AJBC Weather Line for all AJBC Fields is 
303-424-0297; this line will be updated daily with field changes and 
cancellations.

All rainouts or game cancellations for Elite Baseball will be listed on the AJBC Weather 
line as well for Argo Field.

It is the responsibility of all home team coaches to notify their opponent of any game cancellations for any reason including weather.

TIPS FROM THE COACH

I was recently asked what is the most important thing in hitting. After thinking a while I have decided that there are 3 vital elements to successful hitting.

1.     SEE THE BALL

This might seem obvious as there are no blind players in the Major Leagues. (They all go into umpiring). But as the ball travels from the pitcher to the plate in approximately .4 of a second and the hitter must determine the speed, spin and location and whether to swing in approximately .2 seconds, the sooner he can pick up the ball the better. When hitters are hitting well they speak of “seeing the ball well” and when they are slumping they are not “seeing the ball well”. What is the difference? Those that are “seeing it well” are picking it up right off the pitchers fingertips. Those that are not, have not narrowed their focus from including the outfielders, the birds in the trees behind the fence or even the moon. By the time they pick up the ball it may have traveled 3 feet and they have lost precious hundredths of a second in the critical decision making process.

2.KEEP YOUR WEIGHT BACK

3.YOU ARE NO BETTER HITTER THAN THE PITCH AT WHICH YOU CHOSE TO SWING

I have previously written a TIPS FROM THE COACH concerning the importance of selectivity when hitting. It is archived at http://www.tipsfromthecoach.com/tip.php?item=9  . Suffice it to say that even on pitches in the strike zone, the hitters will have a higher percentage of success on a fastball down the middle than a breaking ball on the black. He should be selective and swing only at those pitches with which he can expect a high degree of success early in the count and lay off those strikes that he can not expect to have great success until later in the count. How often do you hear a slumping hitter complain of “just not getting any good pitches to hit”, after swinging and making an out on a first pitch breaking ball on the black. He never gave the pitcher a chance to make a mistake. He got himself out by his inability to see the ball off the pitchers fingers, costing him valuable decision making time, then he committed his weight onto his front foot and swung weakly at an off speed pitch out of his “hitting zone”

It all sounds so simple. But these three elements are the crux of the on going struggle hitters face.

TIPS FROM THE COACH

Baseball is a game of failure. It is how well you handle the failures not the successes that will be the determining factor in how well and how long a player plays the game. Stats are an integral part of the game but if used as a measure of how well one is performing can be a heavy burden and not a valid indicator of how well one is performing. A more valid and helpful measurement is Quality At Bats.

I define a quality at bat as:

1.     The batter goes to the plate with a plan. He should know what pitch he can hit with expectation of having the highest degree of success. Ted Williams knew that he hit .135 on back door sliders down and away but  over .500 on fast balls belt high, down the middle. We would never have heard of Ted Williams if he swung at many down and away sliders!

2.     The batter swings only at high success expectation pitches early in the count. For most young hitters that means not swinging at breaking balls early in the count. With no strikes he will swing at fast balls “zoned” say middle- in and thigh to waist high. The batter’s hitting zone as opposed to strike zone is not static but changes with each count. Great “hitter’s counts” are 2-0 and 3-1. The pitcher must challenge the batter and the odds of him getting a pitch that he can expect to hit with a high degree of success are much higher. Undisciplined hitters often never get to 3-1 because they won’t lay off that pitch that is in the strike zone but not a quality hitter’s pitch. They already made an out not because they aren’t a good hitter but because they weren’t disciplined enough to wait for a good pitch.

3.     Several other good things occur because a hitter is disciplined. The pitcher must throw more pitches. The batter “sees” more of the pitcher’s stuff. The pitcher will tire sooner and when he tires he will make more  mistakes and then he is more hittable.

4.     The batter must take pitches to ever draw a walk. All walks are “quality at bats”.

5.     A strike out can be a quality at bat! If the batter makes the pitcher throw an inordinate number of pitches, he has helped his team much more than the hitter that swung at the first pitch and made an out.

It is vital that a hitter learn that the only thing he has control of at the plate is at which particular pitch he chooses to swing.!!! If he swings at a quality pitch, hits the ball sharply, and it is caught by a fielder, he has had a quality at bat!!!!

If he can at the end of a game know he had 3 of 4 quality AB’s, even if he was 0 fer, he must realize he had a good game at the plate. A byproduct of this emphasis on quality AB’s will be that he will find not only his BA rising but his slugging pct. as he gets more balls that he can drive. His mental well being will improve and if the whole team adopts this approach, they will WIN more games.

During live BP, it is a good idea to give the batter count situations and encouraging him to “zone” pitches depending upon the count. Never try to coach swing mechanics during live BP. Swing mechanics should only be stressed during work at the Tee station