Backspin Blogger

I would venture to say that just about all parents of young athletes want the absolute best for their kids. That is not something I believe could become a legitimate debate. The debate begins when the subject of how to be a good parent gets mentioned. There are an almost infinite number of scenarios and angles to look at this topic... but just like in Hitting Mechanics, there are absolutes in being good parents of young athletes. Smiling Young Athletes 1. Remembering that it is their life, their likes, their "want to's" , their time, their dreams... not your life, your likes, your "want to's", your time or your dreams. We all want our kids to be good at what they do, enjoy what they do, learn from what they do and have and chase dreams. But here is the hard truth from 40 years deeply entrenched in youth athletics.Too many parents are living their own dreams through there kid. I'm not going to write a report on the psychology of this but by observation, i...

Spending hour upon hour in the Batting Cages with hitters, studying batting mechanics online every night, Learning, not Teaching going to coaching conventions across the country to get batting tips, new batting drills and maybe a whole new approach, talking with anyone and everyone you may think can elevate your knowledge, maybe just maybe get video of every national league player and watch 2 months worth of video...most of those are processes all good hitting coaches partake in but the most important skill may have little to do with any of those. Its 2015, long gone are the dictatorship coaching styles that truly get the most out of the players. They exist all over the country but it is rare that a young athlete maximizes his or her talent with the proverbial, " Do what I say and don't ask questions style." There are multitudes of researched, documented reasons why this is the case. In some ways it is good and some ways it is a challenging time to be a coach. Becoming a ...

Extension and  Wrist Release  When discussing the topic of extension, most hitters think of extending the arms as the extent of extension. When in reality, that is only part of what creates “maximum extension . ” The forgotten or rarely mentioned element is the extension or release of the wrists. EXTENSION: I hear analysts always talk about the "big guys want to get their arms extended" ... true, and a circle is round. We ALL want to get are arms extended as this is a huge part of good swing mechanics. Let me bust a myth... hitters do want to get extended but it is extension TOWARDS THE PITCHER, not out in front of their body over the plate. WRIST RELEASE: Just like a golfers wrists do not rollover until well after contact, a hitter need to do the same thing. We call it wrist release where the wrist joints load and unload from side to side as opposed to rolling over. It is the last hinge to unload and bat will accelerate until wrists roll. WHY DO HITTERS WANT EX...

TRIGGER 1. This is any movement that starts the swing. It serves as: 1.    A timing device 2.    A start to your loading process 2. It can be done many ways: 1.    Pushing your hands back 2.    Rocking your weight to the back foot 3.    Rotating slightly inward or taking front shoulder towards home plate. 4.    Front leg movement; leg kick, toe tap, knee to knee, etc. What is important is that each hitter has a trigger that sets the swing in motion, at the right time.

The Fast-Pitch Softball Study …why we teach, what we teach    As I was introducing myself to the Fast Pitch Softball world in 2005, I observed as much as I could. Living in Arizona , I was lucky to have some of the best programs in the country. High level recreational teams, high school teams, University of Arizona and Arizona State University -- all just minutes from my home. I was intrigued by several observations I made. Then, I just started asking questions, and more questions (examples below)and more questions to anybody who would listen I then started asking the “experts” some questions. The ”Experts” I am referring to were the coaches and private instructors who I had been told were the leaders in the sport. I was trying to get a picture painted as to how this sport paralleled the other diamond sport in as many aspects as possible. ·          What are the similarities? ·      ...

. The ALL Star and the Rookie While working out, on swing mechanics and general mental approaches, with one of the 2008 US Olympic baseball team members in the off-season (I know… tough life), he told me a great story … In the 2008 season, one of the San Diego Padres young catchers watched as the best hitter on the planet (at least that season) dug into the batters box. This guy was a star of stars and the catcher was just a “rookie nobody.” As the hitter got in the box, planting his back foot, he told the rookie catcher that he had a nice swing and was just doing a few little things wrong. He went on to tell him he was getting his front foot down late. Here is the funny part! He then told the rook to take the first pitch in his next plate appearance and work on getting that foot down on time. Then look out to the outfield where the star of stars was playing. “If I take my hat off, you were good, you were down early.” The catcher couldn’t believe this was happening.  Q...

  How YOU can be an effective instructor I have been a coach with the freedom of not having to teach (God bless all you teachers & teacher/coaches). This has allowed me to put in more time than most in studying the art and science of hitting and learning. I think it is just a formula that has allowed me to create a living teaching hitting. No life + obsession with hitting + no real job + living in Arizona + a lot of luck = The Krush Hitting Company. All this is just prefacing what I believe are the most important things I have learned about being an effective coach. Now this has changed a whole lot in my 30 year coaching career. The most important characteristic of being a quality coach is being a good communicator . Whether you are right or wrong, if you communicate well, you will be effective. The second characteristic is to be very knowledgeable (big surprise) in your field . What I really mean by this is to know a lot about a lot in the field. Acknowledging what ot...

I would venture to say that just about all parents of young athletes want the absolute best for their kids. That is not something I believe could become a legitimate debate. The debate begins when the subject of how to be a good parent gets mentioned. There are an almost infinite number of scenarios and angles to look at this topic... but just like in Hitting Mechanics, there are absolutes in being good parents of young athletes. Smiling Young Athletes 1. Remembering that it is their life, their likes, their "want to's" , their time, their dreams... not your life, your likes, your "want to's", your time or your dreams. We all want our kids to be good at what they do, enjoy what they do, learn from what they do and have and chase dreams. But here is the hard truth from 40 years deeply entrenched in youth athletics.Too many parents are living their own dreams through there kid. I'm not going to write a report on the psychology of this but by obser...