It’s easy to find people breaking down professional hitters or hitters they see on social media. Don’t get me wrong, this can be a great way for coaches to collaborate and learn from each other. It can also be beneficial to the player because they can get information from any number of great resources in the coaching world. And while I understand why it happens, here are a few things that I think we as coaches should remember.
It’s a little rude
For starters, the coaches often times forget that there is an actual human being in that video. They are not a set of mechanics, they are a living, breathing, human being with thoughts and emotions. As coaches, we have to remember that it’s not about us and consider the person, not just the hitter.
It’s one pitch…or a couple at most
Social media lends itself nicely to short videos and/or text. You can’t possibly know a hitter from just a couple of swings or sum up something as complex as hitting in such an environment. That’s the reason why I started this blog. I feel like this is a better way to share ideas. Notice, I said better…it’s by no means perfect.
Context
Another key thing missing is the context of the swing. What type of pitch was it? What was the speed and location? What is the player working on? Are they working through an injury? What was the intensity of the swing? All of these things matter and should be taken into consideration.
What are the player’s strengths and weaknesses?
Are they a good low ball hitter? Can they handle the inside pitch extremely well? Do they struggle with off-speed? Maybe that adjustment that is being recommended takes away one of their strengths. Since every player swings differently and has different strengths/weakness this should be considered. (For more on this topic, check out “What makes a hitter great.”)
Be careful of what you “know”
The front page of this website has the quote, “To know, is to know you know nothing. That is the meaning of true knowledge.” I find that it’s healthy to have some doubt in the back of my head when approaching things. And for all of the reasons listed above, we should be extra careful when giving advice over social media.
A better way
As we saw in a previous post (What makes a hitter great?), players can be successful in a lot of different ways. We also found out that every hitter has weaknesses no matter how sound you think their mechanics are. So before you even think about suggesting an adjustment to a player, you have to truly understand the hitter you’re working with by having a multifaceted approach, where we take into account as much information as possible. Never, ever take a mechanical adjustment lightly. Take a look at my approach with one of the players I work with here.
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