“Thoughts” by KW

The idea was hatched in 2013 when I sat down with my good friend Joe Ferraro and asked him if he wanted to host a podcast with me. The vision was to bring value in terms of thought processes, techniques, mindsets and methodologies to the serious baseball player and coach, as well as the casual fan looking for insights into the game they couldn’t get anywhere else.

Truth be told, in the beginning it was Joe educating me on what a podcast was. Before we launched, I had never listened to a podcast but I knew it could be a great way to reach players and coaches on a more personal level. At the time, podcasts were still an unknown platform that could bring a lot of value to listeners – value that they could trust.

We launched Episode 1 of KWB Radio on August 1, 2014 with guest and good friend Charlie Manuel – manager of the 2008 World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies.

And since then, it’s been an incredible ride with great guests inside the game of baseball talking about not only hitting, but we are placed inside the lives of players and coaches on and off the diamond.

The purpose of KWB Radio is to take you behind the scenes and into the clubhouse with some of the brightest minds in the game today.

Some of the names you will recognize, but some of my favorites conversations have been with the names you may not be familiar with before you press play.

We share stories about adversity, we find out WHY they do what they do and learn HOW they got to where they are in the game.

They provide countless examples and principles for success on and off the field.

We highlight those stories and bring them to life for you in 40-60 minute episodes.

In 2017 we took a break for a few months. We recently released Episode 46 – Where Do Home Runs Come From? and the response has been overwhelming. We used to joke in the first few episodes that “no one is listening anyway.” But we quickly found out that, in fact, a lot of people were starting to listen – and many more continue to listen today.

You just never know what to expect when you come back from a break like we did. But it’s another reminder of how much we appreciate our loyal listeners. We are so thankful because without you, we don’t have a show.

Joe and I are so grateful for your support, your emails, your suggestions and your 5-star ratings and reviews. We love to get in the studio and talk shop and we are serious when we say that even if nobody was listening, we would still have a blast doing what we do.

If you are new to KWB Radio, subscribe to the show in iTunes or Stitcher and never miss another episode.

We are excited to continue to provide value through our first class guests and quality content. If you like what you hear, please share the show with someone you care about.

All it takes is 5 minutes to change someone’s life.

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

Happy Thanksgiving!

On April 13th, 2017 I posted the first blog post on KWBaseball.com titled Success and Life are a Singular Game.

Seven months and 33 posts later, I want to thank YOU – the loyal reader.

So instead of pouring my heart and soul out through words on this blog, I wanted you to hear and feel how truly thankful I am for YOU.

Listen to this week’s 5-minute audio blog:

Tell someone how thankful you are for having them in your life. And not just today, but everyday.

All it takes is 5 minutes to change someone’s life.

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 Importance of 200 Feet

“Take a walk with me,” I said as the hitter and I left the batter’s box and walked out towards the infield.

As we approached the area where the second baseman would normally play, we turned around and looked in towards home plate.

“This is where your home runs take off,” I told him and then gave him the opportunity to let that sink in as he set his sights on home plate.

With all of the talk about launch angles and hitting the top of the batting cage in practice, what’s getting lost is the art of understanding how to be a “power hitter” or one who understands how to hit with power. In other words, having an understanding at what point your ball begins to take off and turn into an extra base hit or sail over the fence.

The purpose of walking hitters out into the field and turning them around to face home plate, is to give them a different perspective. To view hitting from a different lens.

So many hitters only have one view – from home plate – and that view has shaped our experiences to date. But what would happen if you took the time to look at your craft from a different angle?

Some of the best power hitters in our game’s history have understood the importance of 200 feet. For example, Barry Bonds tried to hit the baseball through the head of the shortstop. Albert Pujols tries to hit the ball through the second baseman. Others have tried to hit the pitcher’s feet or drive the ball through the second base bag.

In today’s society where most everyone takes things so literal, this trick of the trade has been lost on the young people coming up in the game. Why? Because some say that if we hit the ball on a line to either the shortstop or the second basemen, that would be considered an out. Popular opinion today would argue that we aren’t training for outs.

But of course we’re not training for outs. Just because those guys like Barry and Albert are trying to hit the ball to the shortstop or second baseman doesn’t mean the ball is going to go there every time.

For example, if we take a look at the numbers Barry and Albert put up over the course of their careers, there are more than enough extra base hits, RBI’s and home runs that would back up what we are talking about.

So why would power hitters focus on a target closer to them, rather than trying to hit home runs over a fence that’s at least 300 feet away?

One – It’s attainable.

If I brought a MLB hitter to a Little League field for home run derby, would it be a question of “can they hit a home run?” or a question of “how many will they hit?” 200 feet around a Little League field is very attainable for any hitter of high school age and older.

Two – It’s manageable.

When playing home run derby on a Little League field, it’s simply being on time for the pitch and keep yourself and your barrel under control, and the rest will take care of itself.

By standing out by second base or shortstop and looking back at home plate, you get an appreciation of just how far away home plate is and how far your ball has to travel to be able to have a chance at getting over an outfielder’s head. If you make contact with a pitch out front and create backspin, the flight of the ball is going to start taking off at or around the shortstop/second baseman area.

Have you ever hit a ball with so much backspin that you thought the outfielder was going to catch it but it just kept rising and rising?

This is what I’m talking about.

Your ball didn’t start to take off, forcing the outfielder to go into a full sprint, until it was roughly 200 feet away from home plate.

Most hitters think that home runs start at home plate. This leads them to believe that they have to “lift and separate,” causing them to try and manipulate the flight of the ball upon contact. Or “get the ball in the air.” While it may work for some in front toss and BP, when they get into a real game with pitchers who know how to pitch, they quickly find out that the velocity and/or location (up in the zone) of the ball overpowers them, and they end up popping the ball straight up into the air.

Big league hitters understand that if they are on time to hit through the heads of the shortstop or second baseman, they will naturally create the leverage needed to drive a baseball to the deepest parts of the ballpark.

Watch future Hall of Famer and power hitter Jim Thome talk about how he created leverage.

Your PURPOSE Will Create Your Result

As we walked back into the home plate area, the hitter was now equipped with a better understanding of his ball flight because he had been introduced to a new perspective. Before that day, he had never thought about walking his ball flight out towards the big part of the field.

I suggested that he try and hit every ball through the head of the middle infielders.

By the end of the round all he could do was laugh and smile.

His swing suddenly became tension free because he wasn’t trying to hit home runs. He was much more under control and on time because he was confident that he could hit the ball 200 feet. And although he wasn’t trying to hit home runs, his body was now in position to do just that.

And out of ten swings, he had hit four home runs, another three balls off the fence on a line and three more line drives to the big part of the field.

It was another example of less is more.

So for all the hitters who are busy working on big swings and trying to create home runs that start at home plate, do yourself a favor and take a walk out to the middle infield, turn around and see for yourself how far away you are when your ball starts to turn into an extra base hit or a home run.

The ball will do all the work. Learn what your ball can do for you!

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 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

This is the full version of Kevin Wilson’s “Directional Hitting” segment on KWB Radio podcast in 2014.

Joe Ferraro (host) – “We only have 5 minutes, so tell me what you know about “Directional Hitting,” what the heck it is and how it’s going to make our hitters better.”

Kevin Wilson: “I like to tell guys, hey listen, the ball comes from 60 feet, 6 inches straight in front of you. And a lot of guys tend to “leak off” the ball, open the front shoulder, fly open – all of the terms that you hear on a daily basis.

There is a lot to trying to be directional and as a hitter you’re trying to slow the game down. You’re trying to make sure you’re “staying in your lane” so-to-speak. So I like to break it down this way.

I like to start with taking the old “rubber band theory.”

I’m in the back of the classroom with a rubber band in my hand and I say to myself, “I’m going to hit that blackboard or these days the smartboard.” I’m going to take this rubber band and try and snap one off and hit the smartboard.

Ok. How am I going to do that?

Well obviously, I have to get the rubber band and I gotta pull it all the way back before it snaps – to the furthest point back I can – and what am I going to do? Line it up to where I want to shoot it. Now when I let that rubber band go, Joe, I’m not going to be worried about what direction it’s going. At that point when I let it go, it’s just a matter of if it’s going to hit the board or not.

And so that’s why I like to paint that picture of directional hitting.

So I pointed that rubber band in a direction knowing that when I let it go, it’s going in that direction. So when the ball’s coming from 60 feet, 6 inches in front of me, when I get ready in the box, I want my shoulders, my hips, everything pointed directly at where that ball is coming from.

And so, sometimes we leak off and we go to shortstop or second base (depending if we are right handed or left handed). Because it’s coming from straight in front of me, I’m going to get my load (pull the rubber band back) and I’m going to be able to get myself in line, so when I let that swing off – let that rubber band go – my swing (aka the rubber band) is going to be able to stay up the middle and stay directly to where the ball is coming from.

So in a nutshell Joe, that’s what I like to paint a picture of to guys is that I have to get on time early enough to be able to line myself up – shoulders, hips, everything like the rubber band – and that when I come down to be able to swing, I’m still staying up the middle because I’m not rushed.

Most of the time when we are rushed and not on time, we tend to fly open because we have to get everything out of the way just to get the barrel there. So this allows us to be on time better. This allows us to get ourselves lined up to where we want to hit the ball in the hitting zone and allows us to ultimately stay through the baseball.

So if we are lined up right, we got our good direction, the rest takes care of itself.

JF: I learned something today, I gotta tell you.

KW: Well it’s not everyday that you do that.

You can listen to the 5-minute episode in its entirety here:

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 two (2) 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

What do you see when you look in the mirror?

Are you happy with where you are in life? Are you happy with how you look? Do you not recognize the person in the mirror anymore?

It’s easy for most of us to come up with grand ideas and visions of clarity. Too often, the actionable steps get in the way of achieving what we want to see in our own reflection in the mirror.

When you looked in the mirror this morning, were you happy with what you saw? If you weren’t, what specific things have you done today to make a difference in your own life so that your reflection in the mirror tonight will look a little different?

I’m going to let you in on a little secret. You don’t have to like what you see in the mirror. But if you don’t like what you see, you need to do something about it.

Most people have gotten into the habit of seeing something and not doing anything about it. For example, someone will look into the mirror and see they are carrying around a few extra pounds with them. They tell themselves they need to lose weight – and then go about their day as normal. They have seen themselves in the mirror but they haven’t done anything about their “situation,” thus continuing to carry around their burden with them.

How about the high school baseball player who looks in the mirror freshman year and says he wants to play Division I baseball. But he then proceeds to put in minimal work, with little plan or purpose and a disregard for nutrition, sleep and other things vital to working smarter, not harder, to achieve his goal. We all know this isn’t going to help him achieve his ultimate goal of playing at the next level.

 
We Never Arrive. We Are Always Becoming.

Are you happy with where you are in life and in your career? Are you happy with what you see in the mirror every day?

Life is a series of ups and downs, with every up and down providing valuable purpose in our lives. Some days the mirror reflects back someone we are not proud of. Someone who has not lost, but has learned a valuable lesson. Some days the mirror reflects back someone who we are proud of. Someone who has gone outside of his/her comfort zone to achieve something that they never thought they would ever achieve.

Be cautious of the latter reflection.

Accomplishments in life and on the ball field are moments we savor. Things we treasure. Stories we tell over and over with great detail and as the years go by, with some exaggeration to embellish our small victories.

But when you accomplish something, when you look in the mirror and you’re happy with what you see, it doesn’t mean you have arrived.

We never arrive. We are always becoming.

You see, one of the most dangerous things we can believe in is success. Success is a byproduct of our purpose and our process. Success is the accomplishment of a goal – but it’s not the end of a journey.

Every morning when we look in the mirror, we are reminded of two things.

One, we should be grateful for another day to spend above ground with friends and loved ones. And two, the day is another opportunity to grow and pour into ourselves and to impact, influence and inspire others to get 1% Better.

Every day brings new opportunities to become someone. To become a servant leader. To become a better husband. To push yourself in the weight room to become a stronger player. To take five minutes to have a conversation with a troubled player on your team to help him become that player and person he always wanted to be. The list goes on and on.

Your Reflection Is Your Reputation

Almost anything you do in life that has meaning is going to be difficult. If you want to become a big league baseball player, there is a lot to it that you won’t like. You won’t like the workouts. You won’t like travel. You won’t like the toll it takes on you and your family. You won’t like the politics. You won’t like the feeling of not being able to control 99% of what happens in the game and your career. A lot of it won’t be comfortable for you.

It’s one thing to look at yourself in the mirror and tell yourself you’re going to do whatever it takes to make it the big leagues. It’s another thing to act on your words and actually DO IT.

You have a CHOICE.

You can choose two routes. One, you can choose to do the minimum and get by barely and that’s your reputation, or you can attack your life and career as hard as you can and that’s your reputation.

Are they going to remember you by slowly opening the door and peeking into your career? Or are they going to remember you for kicking down the door and showing everyone that you were the best at what you did.

If you choose to do something – attack it.

Your greatest regret in life is hearing and not doing. Take a few minutes to watch this famous speech from Art Williams that gets to the heart of what we all should do when we look in the mirror.

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