Skyler, Makenzie, and baseball

Jesus follower & father. Documenting my journey training my boys Skyler & Makenzie in baseball. Hoping to focus them and myself on process, not results

[Skyler, Makenzie, and baseball @skymakbaseball]

@Weave1036 @GreekGodOfHops Well said

[Skyler, Makenzie, and baseball @skymakbaseball]

@joshgessner @FlatgroundApp This is a great idea and something i am on the constant hunt for. It just seems that much of the advice i read is theoretical and not practical, or not as relevant for youth who are going through the struggles of any typical adolescent as well

[Steve Magness @stevemagness]

Give yourself evidence.

Doing hard things, taking on challenges provides evidence to your brain that you are someone who can handle the situation.

The value of doing hard things is to re-calibrate your view on what is a threat and what's possible.

[Skyler, Makenzie, and baseball @skymakbaseball]

@PitchingCoachU I love this

[Tyler Todt @tyromper]

My dads an incredibly smart man.

•Great leader
•Can fix anything
•Socially strong & networks well
•Read a book a week for 30 years

He NEVER moved up in his company.

I asked him WHY & the answer he gave me brought me to tears.

Here’s THE BEST LESSON my dad ever taught me.

[Skyler, Makenzie, and baseball @skymakbaseball]

Best hitting advice

[Patrick Jones @pjonesbaseball]

The best hitting coach I have ever had...

My mom.

She would talk to me after games.

Usually, after a bad performance at the plate
(which happened often. Lol.)

She would say she knew I wouldn't have a good AB even before I stepped into the box.

She said she could tell by the way I walked to the plate.

I didn't believe her at the time.

I would ask myself:

"How could the way I walk to the plate dictate how I hit?"

Well, the research is on her side.

It turns out your body language does play a role in performance.

Amy Cuddy is a renowned social psychologist.

Amy Cuddy's research on body language has shown how nonverbal cues can influence how others perceive us and how we perceive ourselves.

Her famous TED Talk:
"Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are,"

Introduced the concept of "power poses."

Research showed these poses boosted confidence, increased testosterone levels, and reduced stress.

[Skyler, Makenzie, and baseball @skymakbaseball]

Although I know this, it’s much harder to put into practice

[Steve Magness @stevemagness]

Research shows when we train people to respond out of fear or punishment, they only are 'tough' when someone they fear is there, right in front of them.

It's out of avoiding the negative instead of pursuing the positive.

[Steve Magness @stevemagness]

If you have athletes who crush it in practice but fall short on race day...

Figure out how....
-They are defining success and failure
-To broaden their perspective
-To create a sense of security in life and self.
-To reframe their experience as challenge instead of a threat.

[Skyler, Makenzie, and baseball @skymakbaseball]

@Snappa_On @CoachJeffLeach And both require skills and knowledge about the youth sports that they can’t get from watching baseball on tv. But I’m not sure they realize that

[Skyler, Makenzie, and baseball @skymakbaseball]

@CoachJeffLeach @vt2irish Not to mention town and parent politics that make it feel like we never left high school

[Skyler, Makenzie, and baseball @skymakbaseball]

@JeffStanek1 I love your perspective. I strive for this everyday but my insecurity and my anxiousness about them failing wins more often. So we go hit or do catch play and I lecture them and it takes any fun out for them. I need to be better

[Kyle Wagner @GowagsKyle]

Coaches…your athletes are often intimidated by you. They think you’re a finished product and they’re a jumbled mess trying to get to where you are.🤔😂

An easy way to create concentration and relaxation (called confidence by many) is to…

1. Reward progress not perfection.

[Skyler, Makenzie, and baseball @skymakbaseball]

@GowagsKyle 🙏🙌

[Skyler, Makenzie, and baseball @skymakbaseball]

Great approach to making lineups

[Steve Coleman ⚾️🏒⛳️ @SColemanLU]

@CoachSwit As a Varsity HS Head Coach, I did it differently. My objective was the season as a whole, not any individual game. I made each game's lineup with the season's goal in mind. Often, that lineup was different than the one I would have used if the goal was to win one individual game.

[Alan Stein, Jr. @AlanSteinJr]

A school principal in Singapore sent this letter to every parent prior to exams... and I am in full support!!!

[Skyler, Makenzie, and baseball @skymakbaseball]

@joshgessner As with everything, I related this to how I coach my kids in baseball. Made me think about how my wish for them to be more intrinsically motivated is perhaps held back by how I extrinsically incentivize

[Skyler, Makenzie, and baseball @skymakbaseball]

@thefarmsystem I think this is a great drill idea. But question—my boys have a tendency to rotate their upper half first after they step. Could I modify this and have them turn their hips during the stride stop? Or does that cancel what they feel in bracing for contact?

[Skyler, Makenzie, and baseball @skymakbaseball]

@GowagsKyle I tell my kids not to worry about hits or strikeouts. Those are “grades” they get on “tests” (games). And grades just indicate what topic they need more “homework” (practice). And it’s ok to get “bad grades”. Or am I the only one who relates everything in life to baseball?

[Skyler, Makenzie, and baseball @skymakbaseball]

@hossjob Off the field, your dad is the vision of how I strive to be. Unfortunately for my boys, on the field, most of the time I end up doing the exact opposite. It’s what I struggle with the most. The work I need to do in myself is much greater than what they need to do on the field.

[Skyler, Makenzie, and baseball @skymakbaseball]

@PaternalLegacy Siblings