balance
If you cannot maintain balance before, during and after the swing you are severely doomed to inconsistent and unimpressive performance. The better your balance the more consistent your swing will be. If you are falling in any direction you will not only make poor contact most of the time, but you will have a hard time putting anything behind the swing.
This does not mean standing on some sill wobble board or stability ball. It means the ability to maintain your equilibrium throughout your swing. This is swing-specific balance I’m talking about here. Don’t be fooled by a fitness and training industry that is riddled with low-level “trainers” who simply don’t understand your needs.
To become a flat out stud, you must be sure that your training is specific to the traits I have listed above. Bodybuilding routines and mindless batting practice will not do the trick.
There you have it, the 7 traits that are found in every great hitter. Experiment with what works for you and what you feel comfortable with. These traits can be developed, usually quicker than you think, with proper training. Develop the qualities that I spoke about and you will be on your way to complete and utter domination.
GUEST BOOK
Please make sure that you sign our guest book, and thinks for looking.
TIPS FOR FUTURE PROS
" Let's face it, the size of your bat is going to determine what type of swing you have. If it is too big for you, you're not going to have a controlled, fluent swing. " Tony Gwynn
WORLD SERIES
I want you all to know how HAPPY and PROUD I am of these young men. What a GREAT job you did in the World Series. To finish 2nd is GREAT. The team had 11 wins and 2 loses. They played the most games of any team there and made it to the Championship game. They did a GREAT JOB. I want to say Thanks to all the Coaches and Parents and Family and Friends for all your support and all you did to make this work. It would not have been possible with out your support. Thanks again.
PHOTOS OF THE WORLD SERIES
You can see all the photos that were taken at the World Series. They are Great. CLICK ON THE REZ LINK IN THE LEFT HAND COLUMN.
Words to think about
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Ephesians 4;29
GONE BUT NEVER TO BE FORGOTTEN
PHOTO
The photo album has been updated. A very special Thank You to Mr. Kevin Harless for the photo's. You can see more of his photo's by clicking on " our kids in action" in the links to the left side of the page.
COMMITMENT
Either you are IN or OUT. There is NO such thing as INBETWEEN. Where are you ?
CLASS
Win with class, Lose with class, MAKE SURE YOU GO TO CLASS.
BEST
Will it make ME BETTER.
Will it make ME more EFFICIENT.
Will it make ME STRONGER.
How does it EFFECT the TEAM
EITHER
You are getting better, or you are getting worse. Nothing stays the same.
| |
|
|
