Month: May 2017

Square peg, meet round hole.

We all know where this is going. It’s well known that we can’t force the square peg into the round hole, but we sure as hell try from time to time.

As a professional hitting coach that has been teaching the art of hitting the past 17 years, I certainly have tried to force the issue from time to time – especially early in my coaching days. But in recent years, I’ve seen a disturbing trend of the “online hitting coach” forcing their philosophies and ideals down young player’s throats, only to derail promising careers before they even start.

With technology readily at our fingertips, more and more hitters and coaches are crowded around computer screens and hand-held devices. This has led to the over-analyzation of the swing and overly-complicated terminology that is being fed to the younger generation of hitter.  

I’ll give you an example of a scene that played out for a few years over and over when I was still giving lessons in the academy.

The player comes in for a session. He is looking for a new set of eyes and is frustrated with his results, or lack thereof, in the games. He’s been going to another hitting coach, otherwise known as the “guru,” for a few months who is all into the new gadgets, terminology and complicated data of the game. The guru has watched endless slow motion videos of Major League hitters – the majority of which, are grown men who are much stronger than people realize and whose bodies all work differently because of their massive strength. They take out their protractors, rulers and radar guns and measure launch angles and exit velos of a 12-year-old and try and compare him to the big leaguer on the screen. The guru has pointed out how the shin connects to the toenail, when the barrel has been turned, and when the elbow has slotted. The player has been working on strange drills that consist of twisting and contorting their bodies into pretzels in order to get the right launch angle or exit velocity. The guru has a 12-step process to the swing that would make a big leaguer’s mind fry, let alone a young, up and coming player. They are teaching movement patterns to try and match their swing perfectly to what they see on the screen, rather than teaching a thought process, feel or the intent needed to make it look like that.

The player is all excited to start using the online hitting guru’s famous swing equation and reap the benefits of their hard work, but alas they finished the season feeling further away from their dreams than ever before. The player swung through fastballs down the middle, the same pitch they were used to crushing just a season ago. The player had so much movement in their swing that they could barely recognize the pitch as it barreled toward them at the plate, causing them to chase balls out of the zone. They were working on fly balls in the cage, so when they did make contact they did exactly what they were working on – F-7, F-8, F-9. It was an emotionally draining season in which the player was the one who was hurt the most, while the coach went missing in action, free from consequence and accountability.

So now, it is my turn to have a conversation with this hitter and begin to help him put the broken pieces back together.

Hitting Is Simple. It’s Just Not That Easy.

I like to remind hitters that “Hitting is Simple. It’s just not that easy.” They constantly hear this from me. I love the simplicity it brings. I am very conscious of the words I use and my goal is to speak the player’s language, not mine. I spend a lot of “man hours” learning how the player thinks, what’s important to him and the “language” he speaks. Communication is key when you’re trying to relate material to a player. You must take very seriously the opportunity to keep things simple, while at the same time delivering actionable steps and principles. I go more in-depth on how I do this in my book The #GoodBatting Book which you can purchase here.

A long time ago, I learned that you couldn’t tell hitters how to hit or swing a bat. It was a lesson on the human element. Just like the old saying goes, the teacher only appears when the student is ready to learn. I see a lot of coaches who are charging hard with their information but fail to step back and ask themselves if the player is ready for the information or not.

Each player will hear your message through their own filters based on their perceptions and experience.

If coaches don’t understand this basic fundamental of teaching, they will never influence, impact and inspire as many players as they ultimately want to. Sometimes coaches think they are giving the player what he needs, but they fail to recognize that they need to give them what they want as well.

For example, the coach wants the player to hit more home runs. The hitter is a 6’5” “power hitter” and is a man amongst boys at his level. The coach thinks the player needs to hit more home runs in batting practice because he feels that will translate into the games. The player, on the other hand, knows himself really well and knows he needs to hit low line drives to CF in practice, so when game time comes, those low line drives turn into home runs.

Simply, there is a failure in communication because the coach didn’t take the time to ask the hitter how he prepares and WHY he takes batting practice the way he does. This leads to disconnect between the coach and the player, resulting in the player losing trust and respect for his leader. I’ll come back to this very important “teaching point” later in this post.

What Are You Selling?

Think about it this way. Coaches are always selling. In fact, every human transaction has a sale attached to it. Some may call it convincing or persuading, but I like to call it selling. Either way, there is a layer of persuasion that occurs to gain a result from an idea.

I am accused every once in awhile – OK maybe it’s more than once in awhile – of tricking hitters into thinking they can hit. I will neither confirm nor deny this since a magician never reveals his secrets, but my main objective is to help the hitter figure it out on their own.

Think about being a teenager. Some of you reading this are teenagers, and some of you are older, like me, and have already gone through that rebellious time in our life.

Let’s shine light on this classic example we have all encountered before, whether we were the teenager or the parent.

Parent: “Hey son, I don’t think it’s a good idea to swing at those curveballs in the dirt.”

Son: “Dad, what do you know? You never played in the big leagues!”

Parent: “True, but I’m just trying to help you and from what I’ve observed watching you, you’re much better hitting the fastball.”

Son: “Whatever.”

Now let’s insert a coach, or someone perhaps outside of the family circle, who the teenager respects and holds in high regard.

Coach/Mentor: “Hey man, why are you swinging at those curveballs in the dirt? Stay on the fastball. You hit those better.”

Teenager: “I know, I know. You’re right. I need to stop swinging at them. But how do I do that?”

Coach/Mentor: “What do you think you need to do?”

Most of you are either smiling, shaking your head, or both, after reading the exchanges. Most times when we laugh, it’s because something is true. And there is a lot of truth in the above narrative. But for the sake of the topic I’m discussing today, I want to focus on something important that transpired.

For starters, the information provided by the parent and the mentor are identical. It’s not the information that was bad from the parent. It was just that it came from the parent of a rebellious teenage boy.

Did you notice how the coach responded to the player after the player asked him how he should go about fixing his problem?

He said: “What do you think you need to do?”

This is key.

This showcases the power of the question and results in throwing the ball back into the player’s court so they can start taking ownership of their career. By asking that simple question, the coach is forcing the player to think. And when you start making the player think, he’s one step closer to finding the solution to his problem.

And the best part about it all? You didn’t tell him how. He figured it out on his own. You just asked really good questions and became the world’s best listener.

Love,

KW

For more than a decade, Kevin Wilson has been one of the most respected hitting coaches in the game. He works behind the scenes as a private hitting consultant to some of the best hitters in Major League Baseball. In 2013, Kevin was the hitting coach for the USA Baseball 18U National Team. Team USA beat Japan for the Gold medal at the IBAF World Cup in Taichung, Taiwan.

He is the author of the Amazon #1 Best Sellers The #GoodBatting Book and Finding Clarity: A Mindful Look Into the Art of Hitting and co-hosts a popular podcast, KWB Radio, that showcases unique conversations with the pros. If you want Kevin to speak at your next event or if you want take advantage of his popular 2-day KWB Experience for players and coaches, contact Kevin today!

Follow Kevin on twitter @KWBaseball and visit his website KWBaseball.com

You’ve seen him at all the games. He stands over his players like a cloud of rage, doubt and fear all wrapped up into one. He forms a ring of tension that follows him everywhere he goes. His players are trying not to fail because they’re aware of the verbal abuse that will eventually rain down on them.

You’ve all seen him at the games. His name is Coach.

I’ve certainly had coaches like this. I’m sure most of you reading this have had at least one coach like this in your playing career, or maybe you currently have a boss who fits this description.

If I was a betting man, the above-mentioned coach isn’t in touch with his feelings. Chances are he hasn’t taken the time to pour into himself as a human being to find his PURPOSE and WHY in this life.

When tasked with leading a team, reflection can enhance your leadership skills and ultimately help your team. Reflect on WHY you’re coaching in the first place. Think back to how you treat your players. Are you treating them the way you would want to be treated? Or are you treating them the way your old man or your little league coach treated you? Too many coaches are driven by wins and losses. They treat their players like robots, simply moving a joystick to gain results. They do not value the power of relationships.

Building Relationships = Building Leadership

If you’re going to build relationships by influencing, impacting and motivating players in a positive manner, start by focusing on the internal, rather than the external. The old saying is “they don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Show your players that you care about what’s on the inside before you care about what’s on the outside. Sometimes as coaches, we tend to focus too much on the results and coach only the externals (wins, losses, hits, strikeouts, etc). The process shows us that to get the desired results that we want, we must first address what that player and person is made of internally.

People love to throw around the word “buy-in.” In my opinion, it’s just another word that’s been watered down. At the core, buy-in simply means trust. It’s one of the most important factors that we live by. For example, when we fly in an airplane, we trust that the pilots and crew know enough about what they are doing to bring us safely from point A to point B. When we go out to eat at a restaurant, we trust that the chef and his kitchen strive to meet our needs by preparing our meals elegantly.

Relationships are built on trust. It’s the number one factor in having a strong and loving relationship. And I’m not just talking about your life partner. Trustful relationships expand to the workplace and beyond.

A coach that values trust is the coach who becomes a strong leader. He understands that in order to lead, he must first gain the trust of his players. There is a lot of work to be done on his part to gain that trust. He just can’t show up and give a speech at the beginning of the year and expect that his players will immediately buy-in.

Gaining trust from another requires a deep dive into their person. What are their fears? What are their doubts? What do they believe in? Where have they come from? What is their home life like? What are their strengths? WHY do they do what they do? In fact, we did an entire interview on KWB Radio about Teaching the Millennial which you can listen to here.

The answers to these questions will help you gain access into the person you are dealing with. At the end of the day, all the person wants to know is if they matter. Do they matter to the coach, the team or the organization? Is their voice really being heard, or are their leaders just listening to reply, rather than listening to understand and implement?

The Head Leads the Heart and the Hands

Whether you’re a leader of a baseball team or Fortune 100 company, exhibiting good judgment and being capable of leading with passion and PURPOSE sets you apart. You’re not afraid to roll up your sleeves and go to work alongside your people every day.

In 17 years of coaching and leading others, I’ve had life-changing experiences which taught me to double-down on these three aspects of leadership:   

• The Head – When making important decisions – whether to steal, down 2 in the 9th inning or hiring a VP of Business Development, it requires the ability to lead with your gut, especially when you’re faced with uncertainty or incomplete information. Exhibiting sound judgment is foundational for any leader.

• The Heart – Leading from your heart creates a genuine connection with your people. Players today demand more from their leader. They expect transparency. They want a coach and leader who stands for more than just Wins and Losses. They want a leader who inspires them with their passion and PURPOSE and shows that they genuinely care about the individual first and the player second.

• The Hands – Great coaches don’t rule from the top step of the dugout. They don’t learn through the grapevine about a player’s issues or differentiating points of view. The great leaders lead – literally. They are not afraid to stand alongside their players, take the shovel and start digging when necessary. By doing this, leaders earned the love, trust and respect, of their players.

How you feel about yourself is the most important factor in your success.

Give Yourself Permission To Love

Love is a powerful word. It brings about feelings and emotions that few other words in the English language can. In my opinion, it should not be flung around carelessly.

With that being said, there are so many leaders and coaches who are scared to love – love on their players, love on their coaches, love on their staff.

And most importantly love themselves.

Universally, love carries a romantic connotation. I myself was afraid to love early on in my career. I wouldn’t give myself permission. I couldn’t tell someone other than my girlfriend or parents that I loved them because I was scared to experience how the other person would react. Would they think I was too touchy-feely? Would a teammate think I was trying to make an advance? I was caught in the middle – frozen on an 0-2 fastball down the middle.

Remember that coach I talked about at the beginning? The one who was full of anxiety, fear, doubt, and rage because he was always looking over his shoulder waiting for the other shoe to drop? It’s a classic case of someone whose whole life has been built around the approval of others. He had fear of disapproval and abandonment that drove almost everything he did on the field and was evident for all to see when he unleashed on his players.

If you spend your life seeking approval or rewards from others – whether it’s their love or their acceptance – you will never find the sort of fulfillment that comes from accepting and loving yourself.

Remind your players that you love them. Put your arm around them and go for a walk to find out what they are made of on the inside.  If you haven’t already, read the full article on how one walk changed the course of a Major League Baseball player’s season here. Show them you lead with your gut. Lead your team with PURPOSE and show that you genuinely care about each individual. Stand alongside your players, and start pulling the rope with them.

You’ll earn the love, trust and respect, from your players.

Show me a coach who cares about people and I will show you a coach who is successful beyond any box score.

Love,

KW

For more than a decade, Kevin Wilson has been one of the most respected hitting coaches in the game. He works behind the scenes as a private hitting consultant to some of the best hitters in Major League Baseball. In 2013, Kevin was the hitting coach for the USA Baseball 18U National Team. Team USA beat Japan for the Gold medal at the IBAF World Cup in Taichung, Taiwan.

He is the author of the Amazon #1 Best Seller The #GoodBatting Book and co-hosts a popular podcast, KWB Radio, that showcases unique conversations with the pros. If you want Kevin to speak at your next event or if you want take advantage of his popular 2-day KWB Experience for players and coaches, contact Kevin today!

Follow Kevin on twitter @KWBaseball and visit his website KWBaseball.com

Recently, my good friend Joe Ferraro brought something to my attention on KWB Radio that, quite frankly, I didn’t remember happening. In Episode 40, he shared with our audience a recent text message exchange he and I had:

JF – What are you three favorite movies?

Now full disclosure, Joey Jett (as I like to call him) absolutely loves this question. He goes as far as to say that if you’re looking for a life partner to spend the rest of eternity with, this is the single most important question you can pose to figure out if he or she is worthy of a lifelong relationship. So with that being said, he’s asked this question to almost every human being he has ever met, but in all of those conversations, this was the one response that stopped him dead in his tracks.

KW – What is the purpose of watching these movies? It depends on WHY you’re asking me, what movies I give you.

Now you may be wondering WHY I asked a question in response rather than give him a direct answer. Those who have worked with me or followed me for years, understand that I’m meticulous in the way I communicate. I have a PURPOSE for WHY I do everything in life, and when it comes to conversation, I submerse myself in order to fully understand where the other person is coming from. In the example above, I could have given JJ a direct answer and satisfied his reasons behind asking it.

But that’s not the way I approach communication.

I know he was asking me the question for a reason, so I wanted to make sure I answered it to the best of my ability. The only way I was going to do that was by asking a question in return to understand the purpose behind his question.

Purpose Provides Consistency

When you approach things with PURPOSE, you begin to work smarter, not harder. And when you start working smarter, you begin to see consistent results in your life.

When you look at successful people, you’ll hear others talk about the talents that successful people display. They assume having talent automatically leads to success. Talent may help you gain short-term success, but in reality, consistency leads to success for years to come.

I share with hitters that when given endless opportunities, anyone can hit the ball hard, one time. Anyone can get a hit, one time. Any last place team can beat a first-place team, one time. The list goes on and on.

The best are the best for a reason. They have figured out how to be the best for a long period of time by understanding and executing the small things which in turn, provide the consistency in their lives, both on and off the field.

Talent gets you drafted. Consistency allows you to make a living.

Think about the big names in the game. Do you know Mike Trout because he had one good month in his career? Do you know Derek Jeter because he had one good week at the plate? How about the guys in the Hall of Fame? Did they have one good year and then ride the proverbial roller coaster the rest of their career?

What do they all have in common? They were consistent day in and day out. I’m not talking about consistency in the stat book. I’m talking about the consistency in their routines. Consistency in their purpose for everything they did. They became obsessed with having purpose, even down to how they put the ball on their Tanner Tees.

Details Matter in the Game of Baseball and Life.

If someone were to come to your place of work and ask you WHY you do what you do, and what your PURPOSE is for executing your WHY, would you be able to provide them a direct and meaningful answer? How about if someone comes up to you during your pre-game routine and asks what you’re working on and WHY, would you be capable of explaining the details and PURPOSE of your cage work in a clear and concise manner?

Details sometimes get glossed over in our race to the top. We think it’s a straight shot from A to B and that if we just start to push the vehicle downhill, the momentum will take you the rest of the way.

Life is a puzzle. Every puzzle has pieces. And every piece is different and has a PURPOSE for fitting into another. Figuring out the puzzle of life requires vision, planning, and precise execution. Having PURPOSE allows you to understand WHY you do everything that you do.

The road to success is littered with clues. Along your journey, if you understand WHY you are doing something and have PURPOSE for everything you do, chances are that you are going to find consistency in your life.

So remember the conversation I had with Joey Jett? Ask the question. Listen to their response, and if they pass the test with PURPOSE and focus, you may have found the leading candidate for your soulmate…or at least your next movie date.

Love,

KW

For more than a decade, Kevin Wilson has been one of the most respected hitting coaches in the game. He works behind the scenes as a private hitting consultant to some of the best hitters in Major League Baseball. In 2013, Kevin was the hitting coach for the USA Baseball 18U National Team. Team USA beat Japan for the Gold medal at the IBAF World Cup in Taichung, Taiwan.

He is the author of the Amazon #1 Best Seller The #GoodBatting Book and co-hosts a popular podcast, KWB Radio, that showcases unique conversations with the pros. If you want Kevin to speak at your next event or if you want take advantage of his popular 2-day KWB Experience for players and coaches, contact Kevin today!

Follow Kevin on twitter @KWBaseball and visit his website KWBaseball.com

“I’ve never done something like this before,” he said doubting my request.

“Stop fighting me on this one and come for a walk,” I replied in a soft but stern voice.

“OK, fine,” he said hesitantly.

“Great, see you tomorrow. 8am,” I said and walked out for the night.

My intent wasn’t to harm him. It wasn’t to show him some new analytic I slaved over all night. I wasn’t trying to change his swing to make it look like Donaldson’s. All I wanted him to do was come on a walk with me at 8 am the following morning – something he had never had a hitting coach ask him to do.

Over the years many have heard me say that hitting is a conversation. I believe in the power of communication, and more importantly, in the timing of the communication. Conversations are powerful, especially when the mentor, coach, or leader can be a world-class listener.

I’m a lifelong learner and in constant search of knowledge and learning from others who have experience finding success. I’m not into the one-size-fits-all approach; rather I’m trying to collect as many experiences as I can in order to influence as many different types of personalities as possible. To lead or coach, you need to be flexible. By listening how others have found success, it allows me to be flexible in my teachings and customize my message to the individual.

Learning To Separate

The thought occurred to me years ago while reading Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. In it, he talks about Jobs taking regular walks around his neighborhood to reflect, dream, and solve issues. He also liked to conduct his meetings via going on walks.

This fascinated me. I had been taking walks myself, but that was started only to stay in shape. My knees had been destroyed from playing (the slide rule wasn’t around when I played), and so running was not an option anymore. As I started walking more and more, I began to realize that walking was therapeutic. It no longer was just a physical exercise. It created self-awareness and stillness within me.

I began to experience what it truly meant to “separate.” One of my biggest downfalls as a player was that I couldn’t separate work from home. It’s a constant struggle that employees face in every industry, including baseball. There are many stresses that come from playing baseball (professional or amateur) that many outside of the game don’t realize. Players and coaches search longingly to experience that feeling of separation – to come to peace with themselves and find stillness in the “bubble” they live in. The season has been referred to by many as a “grind” and when you’re in the middle of working 7-days a week for 7 straight months, you don’t have time for anything else but practicing, playing and thinking baseball.

Morning Meeting

The city of St. Louis in July can be unpleasant at times. The suffocating humidity and the strong summer storms can take a beautiful city and turn it into a unpredictable landscape.

And not to mention, you’ve gone 0 for your last 21 – hang with ‘em kid.

As the clock struck 8 am on this particular July morning, I stood in the lobby of the Hyatt Regency with Starbucks in hand waiting for the player to come down from his room.

He walked through the elevator wearing sunglasses, jeans and a t-shirt with matching Jordan’s on his feet. You could tell that he had been up most of the night fighting his own demons in his head. He reached for the coffee – grabbing it out of my hand before saying a word – and took a sip. After savoring the first feeling of the day’s caffeine pulsating through his veins, he spoke his first words of the morning, “What’s up K-dub? Where are we going?”

We walked through the doors onto Chestnut Street and made a left in the direction of the Arch. My initial plan was to take a walk around the park and see where it took us. With caffeine powering us onward, we began our journey.

Finding Stillness On the Diamond and In Life

The conversation started by me asking him how he was feeling. I didn’t ask him how he was. That would have provided me a completely different answer that I wasn’t interested in at that moment. I wanted to know how he was feeling because at our core, when we are asked how we are feeling it touches upon different experiences in our mind, allowing us to emit more genuine and personal responses.

Just as I suspected, he said he was feeling like sh*t. He hadn’t slept at all that night. His mind was racing, and the only way he could wash his anxieties away was by drinking himself to sleep. It was the classic experience that far too many professional athletes find themselves in. He had tried every mechanical tweak he could during the past two weeks, but he wasn’t getting any results. He was doubting his ability. He felt he was on a short leash with the team and feared he was going to be sent back down to the minor leagues if he didn’t start producing.

By this time we had made our way onto the pathway toward the Arch. It was a magnificent view. The sun had begun to ascend into the clear blue summer sky, and its rays produced a soothing glow out over the Mississippi River.

I asked him WHY he was playing in the first place. It’s a question I had wanted to ask him for a while, but I felt that I needed to ask that question in person so I could look into his eyes and see his body language to make certain he wasn’t trying to tell me something I wanted to hear.

I needed the truth. So I asked him WHY.

He started to slow his pace and didn’t say a word for ten or twelve steps. All you could hear was the churning of the wheels of the passing steamboat. His silence told me a lot, but I loved every second of it.

The way we can influence and impact others in a positive manner is to ask questions – let’s begin here. But even more important is the fact that if we ask a better question, we can change someone’s life. As a leader/mentor/coach, for all of this to work, you have to value the power of silence. You don’t need to fill dead air with sound. Creating calmness and clarity happens when you allow the person you’re trying to help his or her own space. Embrace the silence. It’s both powerful and therapeutic. Just being in someone’s company is sometimes all that person needs. God gave you two ears and one mouth for a reason.

Eventually, he began to speak. “I don’t know Kev. No one has ever asked me that before and I’ve never thought about it. Usually, people just ask me about my mechanics or what my thoughts are on a certain pitcher, etc. That’s deep man. I have to think about it. Is that bad?”

My purpose for taking him on this walk was to hopefully begin to provide stillness in his life. Some call is Zen. Others call it meditation. However you look at it, we all need reflection and self-awareness in our lives. Those moments where we can step back and look at the situation through a third party lens. It’s paying attention to the little things that become big things, whether they are good or bad. Ultimately, we are playing the singular game, both in baseball and in life.

Being Humbled

This game will humble you quickly, especially at the highest level, better known as Major League Baseball. During our walk I could sense he was so exhausted from fighting against the game and fighting against himself. There comes a point in everyone’s life when you are just sick and tired of being sick and tired.

As we continued to walk, I could see the tension begin to release from his shoulders. His pace slowed to a rhythmic stroll. His voice even dropped to a soft but reflective tone.

In response I said, “No it’s not bad. You’re certainly not the only one who has wondered WHY they are doing what they are doing for a living. It’s natural. You just haven’t reached this point in your life until now. It’s not something you should be ashamed of. But listen. How cool is this? Here is a wonderful opportunity for you to start spending more time on your WHY so that the HOW becomes easier.”

The look on his face was priceless. He was having trouble comprehending how the lowest point in his life could also be the most exciting time in his life. And equally as confusing, was the concept that finding his WHY could eventually help his batting average.

As we snaked through downtown St. Louis, we continued our conversation for almost two hours digging deep down into the person, and never once talking about hitting. We touched on his WHY, his purpose, anxieties, strengths, weaknesses, fears, etc. It was a deep dive into the person, an exercise he had never done before. There was raw emotion. There was confession. There were tears. There was enlightenment.

He admitted that for the first time in his life he had been humbled and he didn’t know how to handle it. He was searching for things outside of his control. He was trying to fix external things and neglecting the only thing that was truly in turmoil – his internal demons.

All It Takes Is 5 Minutes To Change Someone’s Life

I’m a big believer that all it takes is 5 minutes to change someone’s life. For those who have told me they don’t have 5 minutes to spare, I call BS. If anything is important to you, then you’ll make time for it.

There are a lot of 5 minutes in the day. And our job as mentors, leaders and coaches is to take full advantage of those 5-minute conversations with your employees and players. They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

To lead is to inspire. And for us to inspire, we need to dig deep and find out WHY players do what they do. It not only will make them more productive but will enhance your team, organization or business because they are coming to work with a purpose. There isn’t a better employee or player out there than the one with a deep sense of purpose and WHY.

As we navigated through the streets of downtown, the more he talked, the more I listened. He started to understand WHY he was playing in the first place, the most powerful answer he could ever uncover. As he was talking out loud about things that were trapped down deep inside of him, he began to see how he got to this low point in the first place. It was all making sense to him. All I was doing was sipping my coffee and listening to him discover it all by himself.

The Walk

Since that day in St. Louis many years ago, I have taken many walks with players giving them the separation they need. It’s been fun listening as they talk about their feelings, ideas, families, reflections, etc and seeing that the more they dig at their WHY, the better they do on the field. Some will question if this REALLY works. My response to them is to TRY IT. It’s become such a valuable resource for some of the players, they now call me asking if I want to take a walk.

It’s certainly not for everyone. But overall, today’s player needs less mechanics, launch angles, and exit velo, and more conversations about WHY they are doing what they are doing. They need to make time to find purpose in their daily lives, which in turn, will create more self-awareness.

I’ll never turn down a walk. It changes too many lives. The best part about it all? No one knows about our walks. Well until now…

PS – If you’re wondering how the player has done since our walk, he’s still playing on your TV in 2017. He’s been an All-Star twice and has signed a long-term contract that has taken care of his family for many generations to come. Most importantly, he is a dear friend whose walks will be cherished long after his playing days come to an end.

Love,

KW

For more than a decade, Kevin Wilson has been one of the most respected hitting coaches in the game. He works behind the scenes as a private hitting consultant to some of the best hitters in Major League Baseball. In 2013, Kevin was the hitting coach for the USA Baseball 18U National Team. Team USA beat Japan for the Gold medal at the IBAF World Cup in Taichung, Taiwan.

He is the author of the Amazon #1 Best Seller The #GoodBatting Book and co-hosts a popular podcast, KWB Radio, that showcases unique conversations with the pros. If you want Kevin to speak at your next event or if you want take advantage of his popular 2-day KWB Experience for players and coaches, contact Kevin today!

Follow Kevin on twitter @KWBaseball and visit his website KWBaseball.com