Month: August 2017

Becoming a Mentor

When is the last time you thought about those who helped you get to where you are today?

As I’m writing this, I can’t help but notice the “busyness” that surrounds me in the coffee shop. A steady flow of people coming and going on a clear and promising day, but for some reason, I don’t think a lot of these people, who seem to be dragging themselves into the store, have taken much time to reflect and be grateful for another day above ground.

For most of us, waking up in the morning is filled with responsibilities.

It could be getting the kids ready for school, rushing to catch the last train into the city, or making sure you arrive at school or work on time. It’s a mad rush which leaves us little time for reflection and gratefulness.

When was the last time you woke up in the morning, opened the blinds, looked out into God’s country and was thankful for another day above ground?

When was the last time you woke up and spent a few minutes counting your blessings, as well as reflecting on the hardships in your life and being thankful for those too?

In Order To Go Fast, You Gotta Be Slow

Let me ask you this – what if we took a minute to slow down, or better yet stop, and think about the people who have made the most impact in our lives?

When we take the time to reflect on the people who have come into our lives, we realize that every person has come into our life for a reason – a reason we typically don’t discover until much later in our journey.

I often find myself reflecting on those who have helped me get to where I am today and I can easily connect the dots.

I see that mentor who put his arm around me when I was crazy enough to start a business and had vision, but no road map in sight.

I see that coach who poured into me and showed me the intricacies of how to teach hitting and how to master tricking hitters into thinking they could hit.

I remember the first time when I worked with a big leaguer and they told me that “you are the man KW” and how that simple phrase meant the world to me – it meant I was now accepted in that world I once dreamed of being a part of. I remember that time when 30 Major League Baseball organizations didn’t hire me, for whatever reason, and I’m grateful they didn’t because it led to me to what I’m doing right now – coaching big league hitters.

Whether it’s an individual, an industry, God (or whatever you believe in), situation or experience, those moments happen for a reason and it’s our job to learn to be grateful for the good times and the bad.

Be Thankful

As I continue to watch the flow of people drag in and out of this coffee shop, I ask of you one thing. Make time to reflect on the people who helped you get to where you are today.

Then take some time to reach out and thank them for their help, inspiration, idea, or whatever they did to impact your life.

You can text them, call them or pen a handwritten thank you note (my personal favorite). Let them know how much they mean to you and that you understand that you couldn’t get to where you are without their mentorship.

Because in reality, we don’t achieve what we want alone – we all need a mentor in our lives.

I firmly believe that we are all on this Earth to positively impact the lives of others. The greatest feeling in the world is seeing someone that you mentor succeed.

Ask yourself, “How can I return the favor today?” Focusing on others will impact your life in ways only a servant leader can experience.

Inspire someone today.

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

Making it to the top is not that same as making it at the top.

So many talk about hard work. They say you can’t get anywhere without putting in the effort. While this isn’t bad advice, it certainly has its limitations.

I remind young athletes that they are not working hard enough. They think they are working hard, but they haven’t seen what hard work looks like – unless they have been around the hardest workers at the top of their respective sport.

It’s one thing to share experiences or tell guys the importance of working hard. But to be able to show them what it actually looks like is the only way that a player will truly understand what it takes.

I didn’t realize what hard work looked like until I went to play baseball in college and worked out next to 21-year-old men, who picked things up and put them down in ways I never imagined could be done by a human being.

And this was being done by players on a team that only won 12 games the previous year…

Commitment

What have you been handed and what are you willing to earn?

Part of the commitment to hard work is knowing what you have to give up to do the work – learning how to control whatever is pulling you away from your mission.

The moment I stepped foot into that college weight room for the first time, was when I had to look myself in the mirror and ask, “What was I willing to do to earn a spot in this lineup?” I had grown accustomed to being comfortable – things coming easier to me than most of the players I grew up playing with and against.

The “work” I had put in had gotten me to this point, but it certainly wasn’t going to get me any further.

Was I going to be willing to push myself to levels I never knew I could get to? How bad did I want to play college baseball? Sometimes when you are in a situation where you only have two choices – start or quit – you find out how passionate you are about what you’re about to do.  

Anyone can start something. Few can finish.

You Don’t Need Luck

The best competitors I’ve been around don’t rely on luck to get them to where they want to go. You will hear some players say they “got lucky.”

But here is the thing, you don’t need luck.

You need to know that you’re prepared and in control and you’re not relying on some random events, nor are you waiting for some mystical intervention to happen.

It doesn’t matter what is handed to you, it’s what you do after you receive it that allows you to reflect and proudly say that “I did this on my own.”

Moving Target

Have you ever struggled to get something that’s just out of your reach? You are about to touch it, but as soon as you touch it, it moves farther away?

Maybe it’s the first time you reach the big leagues, but then a week later you get sent down.

Maybe it’s the first time you get a start at 3B – go 3 for 4 – only to find yourself back on the bench for the next seven games.

Some people only give themselves one try at something and if they don’t succeed they move on to something else. This is a calling card of those who work in the Silicon Valley. But for most of us working outside of the billion dollar startup tech world, just because it doesn’t happen on the first go-around, doesn’t mean we quit.

Only when you’ve gone through these struggles can you be truly committed and understand the determination it takes to keep pursuing a target that never stops moving.

When Did Hard Work Become A Skill?

You’ve heard it before, but it’s worth mentioning again – it doesn’t take any talent to work hard. Anyone can do it.

Show up, work hard and listen.

It takes a willingness to be dedicated, to improve, to be better. I don’t care if you’re a superstar, or the last guy on the bench, anyone can show up, work hard and listen.

I show up to work with hitters every day, and I expect the same from them. In my 17 years of coaching, I’ve only had a handful of players who I have had to send home because they were not committed to their career on that particular day – thus not respecting their time and effort as well as mine.

Show me you care about your career, and I’ll care about yours as well.  

When you’re committed to your WHY and your career, you never hide. Being a professional requires that you show up ready to work, face adversity and those who judge you, and perform at your top level when everyone is expecting you to fail.

If you can’t stop thinking about it, don’t stop working for it.

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

When your time is up on this Earth, who are the people who will come to your funeral?

I recently completed an impactful three days at the Cannonball Foundation Coaching Fellowship in Boston, Massachusetts. Every August, the Fellowship brings together high school, college, travel ball coaches and leaders from across the country who are looking to grow themselves as a person and a leader. Coaches learn how to become transformational leaders while building relationships.

As I stepped on the plane heading back home, I couldn’t help but reflect on how powerful those 20 Fellows were to me. In three short days, I was able to create relationships that potentially could last a lifetime. Throughout the week, there was time to connect and share our personal journeys. As well as time to build on our strengths through workshops and leadership panel discussions. But at the core of the Fellowship, were the transformational conversations being held between sessions and late into the evenings around the hotel bar. These moments gave the Fellows time to share their stories and offer advice from their own experiences. It was moments like these, where everyone could let their guard down and participate in meaningful and uplifting conversation.

It reminded me of WHY we were all there in the first place – to grow with one another.

We cannot go through life alone. We need the support of others. Someone to lean on. Someone to vent to, ask questions and be vulnerable with. We are who we are because of the relationships we build.

It Takes a Village  

When I was a young coach, I wasn’t even aware of, let alone sold on, the impacts of relationships. I took for granted a lot of the people that I knew in the game and in my life. Looking back on some of my interactions with those people, I viewed some, not all, as transactional relationships – I shake your hand, you shake mine. It makes me cringe how I handled some of those situations early on.

As the years progressed, I slowly began to understand the power of a genuine relationship.

If you’re a coach in charge of a group of players, it’s your job to gain your player’s trust in you. If you’re going to be a leader who people follow, they first have to know that you care about them. It’s the old saying, they don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. They want you to know them as a person first and a player second. It’s not what your team can do for you as a leader; it’s what your team can do for the greater good of everyone associated with that team.

So How Do We Go About Doing This?

It starts with building relationships. I often say that “all it takes is five minutes to change someone’s life.”  Whether you are spending five minutes with one of your players, or five minutes with the janitor, treat everyone the same. The goal is to make everyone around your program feel special. Make them understand their specific job means a lot to you and your team. By building relationships, you are beginning to create a culture of value. If people feel valued in the role they have, they will go above and beyond what you ask of them. They will feel a meaningful connection to the organization

The culture you build by way of authentic and genuine relationships, will not only pay off for your team but will last a lifetime.

During the Cannonball Fellowship, John Casey (head coach of Tufts University) shared with us the number of weddings he was invited to AND attended this year by former players – it was ELEVEN. He values those wedding invitations because it reinforces the relationships that he’s building. And some of you may be asking how that translates into the win column at Tufts – 30-10-1 overall, making it to the NCAA DIII Regionals this year.

A few days after the Fellowship ended, my good friend Joe Ferraro, creator and host of the 1% Better Podcast, shared this is in a tweet:

This is pretty powerful. Joe is a dear friend. He’s a great coach, husband and father. But what he witnessed, just like I did all those years ago, was himself being a transactional coach, more than a transformational coach. I’m not saying you need to start keeping a running tally on how many weddings you get invited to, but a wedding is a great example of the kind of relationships you are building – genuine and long lasting.

Think about it, you don’t invite just anyone to your wedding. For many, it’s a very thoughtful process when deciding who to invite to your big day. There are a lot of variables at play including, but not limited to, venue size, who might become a distraction after consuming too many cocktails and how much money are you willing to spend? So for most, being invited as a guest to someone’s wedding means that they are willing to share their most intimate day with you.

That should not be lost on anyone.

So, if you remember, at the beginning of this post, I asked you, “Who are the people who will come to your funeral?” Unlike weddings, you have no control over who comes or doesn’t come to your funeral. We would like to think that it will be well attended, but we really don’t know. At the end of your life, how will your funeral be a reflection on the life that you lived? I don’t know about you, but when the people who have been most impactful to me have passed away, I have dropped everything I was doing and made sure that I paid my respects in person. Why? Because I had a genuine and authentic relationship with that person and it was the least I could do for everything they had done for me.

What do you value more in life? Building transactional relationships that improve your status or building meaningful relationships that are truly transformational, not only when you’re around others, but last long after your time on this Earth is up?

Inspire someone today.

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

The following is an excerpt from The #GoodBatting Book, which has helped hitters and hitting coaches around the world understand WHY they do what they do.

Embrace Your Role

There comes a point in a lot of player’s careers when they transition from an everyday player to a lesser role, which is widely known as a “bench player.”

If you are playing high school baseball, you may likely be the best player on your team, or at least in the starting lineup.  That is a testament to your preparation, hard work and skill set, and you should be proud of that accomplishment thus far.

What I’m about to walk you through, however, is information that will become necessary quicker than you think as you continue to climb the ranks in collegiate and/or professional baseball.

When most guys get to college baseball for the first time, it is their first introduction to being at the bottom of the totem pole.  No matter how good they are, or how many awards and accolades they brought with them to school, they are now just another number on a back of a uniform.  They are officially a part of a level that very few players get to play at.

The toughest part of my transition to the college game was just that – sitting and waiting.  Every level I had played at until that moment, I was one of the better players, or the best player, on my team.  I had a rude awakening in college to a number of things, but that first year “on the job” was one of the hardest years in my playing career, being a “bench player.”

When guys find themselves on the bench for the first time, the first thing that gets dinged is the ego.  Every player has one.  It’s pride.  It’s ego.  It’s everything that makes you the player and competitor that you are.  For a coach to sit you down and basically tell you that he thinks he has better at the moment, stings for sure.  Especially if it’s your first time experiencing that.

As a hitter, it’s a lot easier to maintain timing, rhythm, etc. at the plate when you play everyday.  It doesn’t necessarily mean that you are going to have great success just because you play everyday, but it is a big advantage that allows you to maintain your timing at the plate.

Know Your Role

The best piece of advice I can give to you is understand and embrace your role.  If you become a bench player, do not complain about it.  Accept and embrace it.

It’s easy to feel good about being in the starting lineup.  Your swing will feel better playing everyday.  Your mindset will be better seeing your name on the lineup card as part of the starting nine.

What’s hard is feeling motivated and locked in when you’re on the bench.  I have been on both sides of this.  I can tell you from experience that being a bench player is no easy task.  In fact, I respect the bench players in the big leagues more than I respect the everyday players because of their relentless focus on being prepared each and everyday like they are a starter, not knowing if they will ever get in that game that night.

With that being said, hitters need to see live pitching every day to feel like they are on time and in rhythm.  There is only so much you can do with BP and standing in on live bullpens.  You need to feel the rhythm of the game in live action.  But when you’re a bench player, you don’t get those luxuries.

What can a hitter do to keep himself ready for when the head coach calls your name?

Here are some suggestions I have for those experiencing lack of playing time.

First, come to the ballpark each and everyday mentally prepared to start.  It’s easy to come to the ballpark dejected expecting not to play.  It’s harder to get your mind right on the way to the park knowing you may not play, but it can be done.

The reason we do that is because if I told you that you were starting tomorrow night on your way out of the stadium, you would be coming to the park excited and more focused on your preparation for the game.  So what’s the difference if I did or did not tell you?

The pre-game preparation and routine should not really change if we are or are not in the starting lineup.  If your name’s not on the card, it’s easy to hang in the clubhouse and cut corners on your pre-game routine because you may not feel you need to do it.  Just because you’re not being used at the beginning of the game, doesn’t mean that you won’t be called upon to pinch hit, or be put in for defensive purposes later in the game.  So prepare mentally and physically like you are starting each and everyday.  Take a look at who their relief pitchers are and start trying to formulate plans or ideas so when you face them you have prepared at least a little bit, if not a lot, to have a quality at-bat against them later in the game.

The first time you think about pinch-hitting for someone should not be when the coach calls your name.  You have been preparing both physically and mentally for that one opportunity since you arrived at the ballpark.

During the game, you need to pay attention to the flow of the game and try and stay with what you think the head coach will do.  Not only does this keep you focused on the game itself, it also allows you to mentally try to predict and learn your head coach and his tendencies.

For example, it’s the fifth inning and you feel like you can be a pinch hitter for one of the weaker hitters in your lineup the next few innings.  Take it upon yourself to start stretching and swinging a bat around the dugout.  Take a look at the pitcher on the mound and start thinking about your approach against him.  Look into their bullpen (if they have one) and think about who you might be facing.  If your head coach is into matchups, think about how he might use you with a LHP or RHP on the mound.

And lastly, when it comes to the swing itself, bench players need to have a swing that is compact, simple that does not have a lot of movement.  If you have a huge leg kick and only playing once a week, you may want to reconsider.  If you have a long swing that tries to produce power, that won’t help you when it comes to timing.  Take a look at swings in the big leagues of the bench players.  For the most part, they are simple and short with no wasted movement.

When you haven’t seen velocity from a pitcher in a week and then get thrust into a game, the speed of the pitch looks to be faster than it really is.  This is why you need a simple and quick swing to catch up.

Hitters who embrace their role as a bench player are special.  They are total “team players” in every sense of the word.  In my opinion, they have the hardest job of anyone on the team because hitting is rhythm, timing and balance.  The game speeds up if you don’t get at-bats on an everyday basis.

When it’s your turn to become the “bench player” whether it be at 32 years old in the big leagues, or your first year of college, make sure you accept your role and never deviate from your preparation.

Heroes are made in the ninth inning.  Not during the first pitch.

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

There has been a lot said about Josh Donaldson and his swing over the past few years. It’s been dissected, over-analyzed, debated and argued in many online forums, clubhouses and batting cages.

The former American League MVP has made himself a household name because of his performance on the field, but what is even more intriguing is the journey that led him to become one of the most feared hitters in the game.

When you ask around, you will find a lot of people buying what Josh is selling. There are entire hitting philosophies and systems built exclusively around what Josh Donaldson believes in. And on the other side of the spectrum, there are those who believe in what Josh calls the “old school” way of hitting, who despise everything he preaches and can’t stand the sight of another Josh Donaldson instructional video.

By now, I’m sure you’re wondering where I stand on Josh Donaldson and his swing, approach and mindset.

I don’t like it.

I LOVE IT.

Why do I love it? Let me explain.

If you listen carefully (and unbiasedly) to his interviews and what he says to his teammates, he believes 100% that he has found the best way for himself to swing a bat. He acknowledges that he had tried pretty much every other way, without much success, until he found “it.”

The Truth

There isn’t one way to do something, especially hitting a baseball. MLB is littered with hundreds of different body types, athletic abilities, swings and approaches. What may work for one guy, may not work for another. The moment that Josh stopped trying to be like someone else and started to tap into what his body and mind could do, he began to separate himself from the rest of the pack.

But if you pay attention, he’s not doing something with his swing that’s revolutionary.

He’s not the first hitter to learn about rhythm, timing, separation, balance and lining up his body to the point where all he has to do is be on time for the ball to run into his natural swing. But in between the 2012-13 season he found HIS way to be like the best hitters in the league.

There comes a moment in everyone’s career when they have to look themselves in the mirror and decide whether they want to conform to what other’s think they need to be, or fully invest in themselves and find what works best for them.

Early in Donaldson’s career, he didn’t give himself permission to be himself.

In his own words, he was awful.

When he was younger, he had swag. He had what some people called flair to his game. He was confident in his abilities. And because of this, he sometimes rubbed people the wrong way, so he tried to tone it back as much as he could.

But it wasn’t who he was.

So something had to change.

Whether you believe in the changes he made to his swing or not, the bottom line is that we all can agree that he made it a priority to seek out knowledge that would take him to where he wanted to go. As a result of his seeking knowledge, he feels that there are so many things as hitters that we have been taught, that are incorrect. Why? Because they were incorrect for HIM.

But be mindful that the same information that didn’t work for Josh could have helped someone else.

For example, the pictures above show us that Donaldson and another former MVP Mike Trout, get to similar positions with their swing upon contact. But how Donaldson got there differs from how Trout got there.

If you want to succeed in the game of baseball, find out what works best for you. There will be a lot of trial and error, fleeting moments of success and downward spirals of misery. But at the end of the day, if you are in pursuit of mastering what your body and mind can do at the plate, you will reap the benefits of the success that it will bring.

It’s OK To Be Yourself

Josh’s mother told him, “It’s ok to be yourself.” This is tremendous advice coming from a place of love and affection that only a mother can provide.

Here are some thoughts on how you can go about finding out what works best for you:

• Look in the mirror and ask yourself – “Am I swinging my swing, or my instructor’s swing?”
• What are my strengths?
• How do I think I should swing the bat?
• Where do I want to be as a hitter 1, 2, or 4 years from now?
• Which coach can I trust who will be flexible in his philosophy and empower me to become the best version of myself, rather than selling his own one-size-fits-all program?

You only have one chance at this game called baseball, and with hitting being the hardest thing to do in sport, you will want to make sure you are in total control of the information you’re digesting and the subsequent results you’ll produce.

If you find what works for you, don’t ever let it go. Be able to explain in detail WHY it works for you and when people try and poke holes in your theories, don’t defend them, simply give an explanation – just like Josh (and every other good hitter) gives us – on why you are as good as you are.

Remember, hitting is simple. It’s just not that easy.

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