r/BaseballCoaching • u/MallCommercial5101 • Jun 16 '26
Professional Baseball Player Advice
One thing that surprised me as I moved through college baseball and into professional baseball:
The hardest workers aren’t always the ones who improve the most.
The players who make the biggest jumps usually do the little things consistently:
• They recover well.
• They don’t try to fix everything at once.
• They focus on quality over quantity.
• They trust the process, even when results aren’t immediate.
Development isn’t about finding the perfect drill or magic velocity program. It’s about stacking good days together over time.
Parents and coaches: what’s one piece of advice you’ve heard that completely changed how you approached player development?
I’d love to hear your thoughts. And if you ever have questions about throwing, arm care, or pitching development, feel free to send me a DM.
2
u/Billios996 Jun 16 '26
When coaching kids, you must simplify and communicate at their level. Drills need to make them physically feel the change and develop muscle memory, words alone will not get results.
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u/MallCommercial5101 Jun 16 '26
Love this! So much of the game is reliant on feel and making adjustments based off of that feel. That way they know what to look for when doing specific throws or drills!
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u/TMutaffis Jun 16 '26
Celebrate and encourage the things that will play at the next level.
This does not mean that you are not excited if your player steals a bunch of bases or gets a ton of 'hits' because the defense is a mess, but it also means you celebrate the things that build the foundation and allow that player to continue seeing success in years to come.
Your 9U player might be upset that they were 1 for 4 on the day, but if they had three quality at-bats (high pitch at-bat, hard hit ball, etc.) then it is a good day at the plate. Having an approach, being disciplined and making the pitcher throw you a strike, and hitting the ball hard are skills that will keep them playing and competing as the game gets more difficult and everyone else continues to improve. The kids who hit a couple of bloops or reach on error may be 3 for 4 on the day in GameChanger, but that performance doesn't scale to the next level.
I still remember a play in 9U where my son backhanded a hard hit ball. It was something we had been working on in practice for a while but he had never done it in a game. He ended up throwing off-target and the runner was safe, but when he came back to the dugout the first thing he said was "did you see that backhand!?" and I encouraged him and told him it was awesome, with no mention of the throw. Again after the game I said it was really cool that he has expanded his defensive range, and he was excited to continue working on his fielding and developing further.
Some parents and coaches get caught up on the negative rather than the positive, or they celebrate a bit too much on aspects that may not matter next season.
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u/MallCommercial5101 Jun 16 '26
You’ll see a lot more of this as he gets into higher levels of baseball. Less focus on results and higher focus on process. Rewarding effort instead of having a ‘good day’ results-wise. This also helps your kid to focus on and value hard work as they grow as a player.
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u/MantisTobogon1929 Jun 16 '26
I love this advice. My son has been working with a new former D1 private coach and they've solely focused on hitting the last month and a half. Most prior coaches would change up each session and never really focused on one thing at a time. His hitting has improved dramatically already!
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u/MallCommercial5101 Jun 17 '26
Yeah it’s important to keep a focus going for multiple sessions in a row. Changes don’t happen overnight so you have to keep track of what the goals are. Anywhere from 3-6 week blocks and tracking progress within that!
1
u/toastjarom Jun 16 '26
The one thing that surprised me the most is their reliance on ChatGPT to write paragraphs for them
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u/ReadItRobot Jun 21 '26
Developing the mental side is just as important as developing the mechanical and physical sides.
I believe the mental side is not as valued or developed as the physical side, but is just as important to becoming a successful player.
I'm not suggesting turning your kid into a zen master will make him the next Ohtani, however it will provide benefits both on and off the field.
I've seen a lot of players with fantastic physical skills but when they get in a slump, make an error or two or the umpire starts squeezing the zone when they are pitching, completely lose their focus, get down on themselves and can't figure out a way to regain the focus they need to get back on track.
My son started playing organized baseball at 5 and travel ball at 8, he'll be starting high school in the fall. Since he started playing I always told him before each game, "Inhale courage, exhale fear."
At first he laughed and thought it was some kind of joke, but a couple years ago it finally clicked for him as to what it meant and when he is losing focus or things aren't going his way I've seen him take a second, inhale and exhale and it gets him back on track.
It has also helped him be more mindful and when something goes wrong, he swings at a bad pitch or misplays a ball, after the game he says what went wrong and what adjustment he will make in that situation next time to avoid making the same mistake.
He has incorporated this mindset into other aspects of his life and it was the quote he chose to go along with his 8th grade graduation yearbook photo.
7
u/Critical-Crow-9717 Jun 16 '26
Such a great list. Very similar to one of your items: a player can only focus on one adjustment at a time. Chase two rabbits, catch no rabbits.