Hit it Hard – Hit it in the Air

Anyone who's taken a hitting lesson at Gorilla Athletic Training thus far has heard two things when they first step in the cage. 1. Hit the ball as hard as you can. 2. Hit the ball in the air. And sometimes, I'll go on at some length about launch angle and the space in our Hittrax cage where the launch angle is 17-22 degrees, as a way of giving an external cue to hit the ball there. The special thing about those first two rules, is that they always go together. If you just hit the ball hard, and it's on the ground, you're out. If you just hit it in the air, and you tap it, you're out. It's important that the two always go together, so that's what we stress. So, how is that a hitting lesson? Where are the technical cues - get your weight back, turn your hips, load your scap, keep your head still, etc. Well, imagine I'm giving you a hitting lesson and all I want you to do is hit the ball hard in the air. Will you hit it harder or softer if I tell you to thing about 3 different body parts while you're doing it? Of course, there are times when we do cue certain body movements when our eyes, the video, or the data suggests that we can make a quick fix, but as the body is a dynamic system hitting a baseball, we rely more on self organization to accomplish the goal wherever we can. The secret of our lessons is that we are teaching the kids that come see us to do the things that are most important, that will play no matter what age they are, and will get them noticed at any tryout at any age, which are to hit the ball hard and hit it in the air. Watch the programs that's teams get better until they are 13 or 14 and they have to play on bigger fields. Usually they are focusing on the wrong things. We are relying on their bodies to "self-organize" in order to accomplish the ultimate goal. Self-organization is a real thing, and it allows kids to learn quicker and retain what they've learned as they figure out how their bodies move in space to accomplish a result. In addition, self-organization is less likely to break down under the stress of a game situation, which is where we want the training to matter most. We cannot match the hundreds of hours of self-organized development play of the Dominicans who swing a bat without anyone watching them everyday, but we can learn from their methods. The optimal lesson is one in which nothing is said, but rather a goal is given and the student struggles toward that goal, making incremental progress each time. That's how we create little monsters that aren't looking over their shoulders at coach or mom and dad everytime they swing. That's how we create Gorillas.