Wasting Time

You’re going to work on your throws to second base from behind the plate.  You dive right in, starting with some exchanges off the machine, then incorporating some footwork and refining your rhythm.  Next you get your arm loose with some bands and plyo balls, then progress through your throwing program until you are hot and ready to go.  You take a couple “practice” throws to the base, and now you’re ready to throw “for real,” with a stopwatch, a radar gun, a video camera, and maybe even some tech, like a Trackman or an Edgertronic.

Your feedback starts coming in as you throw to the bases:

• Long pop-time (quicken up);

• Ball bounces in front of the bag (raise sights);

• Low velocity (throw harder);

• Ball sails into center field (lower sights);

• Ball pushes too far to the right (align stride);

• Ball pulled to the left side of the base (don’t cut off arm stroke);

• Both feet land simultaneously and flat (better rhythm);

• Hands carry below belt buckle during exchange (get them up near your chest);

• Chased the pitch out front (wait back for it);

• Stood straight up flat-footed (move through the ball).

And so on…

Now you’re frustrated and you just want “one more,” hoping you’ll get the throw you want, which turns into four more before your coach pulls the plug.  It feels like a “bad” day of throwing.

Stop.  Back up.  What was your specific objective for this drill? Oh, wait.  You didn’t really have one. It was just your average, every-day, run-of-the-mill throwing workout. And because you didn’t set an objective, you started chasing the feedback results from the gun and the watch, searching for that magical “feeling” of a good throw.

This is what it looks and feels like when you take your work for granted.

Start with an objective, and verbalize it to a teammate or coach BEFORE you begin, so that your feedback has meaning.

If you’re working on quickness and rhythm, you shouldn’t be worried about the radar gun.

If you’re working on velocity, you shouldn’t be too worried about accuracy.

You’re fine-tuning the critical components of your throwing skill, which will come together when you need them.

But if you try chasing all the results without a focus, none of them will come together.

Sure, there are days (especially mid-season) when you're in a good place and you just need to touch it up.  But most of the time, concentrate on a specific aspect of that skill, otherwise you’re just wasting your time.

And, wasted time is never recovered…