Training; Free Agent Signing; Coaching

Posted on March 6th, 2008 in coaching, working out, side session-kyle by Kyle

Training

Jacob, Vinny, and I have been training extensively for the past few months. Vinny has transformed from a slow-pitch softball hitter into a power hitting outfielder, and though his tools are still raw, he can certainly put a charge in any fastball left middle-in and down (his favorite spot). Jacob has been training harder than ever since he switched into a job with much less stress and more steady hours, and I have been taking my diet and exercise plan a lot more seriously over the past two weeks. All of the work I have done on swing training through tee work, soft toss, and video analysis (with the aid of Dr. Chris Yeager’s materials) has finally paid off, IMO. I have learned valuable cues (keeping the hands with the shoulders and turning them together; pushing against the ground with a strong front leg block) and I have turned my line drive swing into a classic power stroke.

Today Vinny and I dialed up the two-wheel JUGS machine (something I used to hate) and hit a bunch of fastballs and some sick late-breaking curveballs outs of it. I crushed a ton of pitches after I made the adjustments in my swing that need to be there (again, hands high, a more athletic stance, a better strong block of linear momentum), and I feel that I am 90% of the way to the ideal swing for me.

Free Agent Signing

Both Jacob and I (along with Jensen) were signed before tryouts to play for the Adams division of PSSBL, an intermediate level of competition. They signed us on the strength of our ability to go 7 IP, a testament to the endurance training Jacob and I have followed for months. Both Jacob and I turned in a good tryouts on the mound. My fastball command was better than it ever has been, my changeup was still great, but my breaking (Maxline pronation curve) ball was erratic and inconsistent. There were times when it looked great, and times when it stayed flat, or worse, was way above the catcher’s head. I attribute my failures with the pitch mostly due to inexperience, and I hope to throw a bunch of them tomorrow and over the weekend during individual and team tryouts.

Coaching

Coaching Roosevelt HS Freshmen has been a wonderful experience. Not only am I staying with a lot of the kids from Northeast Seattle Little League, but the team of 18 kids that we have are extremely talented and well-mannered. We have a lot of pitching on the team (some of which will invariably be called up to JV, unfortunately), and the defense is top-notch. We even have a real catcher with his own gear, a good pop time, and a live arm. Our lineup is pretty damn good, featuring a switch hitter and several lefties. I think we’ll compete for first place in the division very easily, depending on the number of kids called up to JV.

Individual coaching of Vinny has also been great! His work ethic matches my own, and he went from being unable to make contact on 20 straight side soft tossed balls to being able to shell Jacob and I from a mound on any given day. I have mostly imparted the wisdom of Chris Yeager on him, but video analysis of my own has proved to help him as well - another testament to the idea that learning by seeing ourselves on video is one of the best (and most underused) tools in baseball today.

February Workout Summary

Posted on March 3rd, 2008 in coaching, working out, goals, stats by Jacob

February was a month of spectacular change for me. It seems like the concept of writing things down has held me accountable (writing here has helped, too) for my habits, for better or worse. I haven’t been tracking my weight, but the grabbiness of my flabbiness has all but disappeared, and I can get to the sixth and final belt hole on my 36″ pants holder-upper. I have changed my job to one that more fits my lifestyle, and that has improved my general well being also. My job change also has enabled me to volunteer with the local little league here downtown, something I have always wanted to continue doing.

The stats of my workouts this month are in line with the gains I had last month. I only missed two days of stretching, my last and first days at my old and new jobs. My task load increased 75% (24 last month to 42 this month), my percentage of a workout on any given day rose 11% to 69% and my time spent running rose 66% to nine hours forty minutes for the month. Here’s the chart:

February Workout Summary

I kept everything pretty balanced as far as hitting and pitching were concerned this month, with only a dash of fielding practice at the end. It’s only now getting to be warm enough to get quality practice in during the twilight hours. As the PSSBL gets rolling, I will most certainly mix much more defense in there, including PFP.

One week till tryouts!

Hitting Stick

Posted on September 27th, 2007 in tools, coaching by Kyle

More Safeco Pics on the way when I upload them (about to head to the gym), but here’s a tool called the Hit Stick as made by a hitting coach that I respect, Jim Booth:

This will really help promote a circular hand path and help to understand the launch phase of the swing for both myself and the kids I coach.

PSSBL Mariners, Regular Season Over

Posted on September 14th, 2007 in coaching by Kyle

Well, the regular season is over, as we went 1-2 in the playoffs and were eliminated by the Sox.

Nandemoya starts up in two weeks, and I have my Safeco Field game on the 22nd, so there’s plenty more baseball to go around. I’ll be coaching Eli and possibly others over the winter to keep in shape. Sorry that updates have been sporadic, but life’s been busy.

Mechanics of a Student - Hitting

Posted on August 9th, 2007 in coaching, video by Kyle

Here’s a clip of one of my students:

This is excellent connection through the ball. He opens his hips early and gets the bat down and across the chest in the slot position, ready to unload. The only big thing he needs to work on is better hip/torso separation. Otherwise, I am thrilled with this swing - he’s come a long way, and he works extremely hard. I’m proud to be his coach, but not too proud to say that his swing is probably better than mine at this point!