JP

"I stepped out of the box, took a breath, and said to myself, 'There's no sense thinking now.' I shifted my attention back into my body and then onto the guy on the mound, dissolving the little man (ego)." -- Shawn Green Clear the mechanism. Bench the ego. Act from empty.

“Be intent on entering quickly and striking with your entire body.” — Miyamoto Musashi (swordsman)

Lessen the urge to overpower... overreact... overcommit. Foster a CALM ASSERTIVENESS at the plate. Be loose and lethal.

“Our head is up, meaning level, our gaze is raised, too meaning level, and our eyes are fearless, both giving and receiving. We’re mixing it up with whatever and whomever is out there...” — William Burt

MLB grossed a record $10.7 BILLION in revenue in 2019. And yet those in our industry are watching many players scramble to support themselves and their families during this crisis. TAKE CARE OF THE PLAYERS! At all organizational levels. They are the lifeblood of the game.

I don’t want to hear about what you haven’t accomplished. Nor do I want to hear about what skills/abilities you don’t possess. On this day... Tell me what you have inside of you — and let’s use it to do some damn damage.

Our job as hitting coaches must encompass far more than mechanics/movements. It is PARAMOUNT that we teach hitters to crystallize their process to such a sharp point that they can LET GO at the plate. The tip of the spear is not mechanical perfection. It is absolute INTENT.

Hitters often carry TENSION in their shoulders. Be aware of this. Place your attention there. Feel it. Shrug. Breathe out of your shoulders. Release tension before/during an at bat.

You don't need big movements to do BIG-TIME damage as a hitter. Be lean. Be efficient. Be direct. Eliminate the unnecessary.

“I want to have an empty mind. I have my best at bats when I am literally blacked out. You just have an inner vision of the pitches and how you are going to meet them. You have to trust your instincts. You have to trust your preparation.” Hunter Pence, All Star and WS Champion.

Don't chase the need to "feel good" to perform. Emotions are fickle, often ebbing and flowing from pitch to pitch. They'll run you ragged if you let them. Start operating from neutral, where feelings can come and go without dictating your performance. Be bigger than emotions.

"Have you ever seen a person trip and fall? He always holds his arms out straight in front to protect himself. This is an instinctive movement. Movements that are made like that... without thinking... are absolutely without extras. The same thing applies to batting." H. Arakawa

"I know nothing about surpassing others. I only know how to outdo myself." Bushido Don't waste your most valuable resources chasing the accomplishments of other players. Theirs is a separate path. Blaze your own trail of success.

Find time to get quiet and still. Become familiar with that place. Because when the crowd is deafening and the game feels like it’s moving at light speed... You will need somewhere to go.

Carry yourself with balance, assurance, and gracious tact.

Hitters...

My favorite “Zen Hitters” 👊🏻

Locate the "ground zero" of your swing and inner approach. Where everything is distilled to its simplest form. Because when things go awry -- and they will -- we must be able to re-center and re-calibrate our efforts on the fly. So find that place. Plant your flag there.

I wish my hitters to be... Slow yet sudden. Quiet yet thunderous. Calm yet devastating. ... The eye of the storm and the very storm itself.