The Coach and Player Relationship

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This weekend I played in a celebrity golf tournament with a Big League infielder who I did not know prior to the outing.

Truth be told, I was penciled in and was looking forward to playing with a young 2-time All Star catcher but was switched and ended up spending the day golfing with another player-- one who may possibly have more career behind than in front of him. What a break for me.

I first saw him as a young Big Leaguer, and at first, I kind of figured him to be a career utility guy, a 25th man. He could swing it a little but probably was not seen as a long-term solution on anybody's Big League roster.

So here he is now, as likeable and casual a fellow as you could hope to play golf with, except I learn he's a better than ever ballplayer (good enough that he recently signed a healthy free agent contract.)

Without meaning to pry or step over any unspoken social boundaries, I was more than curious as to what made this kind of career difference... the kind of difference that separates having a real job from having a dream job: a starting infielder for a contending National League ballclub!

I got two answers.

1. The first was from this fine young man himself when he soberly stated the difference was working out with his new hitting coach (after being traded from the team he grew up with - the team he subsequently left for a life-changing contract that would provide for his young family). It was this hitting coach whose teachings rebuilt a swing... and a career!

2. The second was when I placed a phone call to my mentor, a retired National League scouting director. His comments were brought up from the dusty memory vaults that long time scouts all seem to have.

Without missing a beat, this old scout pulled up his mental file of the when's and where's he first saw this player, his strengths and weaknesses at that young age and comparing those with his more recent observations as if he were laying one over the other and putting them up to the light to check for differences.

He spoke about the mind and the mindset of this ballplayer-- how hard he played, and how he would grind it out, giving all he had to help his team win... night after night.

And the point is...
Players need to find that coach who makes sense to them. Coaches need to constantly look for ways to get through to ballplayers... helping them to develop repeatable swings, throws and catches. I favor videos (now DVDs) to help me coach, and most video titles generally describe the content.

Whether it is the mind or the body we are working to improve, a connection between coach and player is paramount to success!

Skill alone will only take you so far. Remember, every pitcher throws 90 in the Show... every Big League hitter has a certain amount of batspeed. But you need more than that to be the best you can be at all levels of play!

Without help, and without a plan, luck is what you have. And luck is nothing to bank on!

As my buddy Steve Springer says: "If this game wasn't mental, then every 1st rounder should play 10 years in the Big Leagues. But they don't. Somebody tell me why David Eckstein (a 19th rounder) was the MVP of the 2006 World Series? No, let me tell you...it's because he's one of the top 10 competitors in baseball!"

"Spring" is an ex-player, scout and current Big League player-agent, as well as a sought-after speaker thanks to his audio CD, Quality at Bats (about the seldom taught mental side of hitting).

High Praise
Rookie of the Year Ryan Braun and runner-up Troy Tulowitzki both have a copy. Rockies manager Clint Hurdle says that "you are cheating your kids if they don't listen to this CD!"

Ready to succeed? Click here.

As the great one, Wayne Gretzky, says...You have a 100% chance of not scoring if you don't shoot!

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