baseball

Question
QUESTION: hi rick, its eduar. i was askking you questiona before but it said i coudnt ask that many fallow ups... well anyways i will try to hit 300 balls a day.. lift weights and longtoss. my litte leauge coach says i have all the mechanics but i need sieze. i have 2 years left in highschool an i want to be the best my senior year,lateley im in  slump. 6 atbats without a hit. last jv season i hit 500 ,the hieghest on my team including the varsity guys that came down. but noone told the varsity coach,he dint bother toask or anything...well he told the team recently if you could hit u play. i wana hit the ball with authority not just bloopin hits..how do i ask a question on your site..?

ANSWER: Eduar:  You can ask a question on my site by going to http://www.theoleballgame.com/baseball-questions-answered.html  It will take you to a page where you can put in your question.  

Do you know who Luis Gonzalez is?  He is now retired; but he had a great career in MLB, playing his last few years with the Az. Diamondbacks.  He got the game winning hit in the 2001 World Series, when the D'Backs beat the Yankees.

In high school, he was a 145 lb second baseman.  Don't let the size thing get in your way right now.  You should have a lot of growing left to do.

Are you playing for the varsity coach this summer, or another coach?  From your perspective, what do you need to do to be able to make the varsity team next spring, and then what would you need to do to be able to start on that team, based on the returning players that will be there?

This information will help you set up your goals and how you plan to make it all happen.

You do have one valuable piece of information already, that he is looking for hitters.  Good place to start.  You are on the right track.

See if you are able to create a question on the site.  We'll keep working.  It can happen.

Yours in baseball,

Rick

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: yes man i know who that is, he got that hit right up the midle of of mariano right?your right man but still i want to be the best. im playing jv i havent been doin good, i dropped the ball at 1st last night. my coach isnt very "nice" very rarely heill say something positive . today i picked a backhand at 1st and made a sliding catch right next to the 1st base dogout, he likes when people hit oppo alot n hit it with athourity. if i dont have weights available how many pushups should i do daily? and thanks for the link..

ANSWER: Eduar:  I would start with 200 per day, in 8 sets of 25.  When those get easy, increase each set by 10, and keep working and adding in that direction.

Get yourself a tennis ball, carry it everywhere you go, squeeze it.  It will strengthen your hands, wrists and forearms.  It is one of those things that you can do anywhere, anytime.

Look around at the local parks and see if one has some fitness courses.  Use their  bars to do bar dips, overhead bars to do pullups.  Start out doing sets of 8 on these, and see where it takes you.  As they get easier, or if 8 is easy at the start, increase the number of reps so that it starts to build strength.  After a initial period of getting used to these exercises, change from a number of reps to doing 3-4 sets of max reps on each.  

Sorry that your coach isn't more positive.  Unfortunately, that isn't likely to change.  In baseball, there are some things within your control, and some things that aren't.  Concentrate your efforts on the things which you have control over.  

The true benefit of hitting oppo is that you condition yourself to let the ball travel.  Some players have good power to the opposite field, others do not.  Whether you get to a point that you drive the ball with authority to the opposite field, you will get a benefit in all your hitting by disciplining yourself to let the ball travel.

What do you consider to be your baseball strengths?  In addition to increasing strength, what do you feel you need to improve on most?

Yours in baseball,

Rick



 



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: alright man im goin to start, and my strogest part is that im a verry smart ball player and ive been told my mechanics are great but i need strength. my dream is to be like derek jeter, he inspires me. everyday before the sun goes down i take 100 swings maybe more. i think im goin tp also use the tennis ball for bouncing it of the wall. maybe that will get me better.

Answer
Eduar:  Good to hear you are starting.  Smart ballplayer with good mechanics is a great foundation to start with.

You couldn't find a better player, person, to emulate than Derek Jeter.  On my site, at the link below is a page with some information about Derek Jeter.  It is part of my Mental Game section.

http://www.theoleballgame.com/derek-jeter-on-deck.html

Do you have a tee?  A good tee would make a great investment, so you can visually drill your mechanics.  A good tee, one with multiple places to hit the ball from will allow you to set up some drills and games to work on hitting oppo.

Those tees can sometimes be expensive.  You can do the same things with two basic tees, setting them in positions to hit inside/or outside.

I would suggest you create some fielding games for yourself with the ball off the wall.  Keeps your interest level up over time.

Keep in touch.  

Yours in baseball,

Rick