COACHES' CORNER

SAGUARO BASEBALL The Official Website of Sabercat Baseball

COACHES' CORNER


         2010 Varsity                                                2010 Junior Varsity                                             2010 Frosh

Ryan Dyer, Head Coach
Don Peters, Pitching Coach                                   Thom Dunleavy, Head JV Coach                     George Adams, Head Coach
Joe Muecke, Infield Coach                                     Dallas Strankman, Pitchers/Catchers               Bill Thomas, Assistant Coach
Tyler Sublette, Hitting Coach                                                                                                   Dallas Strankman, Pitchers/Catchers
Ron Payne, Outfielders
Dallas Strankman, Pitchers/Catchers

Posted Dec 22, 2009 Evaluating Batting Practice

David Rawnsley, Perfect Game Director

At the World Underclass Showcase in late December we evaluate about 500 hitters over a 2-day period, which I consider one of the more taxing jobs I’ve ever undertaken in 20+ years of scouting. That event is coming up quickly and that got me thinking hard about batting practice.

The batting practice evaluation is a very important part of the overall evaluation at a showcase. You might wonder how 10 swings can show so much but it’s really pretty fundamental. A player will show all the bat speed, hitting fundamentals and athletic balance that an evaluator needs to see in those 10 swings. It’s very rare to see a player go rake in game action, then look at his BP notes and find that you don’t have a good grade on him. If anything, the reverse is much more common; a player will look over-matched in a game but he showed strong bat speed and hitting ability in BP. The following are some observations taken during all those thousands of batting practice evaluations.

Practice Your Game Swing
If you are the type of hitter who can rationalize with a clear mind that “I’m a different hitter in games than I am in BP”, then you have a problem as a hitter. Your swing in BP should be what you use in a game, that’s why it’s called “practice”. You are practicing for what you do in a game. Probably the most important thing, to paraphrase, “practicing what you preach” is to have a realistic idea of what type of game hitter you are. If you’re a 5-10, 160 lb slender middle infielder who works the ball around the field during games and hasn’t hit a home run since Little League, it’s pretty worthless to be up swinging from your heels trying to pull/lift the ball during BP. Know who you are before you step to the plate and practice getting better at it.

We see a number of hitters who become “Keyhole” hitters in BP. While some BP pitchers will occasionally struggle throwing strikes, the vast majority at this level (i.e. PG showcases) throw 80% hittable strikes and some are closer to 95%. If you take 10 pitches during a BP session, that means you are looking for pitches in only one narrow area. That’s not a realistic game approach and you’ll be downgraded for key holing.

There Is No “Right” Way to Swing
Just as Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk don’t swing the golf club the same and Randy Johnson and Greg Maddux don’t throw a baseball the same, good hitters don’t all share the same baseball swings. Any hitting coach who teaches all his players to do the same thing is being intellectually dishonest….or maybe just overly simplistic. We see this sometimes with teams. All the hitters will have the same approach regardless of their individual strengths and skills. I hate when I see this. There is a former scouting director (a successful and experienced one, I should add) who refused to pick hitters in the top few rounds for a few years in the late 90’s because his team’s hitting coach was so militant about teaching hitters “his” hitting approach. This scouting director told me “I don’t want to be responsible for ruining these kid’s chances.” Still, there are some things that are fundamental to a good baseball swing and they stand out right away during the 10 batting practice swings. Here are some areas that I focus in on during batting practice.

Stance/Set-Up
The key is to be balanced and in a consistent position to start your swing. First, I refuse to believe that teenage hitters can hit from a still start. We often see hitters who have what I call the “pre-load” approach at the plate that has clearly been coached. You have to have some sort of rhythm and looseness when you start into your swing instead of a robotic pre-determined starting point.

In fact, “Rhythm” is one of most common words I use in my BP notes. Good hitters who project to get better have it. They move in a balanced and easy way through the ball. Lesser hitters don’t. And it’s one of those things that can’t be easily taught, either.

We see a number of stances that I describe as “spread, no stride.” Albert Pujols hits from this approach. He’s also about 6-3, 230 lbs and ungodly strong. Jeff Bagwell hit from an even more exaggerated similar approach, but was just as strong as Pujols. Unfortunately, many of the hitter’s I see at this level with the same approach are 16 years old and closer to 5-10, 150 lbs. In order to get the bat going they have to lean their upper bodies back and twist their bodies rotationally to generate bat speed. This creates length to the swing and poor direction through the ball.

It is very common these days to see open stances that a hitter closes up as part of his timing and stride into the pitch. I have no problem with that as long as the hitter truly closes up directly towards the pitcher. Staying open leaves you vulnerable to the outside half of the plate. Getting over closed impacts your ability to cover the inside half and to extend your swing. You have to get squared and starting too open throws in variables that detract from the hitter’s ability.

Hand position is vitally important to a successful swing. That means both proper hand position and consistent hand position. Lots of hitters have some sort of hand hitch to start their swing. That works if you are strong enough and have good enough timing to repeat the hitch and get your hands in proper position to hit. That doesn’t happen often at this level. I often think of Gary Sheffield’s swing and use it as an extreme example. Sheffield will move his hands and body all over the place during the pitcher’s wind up but when he starts his swing, his bat and hands are always in the same position. Always. Young hitters need to appreciate this.

One more thing that often happens with young hitters. And if it happens in BP it’s going to happen in games. That is getting that front foot down late. If your front foot is late, your swing is going to be late. So whatever your front side timing is, be sure that your front foot is getting down in time. Otherwise it isn’t a timing device at all, it’s a “destroy your timing” device. Hand position, balance, rhythm/timing, direction, consistency. That’s the start of a good swing.

The Swing Itself
Bat speed and hand strength are pretty easy to distinguish right away and are pretty self-explanatory in an evaluation. You can have the prettiest, most balanced swing in the world and if you don’t have bat speed and hand strength, you are going to increasingly struggle as the pitchers get better.

A note to those looking to get stronger, which should mean everyone at this level. The most important area to increase your strength is from your finger tips to your elbows. Those are the hitting muscles. Your core is important and it’s nice to have upper body strength, but it all starts at the end of your arms.

After bat speed, the first thing that stands out about a hitter’s swing is its length. The longer the path that your hands and the barrel of the bat take to the contact point, the more difficult it will be to square up the ball as pitchers get better.

Swing length to the ball needs to be as short and quick as possible. To some hitters this comes naturally, others have to work hard at it. Sometimes it is most difficult for bigger athletes who have longer levers. When you see a 6-3 hitter who is short and crisp to the ball, it really gets your attention.

A sweeping swing is a synonym for an aluminum bat swing. A sweeping swing combines length to the ball with little hand use at the point of contact. You can get away with that with an aluminum bat, you can’t with wood. I sometimes cringe when I hear coaches say “Take your hands to the ball.” I immediately think aluminum swing. With a proper swing and with a wood bat, you have to take the barrel to the ball, not your hands. Unless you want stinging hands and a broken bat.

I really key in on extension out front when looking at a hitter’s swing in batting practice. Good loose extension out front tells me two things. First is that the hitter is still accelerating the barrel through the ball at the point of contact. A swing that gets cut off right after contact is not hitting through the ball. Secondly, power hitters get loose extension out front and I love hitters who can drive the ball.

Swing plane is an important factor in evaluating a swing as well. Most times people will automatically “upper cut” when you talk swing plane but I see just as many hitters swinging down on the ball. Both cut down one’s chances of making solid contact. The longer the barrel of the bat is on plane with the pitch, the better chance one has of squaring up on the ball. Line drives are a very good thing.

Bat speed, hand strength, short swing, extension through the ball. Good things will happen.

Batting Practice Performance
To tell you the truth, I really don’t see where most balls hit during batting practice land. I know by whether the ball is squared up and the sound of the contact and the angle it comes off the bat where it’s approximately going. The details really don’t matter.

That being said, simply squaring up the ball is very important. If a hitter is showing good swing mechanics and isn’t squaring up a good BP pitcher, it raises questions in the evaluators mind. How the ball comes off the bat tells me a lot, but if the hitter isn’t squaring up much, I don’t have as much to work with.

Where in the 10 pitch BP cycle a hitter makes best contact is also important. If a hitter uses his first six swings getting jammed and trying to get his timing together, then finally squares up a few balls, that’s not a good thing. You don’t get extra practice swings against live pitching. A good hitter, and especially one who takes lots of batting practice, should be squaring up the ball from the first pitch.

Posted Dec 17, 2009
The following is an email sent to Coach Dyer from Stanford University Baseball Coach, Dean Stotz

Coach Dyer,

For the past month I have received numerous phone calls from high school coaches seeking my opinion on their student-athletemaking a "early verbal commit". If I may, I would like to give you my thoughts. In a nutshell I think where we are headed is TRAGIC! Here is why.

** I think all of us would agree, that a student/athlete should decide which college to attend because that university answers HIS academic, baseball, economic, and social needs better than any other college.

**How can an student/athlete determine at this time what his academic skills will be two to three years from now? Are the
last two to three years of high school academics of no value in determining what academic challenge he should take on?
(What a slap on the face to high school education if that is the case.) As he grows older, hopefully he will begin to take more
difficult courses. How will he perform in a more challenging academic environment? In my 34 years of coaching I have seen
many students become more motivated or less motivated in the classroom as they move through their high school careers.
Which one will he be?

** He doesn't even know how you will score on the National tests (SAT or ACT) that are required before you can be formally admitted to a university. And yet these same schools are going to tell the athlete's families how important academics are at their school. Just a little hypocritical.

** He doesn't know how much your baseball skills will develop. No one does that far out. Major League baseball spends on
average over 10 million dollars per team to figure out who they should draft. Do you know what their success rate is for a
first round draft pick to play a one day in the Major Leagues? Right at 50%!

** It will be 2- 3 years from now that he will play his first pitch for the college he selects. TWO-THREE YEARS!! Go back, to
where his baseball skills were 3 years, and then realize that in all likelihood his baseball skills will even improve more for
these next two-three years then they have in his previous two-three years. No one knows how good he will be at 19-21 years of age. If they knew for sure, the Yankees would be willing to pay that person lots of money!

** Will he socially like the same things in college that he enjoys now? Will his social behaviors be the same as they are now? Right now this athlete's existence is measured by how he performs athletically. He, like you and I at the same age, could
not image life without sport. But boy would our thoughts be different now! As he matures, his interests in life will change.

** The recruiting process is FUN! He has put all this time and effort into his academics and baseball development. He needs
to REAP THE REWARDS of those efforts. How can a student-athlete know at this point in time, which colleges will be
interested in recruiting him? The answer is he can't. I guarantee there are many schools that don't even know he exists yet.

** A lot can happen to coaching staffs over a period of one year let alone three years. No one knows what health issues may arise. Less than a month ago Coach Pat Murphy resigned at ASU. If the main reason a player signed with ASU was to play for Coach Murphy, that player is now hugely disappointed.

** The real reason one decides now is "fear". Fear that is he doesn't act now the offer will go away. If your player is really a "DUDE", his problem will not be if there is a school out there who will offer me a baseball scholarship, but how does he narrow down his list of which schools to consider.

** I truly believe these young kids and their families are so venerable that if you gave any of the top 100 college baseball
coaches one hour in their living room that at the end of that hour they would be willing to sign with that school. We are
paid to be salesman, and we don't survive if we can't sell our product. The athlete cannot know everything they need to
know at this time to make a totally educated decision.

** I fear that this generation is very "short-sighted". I firmly believe that with all the out-sourcing that we do now in the
United States, that 8% unemployment is going to be the norm. Literally millions of people will be seeking employment.
Couple that fact, with the fact that 40% of our work force is now over -qualified for the jobs they currently have. Your
student-athlete will face global competition for jobs unlike anything we have ever seen. Where he attends college, and
if he gets a degree in a marketable area will have a profound effect on the rest of his life!

**I will make the bold statement that this college decision in all likelihood will have as much effect of this young man's life
as who he decides to marry. These kids can barely drive, can't vote, can't defend their country but possess enough
knowledge about who they are academically, athletically and socially to make an informed decision? Simply absurd.

**A coach in our athletic department recently made this statement. "What is the big hurry? If the college that has the best product for this young man, won't that still be the best product a year from now? Or is there a fear on the school's part that their product is inferior?"

I never intended this email to be so long, but I am passionate about this issue. I really believe we are doing these young
people a great disservice in having them make such a MONUMENTAL DECISION so early in their lives!

Respectfully,

Dean Stotz
Stanford University Associate Head Baseball Coach

Posted Aug 26, 2009
Recruiting Information You Should Know


You become a "prospective student-athlete" when you start ninth grade classes.

You become a "recruited prospective student-athlete" at a particular college if any coach approaches you (or any member
of your family) about enrolling and participating in athletics at that college. Activities by coaches that cause you to become
a recruited prospective student-athlete are:

 Providing you with an official visit.

 Placing more than one telephone call to you or any other member of your family, or

 Visiting you or any other member of your family anywhere other than on the college campus.

No alumni or representative of a college's athletics interest (boosters or donors) can be involved in off-campus recruiting
for athletics, only coaches certified to recruit off-campus may be involved.

You may receive letters, e-mails, brochures, articles and any other form of written correspondence or printed recruiting 
materials from coaches on or after September 1 at the start of your junior year in high school. However, a coach may
provide you with a general questionnaire, camp brochure and educational information published by the NCAA at any time.

A coach may show you highlight film/videotape or game film, but may not send it to you or leave it with you or your coach. 
In all sports, telephone calls from coaches and faculty members are permissible on or after June 15 before your senior year.
After this, a college coach or faculty member is limited to one telephone call per week to you (or your parents or legal
guardians), except that unlimited calls to you (or your parents or legal guardians) may be made under the following
circumstances:

During the five days immediately before your official visit (by the college you'll be visiting).

On the day of the coach's off campus contact with you; and

On the initial date for signing the National Letter of intent in your sport through the two days after the initial signing date.

Coaches may accept calls from you (or your parents or legal guardians) at any time, regardless of your year in school.
Coaches may not return calls to prospects who have not yet reached June 15 following completion of their junior year.
Also, coaches may not return calls to prospects who they have already called once during that calendar week. 
You should be aware of these restrictions when leaving messages for coaches. Remember that you can call them at any time,
but even if you leave a message asking them to call you back, they may be restricted from returning the call.

In all sports, coaches may contact you in-person off the college campus three times during your senior year.