Maybe if you have been playing in the Major Leagues for a long time, but a 300 batting in high school or over the summer is not generally enough to generate attention. I am a bit older…okay a lot older, but I really do believe I could bat 300 in high school. [Can I get an invisible runner?]
My point, aim higher!!!!!
Acceptance of failure has tainted the way many approach this game. I would even go so far and state focusing the game around failure creates an air of mediocrity; Mediocrity with the players, and mediocrity with the coaches. It becomes our approach, our excuse, basically a justified contentment with almost everything with this sport.
“We’re young,” becomes an acceptable excuse when it comes to describing why a team loses a game or has a losing record. Remember there are times a player needs to fail to get better. Instead of describing or justifying failure with an adjective, use a verb to identify what a player needs to do to improve.
Fix things!
This game is not that complicated, we just confuse the heck out of them. On one side we say, “Don’t transfer blame,” but when it comes to hitting we accept mediocrity and justify versus fixing why we failed. Since I believe every player should learn to become their own coach, do not mistake what I am saying; as Glen Ballard’s song goes, “Want to make a change; start with the [person] in the mirror.”
Learn what it takes to become a quality hitter, then make the knowledge your own. Use each failure as an opportunity to get better by making adjustments. Share your own knowledge with yourself versus running to a hitting coach every time you fail at the plate.
“Hitting is Simple…Have You Figured it Out Yet?”
Until next Blog,
Al McCormick
