Genius Hour Week #4

Wow another week has gone by already!


This past week I did a fair amount of softball practice, compared to the past couple weeks. On Wednesday I went to Extra Innings in Hamilton for batting practice with an instructor who plays ladies A softball. She is a fantastic softball player. She gave me two very important tips that I need to add to my list.


As you can see in the video below I am reaching for the ball. Her advice to me was to stay back. At first I thought she meant stay back in the box, and I was unsure of how to do this, when I am suppose to transfer my weight forward. After a couple of attempts, I started to understand what she meant. I needed to, in a sense have better posture while batting. Keeping my back straight, and back, this would prevent me from reaching for the ball.


The second tip she provided me with was to practice shifting my weight forward and back 2 times, and on the third swing. This will help me time my step better, and maximize the amount of power in my swing.


Additionally, this weekend I was able to play in an indoor baseball tournament to check my progress. What I did find out, was that I am not actually ready for a game situation. At the present moment I have so much strategy development to do, that my brain is forgetting the most important part, which my friends refer to as "see ball, hit ball". What this means is, watching the ball come in, and watching the ball leave your bat. This is to increase your contact with the ball, and we know that better contact means a better hit.


My focus for this week at batting practice is going to be to continue working on keeping myself back and not reaching for the ball and contact. When it comes to my practice swings on my free time, I will focus on the transferring of weight as shown by the trainer in the video. For my workout I am going to try and start to increase the amount of reps or time for each activity, as well continue my balance training through yoga.


Here is the video from last week, and I hope you check in next week to follow up with my progress.

Song: 5-1-5-0 Dierks Bentley