I wish I learned this earlier but glad I learned it at all, I’m a senior in high school and I just committed d3 for football but also hit my first ever homerun yesterday and also lead my team in extra base hits, I’m best at baseball but couldn’t get any offers. One game left of the season and I finally feel like I’ve figured out myself with baseball. Unfortunate even tho I’m playing so well, Ig I’ll use this when I have kids
i would only add one thing. its an incredibly short season and you have to live in the moment. it goes along with the process, doing what is best for the team and stats not mattering as much. its such a short sample size, you have to live in the moment. i agree, i remember only flashes of my HS and college baseball days. the season goes by so fast, if you worry about every at bat and all that, the season will be over before you know it.
i realize this. but we are talking about actual HS baseball and the HS baseball season. they only play around 20 games. not the total amount of games a high school player may play in a year. you have school ball, summer ball and fall ball. was just talking about the school ball season
in washington the school ball season is middle march to beginning of may. summer ball is memorial day until august. fall ball is sep-nov and winter training is dec-feb
Bobby there is no spring baseball in Iowa. Not fall ball in rural areas. You might find a legion team in a big city of the school will let you play. Very few major baseball recruits from Iowa.
I would like to see that too. I think it could be one of three things: 1. They could be nervous performers. 2. They overthink things 3. They don't have the ability to make adjustments in games.
1) Self-applied game pressure 2) Parental applied pressure 3) Coach applied pressure 4) No understanding, or misunderstanding of how pitchers are attacking you as a hitter 5) Bad pitch recognition 6) Margin of error slims against game velocity As a former BP champion with limited success in games I can attest to all of the above. In hindsight my eyesight was not ideal in high school and I had trouble IDing offspeed offerings. I got eyes lazed later in life and it helped my hand/eye coordination tremendously. In HS I would also press in games to please daddy and prove I belonged. Being tense at the plate usually does not lead to success at hitting. It was also hard to simulate game speed and pitch movement on a regular enough basis. In practices I could time up the Jugs machine just fine as it threw 95 in mostly the same place every day. But those pitches did not cut or run or attack you in the same way as a kid throwing low 80s with serious command and multiple off speed offerings.
It's the parents/ coaches that teach the kids to worry about the RESULTS when they get happy or FRUSTRATED over them. For example, when my kids play basketball, i NEVER cheered for a made basket for them or any player on their team if it was a stupid shot to take. However, i CHEERED regardless of the outcome if they took a shot they should have took. In baseball, if my kid or his teammate just stand at the plate WITHOUT going into his load and standing still and watching 4 balls go by, I hear cheering and people saying GOOD EYE because the kid didn't swing. NOT ME. I tell my kids, you have to go into your load and step regardless if you don't swing because it's a bad pitch so I know you want to hit. That's when I know you CHOSE to not swing at a ball and you have a GOOD EYE and not just HOPING for a walk. Sorry for the long comment. Hope that makes sense. Basically, CHEER FOR THE DECISION MAKING, NOT THE OUTCOME
My son is a sophomore on varsity. Coach is trying to get him to change his swing. He's been going to professional hitting coach for years. Now his coach is getting in his head and he's pressing. Any advice
Hey Matt thanks for the advice, shared the vid with my 14 year old son. If stats don't matter then what tool do scouts and or coaches use to determine what matters? Is it the chance meeting to see how a kid plays in the game they are there to watch? Is it just the tryout or the showcase they do, or is it truly a combination of all including stats? I know as you said stats don't matter and nobody cares about stats but I find that hard to believe. There has to be some sort of statistical outcomes that get a kid noticed. Then why do so many kids do PBR's because thats all about stats. But I do agree the process is a very important part of the journey. Thanks.
Stats matter over the long term but the season is too short for them to really mean a lot. Kid could be hitting line drives right at fielders and hit .200 while another kid gets a few grounders through the infield and hits .300. Also, depending on who is scoring the game (if it's not varsity it's likely to be kids on the team or a parent), they might be pretty clueless or biased on what an error is.
they also learn sportsmanship, how to deal with failure, how to deal when authorities "cheat" you, and dealing with different types of people, some you may noty like, but need to work with.
Him saying he doesn’t know what his stats were is an outright lie. I played 3 sports in high school just like he did. I know most of mine, to this day. Although I never talk or think about it, I can still remember stuff from high school.
I know I did well, but couldn’t name you any stats. No clue how many goals I had. No clue on hits. Probably somewhere around .500. Absolutely no idea on RBI, steals, runs etc. For football I have zero idea on yards. Literally zero clue. Lots of touchdowns, no idea how many though
He had stats from a professional career that spanned quite a long time. That makes your high school stats much less memorable. I played high school baseball but after high school I never played another real game of baseball. I can still remember that in my senior year my batting average was .309 and my on base percentage was .460 (lots of walks an hpb 11 times - pitchers didn't have good control in my league). I remember that because it was a unique moment in my life. I don't remember what any of my number grades were in my senior year, because that isn't a meaningful memory in the context of many years of school, college etc.
@@AntonelliBaseball I was actually responding to the op. I was just trying to point out that op probably didn't play in college or the big leagues. And that's probably the reason she remembers her high school athletic career so clearly. You, on the other hand, have many many more experiences. So it's understandable you may not remember high school all that well.
Your players are lucky to have you as a coach.
Thanks!!
I wish I learned this earlier but glad I learned it at all, I’m a senior in high school and I just committed d3 for football but also hit my first ever homerun yesterday and also lead my team in extra base hits, I’m best at baseball but couldn’t get any offers. One game left of the season and I finally feel like I’ve figured out myself with baseball. Unfortunate even tho I’m playing so well, Ig I’ll use this when I have kids
Thank you Anto. Very wise. Hopefully, our high school ballplayers will enjoy it. Baseball, like everything worth doing, is all about the process.
Matt get video and great timing this is why your videos are mandatory watching for my 9yo to much crying after a loss
Thanks!!!
I bought your course and was an assistant in high school varsity softball. Some took to the season but a few had toxic attitudes.
i would only add one thing. its an incredibly short season and you have to live in the moment. it goes along with the process, doing what is best for the team and stats not mattering as much. its such a short sample size, you have to live in the moment. i agree, i remember only flashes of my HS and college baseball days. the season goes by so fast, if you worry about every at bat and all that, the season will be over before you know it.
With summer travel ball outside of Iowa your season an go to August.
Iowa plays June to July
i realize this. but we are talking about actual HS baseball and the HS baseball season. they only play around 20 games. not the total amount of games a high school player may play in a year. you have school ball, summer ball and fall ball. was just talking about the school ball season
in washington the school ball season is middle march to beginning of may. summer ball is memorial day until august. fall ball is sep-nov and winter training is dec-feb
Bobby there is no spring baseball in Iowa. Not fall ball in rural areas. You might find a legion team in a big city of the school will let you play. Very few major baseball recruits from Iowa.
9:09
That’s because you didn’t score four touchdowns in one game for Polk High.
My slumps always started after a few hard hit balls got hit right at someone and I would start pressing
Great advice Matt , thank you
Awesome video. Nailed it with the advices. I really appreciate it!
Matt, can you make a video as to why youth players with good fundamentals/mechanics have success in practice/cage when hitting but struggle in games.
I'd like to hear his opinion on this as well.
Mental ?
I would like to see that too. I think it could be one of three things: 1. They could be nervous performers. 2. They overthink things 3. They don't have the ability to make adjustments in games.
1) Self-applied game pressure
2) Parental applied pressure
3) Coach applied pressure
4) No understanding, or misunderstanding of how pitchers are attacking you as a hitter
5) Bad pitch recognition
6) Margin of error slims against game velocity
As a former BP champion with limited success in games I can attest to all of the above. In hindsight my eyesight was not ideal in high school and I had trouble IDing offspeed offerings. I got eyes lazed later in life and it helped my hand/eye coordination tremendously. In HS I would also press in games to please daddy and prove I belonged. Being tense at the plate usually does not lead to success at hitting. It was also hard to simulate game speed and pitch movement on a regular enough basis. In practices I could time up the Jugs machine just fine as it threw 95 in mostly the same place every day. But those pitches did not cut or run or attack you in the same way as a kid throwing low 80s with serious command and multiple off speed offerings.
Usually in the cage, coaches throw slow or even under handed…. So when the pitchers in the game throw hard the hitting will decline.
It's the parents/ coaches that teach the kids to worry about the RESULTS when they get happy or FRUSTRATED over them.
For example, when my kids play basketball, i NEVER cheered for a made basket for them or any player on their team if it was a stupid shot to take. However, i CHEERED regardless of the outcome if they took a shot they should have took.
In baseball, if my kid or his teammate just stand at the plate WITHOUT going into his load and standing still and watching 4 balls go by, I hear cheering and people saying GOOD EYE because the kid didn't swing. NOT ME.
I tell my kids, you have to go into your load and step regardless if you don't swing because it's a bad pitch so I know you want to hit. That's when I know you CHOSE to not swing at a ball and you have a GOOD EYE and not just HOPING for a walk. Sorry for the long comment. Hope that makes sense.
Basically, CHEER FOR THE DECISION MAKING, NOT THE OUTCOME
Just one word… Fantastic! You’re the 21st-century Toney La Russa
Thanks!
My son is a sophomore on varsity. Coach is trying to get him to change his swing. He's been going to professional hitting coach for years. Now his coach is getting in his head and he's pressing. Any advice
Eventually the hits will fall, this is true at an level!
Hey Matt thanks for the advice, shared the vid with my 14 year old son. If stats don't matter then what tool do scouts and or coaches use to determine what matters? Is it the chance meeting to see how a kid plays in the game they are there to watch? Is it just the tryout or the showcase they do, or is it truly a combination of all including stats? I know as you said stats don't matter and nobody cares about stats but I find that hard to believe. There has to be some sort of statistical outcomes that get a kid noticed. Then why do so many kids do PBR's because thats all about stats. But I do agree the process is a very important part of the journey. Thanks.
Stats matter over the long term but the season is too short for them to really mean a lot. Kid could be hitting line drives right at fielders and hit .200 while another kid gets a few grounders through the infield and hits .300. Also, depending on who is scoring the game (if it's not varsity it's likely to be kids on the team or a parent), they might be pretty clueless or biased on what an error is.
they also learn sportsmanship, how to deal with failure, how to deal when authorities "cheat" you, and dealing with different types of people, some you may noty like, but need to work with.
Stats don't lie they just don't always tell the truth!
We preach Quality At Bats to our 9u team... drill it into their head actually... Just do your best to help the team. The rest will sort itself out.
Words of wisdom
So if college coaches aren't looking at stats, what are they looking at?
Physical tools mainly.
Your skill set as a player
Good advice. Highschool your brains still a little foggy. Just keeping it simple for them is a good idea.
W
Him saying he doesn’t know what his stats were is an outright lie. I played 3 sports in high school just like he did. I know most of mine, to this day. Although I never talk or think about it, I can still remember stuff from high school.
I know I did well, but couldn’t name you any stats. No clue how many goals I had. No clue on hits. Probably somewhere around .500. Absolutely no idea on RBI, steals, runs etc. For football I have zero idea on yards. Literally zero clue. Lots of touchdowns, no idea how many though
He had stats from a professional career that spanned quite a long time. That makes your high school stats much less memorable. I played high school baseball but after high school I never played another real game of baseball. I can still remember that in my senior year my batting average was .309 and my on base percentage was .460 (lots of walks an hpb 11 times - pitchers didn't have good control in my league). I remember that because it was a unique moment in my life. I don't remember what any of my number grades were in my senior year, because that isn't a meaningful memory in the context of many years of school, college etc.
Did you play in the major leagues though? Or did your career end after high school?
@@markquinn1216 yes baseball, but I never played another hockey or football game
@@AntonelliBaseball I was actually responding to the op. I was just trying to point out that op probably didn't play in college or the big leagues. And that's probably the reason she remembers her high school athletic career so clearly. You, on the other hand, have many many more experiences. So it's understandable you may not remember high school all that well.