There Is No Off-Season: Part 2

Andy Ferguson: Another Day, Another Double Play

Remember, it’s the “opportunity season”…not the off-season. Treat it as such if you have aspirations to play baseball in college or beyond. If not, stick with texting and Guitar Hero like everyone else.

Last week we covered ACADEMICS and STRENGTH & AGILITY TRAINING.

SKILL DEVELOPMENT

There aren’t any big leaguers that don’t work to improve at least one skill between the end of their last game and the start of spring training. In fact, you’d probably be amazed at how hard 95% of them actually work on all facets of their game. Sure, it’s their job to be a baseball player…but I seriously doubt that guys all of the sudden start working once they get to the big leagues. You have to learn how to learn and learn how to work in order to get anywhere at anything.

Most hitters would benefit greatly from tee work. A particularly helpful drill for most is what we call the “high tee drill”. Raise the tee so that the ball is about chest height, and position the tee so the ball is about even with your front hip. Work to stay on top and hit backspin line drives (ideally down the length of a batting cage, we call this a “back panel drill”). This series of drills will force you to deliver the barrel to contact on a proper angle, and will help you extend the barrel properly through contact – thus creating backspin.

Infielders and catchers can always work to improve their exchange (the move to get the ball from your glove into your throwing hand). This should be a simple and compact action, and it should take place basically as soon as the ball enters your glove. However, most young players hold the ball in their glove too long and then make way too big of a movement to actually transfer the ball. As a rule (at least in my opinion), infielders should exchange the ball below knee level while catchers should exchange the ball on the second base side of the middle of their chest and only slightly below chin height. Go through some dry repetitions at your position and examine your action. Mirror work starting at a slow speed will help you feel the proper action.

Pitchers would benefit from learning to break their hands in sequence with their delivery. A lot of young pitchers break their hands too high (up near chin level), which makes their arm path much longer than normal and requires a very early separation of the hands (in relation to the stride leg beginning towards home plate). The goal is for the arm path to have fully completed at the same time as the stride (front) foot lands – when done properly, the pitcher would arrive at what we call a “power T” position (weight favoring back leg = power, elbows parallel with the slope of the mound and in direct line with the mitt = T). Mirror work will help you determine the sequence of your delivery. You can adjust both the height at which your hands break, and at what point you break your hands (before or simultaneous for most, very rarely after) in relation to the stride leg beginning towards the plate.

These are just examples, and certainly do not represent the only things you can work on. The first step is to evaluate your own abilities, for more on this topic please read (or hopefully re-read) Steve Bernhardt’s Plan of Action series: (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3).

Coming next week: THROWING (Sorry…I originally planned throwing as part of this entry, but skill development got a little long)

Andy Ferguson is currently the Senior Director of Baseball Operations with the Baseball Factory. Ferguson joined the North Carolina State baseball team as a walk-on, and went on to solidify his role on a team that participated in four consecutive NCAA Regionals. He later coached with the Harwich Mariners of the Cape Cod Baseball League, and then served as an Associate Scout with the Pittsburgh Pirates and the San Diego Padres.