By Jonathan Massey –
When I first came to the Texas Baseball Ranch® nearly 20 years ago, Coach Wolforth said this quote, which has stuck with me ever since:
“If you do what everybody else does, you are going to get what everybody else gets.”
As the month of July comes to a close, summer baseball will also be closing out soon. This means now is a great time to evaluate not just your performance, but also to question whether or not the path you are currently on will get you where you want to go.
The conventional path for most high school players is to play high school baseball in the spring and then travel baseball in the summer and fall. That is perfectly fine IF you are throwing at or above your competitive peer group in terms of velocity, command, and secondary pitches. Now, there are numerous caveats that we could talk about that would have me recommend that someone reevaluate the conventional… i.e., if you threw over 70 innings between high school and summer travel baseball. But this blog would turn into a novel if I went into detail on each possible caveat. Another reason I might recommend the conventional path is if a young man desires to only play high school and/or travel baseball with his buddies. I know that this is a small minority of players, but if that is you or your young man, then by all means, enjoy playing the games!
Now, what if you are behind your competitive peer group in terms of velocity, command, or secondary pitches and have a burning desire to play at the next level? Well, as the title of this blog says, I believe you need to eject yourself from the conventional because “if you do what everyone else does, you are going to get what everyone else gets.”
If you truly want to change the trajectory of your career, the next six to eight months are going to be critical. Making changes to your movement pattern or making swing changes can be challenging. Making those changes while ALSO trying to compete on the weekends is close to impossible. Don’t even get me started on the dangers and risks associated with trying to do a velocity enhancement program during a season.
Earl Nightingale said it pretty eloquently, “If you want to be successful in life, simply watch what most people would do in a given situation, and then do the total opposite. Nine times out of ten, you’ll receive greater rewards.” So, if you are not happy with the path that you are currently on, eject yourself from that path. Spend the next six to eight months really training and see where you end up.
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Important TBR Updates
- Registration for our 2024 Youth Elite Pitchers Bootcamp (Oct. 5 & 6) is NOW OPEN!
- Interested in our “Summer Intensive Development Program”? For more information on this one of a kind Summer Training experience and for a registration form, CLICK HERE.
- There are only 2 dates remaining for our summer Elite Pitchers Bootcamps:
, CLICK HERE
- Fall/Winter Elite Pitchers Bootcamp Registration opening soon!
Dates will be:
Oct. 12-14 (Columbus Day weekend)
Nov. 23-25
Dec. 28-30
Jan. 18-20 (MKL weekend)
Feb. 15-17 (President’s Day weekend)
- Have you been considering attending one of our 3-Day Elite Pitchers Bootcamp but haven’t yet pulled the trigger? To help, we have a detailed mailing package entitled “What Makes This Boot Camp Different”. If you’d like to receive this package and start making plans for the summer, email Jill@TexasBaseballRanch.com and request a copy.
- NEW VIDEO on our YouTube Channel: “Baseball Throwing Dynamic Warm Up for Pitchers – Part 1”. Watch it at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3toPu0ZSPI and share your opinion in the comments.
