Posts belonging to Category hitting



Better Nutrition=Better Performance

Calendar August 30, 2010 | Posted by Brandon
Hello Hitters,

Processed, Packaged, Boxed & Canned!!

Foods processed this way will make you fat, feel lazy and lethargic. You will not play to your optimal performance if your diet consists primarily of processed, packaged, boxed and canned foods.

Try to replace these foods with healthy, grass fed animal products. Grass fed animal products have higher nutrients and will make you leaner and healthier. Because of the high nutrient density of grass fed, animal products, you will actually eat less and avoid consuming dangerous hormones, antibiotics and parasites that unhealthy animals may consume and pass on to you.

Remember, a healthy hitter is a dangerous hitter!

Stay Focused
Mike “The HitMan” Easler

PS I would like to thank Brandon Smith and Joe Howley for their input on the subject of nutrition and performance

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14 Rules to Becoming a Dangerous Hitter

Calendar August 17, 2010 | Posted by Brandon

Hello Hitters,

I’ve asked my friend and professional strength coach, Brandon Smith to provide some “rules” of Nutrition for Baseball players.

Here are 14 Nutrition tips to make you  “Conditioned To Hit”

1. Eat Every 3-4 hours
2. Eat protein with every meal (when possible)
3. Consume Quality Whey Isolate Protein
4. Include essential fats with every meal
5. Eat higher quality foods
6. Try to plan meals ahead of time
7. Take in PLEANTY of WATER
8. Stay in a Positive frame of mind
9. Take your 90 essential nutrients everyday
10. Take enzymes, probiotics and phytonutrients
11. Get Vitamin D & Calcium
12. Consume foods high in Antioxidents and high ORAC score
13. Stay away from Genetically Modified Food (corn is about 90% modified)
14. AVOID FAST FOOD!

Remember, a dangerous hitter is Conditioned to Hit in all phases of the game, including nutrition and recovery.  Please leave a comment if you have questions regarding any of these guide lines!

Stay Focused

Mike “The HitMan” Easler

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What Happens when You Struggle?

Calendar August 9, 2010 | Posted by Brandon
Hello hitters. 
I hope you guys and girls are hitting up a storm this summer. Hitting is not easy(maybe the hardest thing to do in sports)
Many hitters struggle in the middle of their season. Big league hitters struggle too. 

What should you do when you hit a mini slump? 

Number 1-don’t take it like it’s  a matter of life and death. It’s just a game at the end of the day.
Number 2 -don’t panic. A slump won’t last forever. 
Number 3- go back to the basic fundamentals of hitting. 
Number 4- review my 5 essentials to hitting
Go back to the basic tee drills.  Try and drive everything straight away to center field. Keep your head and eyes on the ball throughout your swing.  Most of all, make sure you are balanced, dropping your hips down to keep you in a strong hitting position. When you swing your back knee should drop a little bit lower than your front knee. Very similar to a bunting approach. 
After you feel good on the Tee, go to your basic soft toss drills, front toss or side toss.  Again, stay balanced, cut down your swing and drive every single ball up the middle.
Stay positive and stay confident.  Your swing will come back sooner than you thing. Just keep telling yourself  ”I can hit”, “I can hit”.  Most slumps are caused by over thinking and trying to do to much at the plate. Always get back to basics when you struggle.

Stay Focused

Mike “The HitMan” Easler

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Hitting Essentials

Calendar July 23, 2010 | Posted by Brandon

Hello Hitters,

I hope you all are hitting ropes!

This blog site is dedicated to making you a better hitter, and I’ve been going through my 5 essentials to being a better hitter.

Here is the complete list. You can read more about hitting and conditioning for baseball HERE

The 5 Essentials to Hitting.
1. Concentration
2. Confidence
3. Conditioning
4. Contact
5. COMMITMENT
 

The last essential to hitting is Commitment. If you are not 100% committed to your craft you will not be as good as you can be. You have to commit to practice, drill work, conditioning, mental prep and nutrition and recovery.

It’s easy to do all those things when you are playing well, but you have to spend extra time and effort when things are not going so well. Make these 5 essentials something that you review everyday and make part of your regular routine. You can just lift weights for 2 weeks, then take 5 weeks off. You can’t just review tape when you’re in a slump. Review it when you are hitting well. Don’t wait for the wheels to fall off before you take action.

If you can follow my 5 essentials, you will become a better hitter.

How to become a dangerous hitter

In my book, “Conditioned to Hit” strength coach, Brandon Smith and I go through the essentials to make you a dangerous hitter. Also inside are hitting drills and exercises that will help you become a better hitter.

Remember, follow these steps, and you will have success.

Concentration
Confidence
Conditioning
Contact
Commitment

Stay Focused

Mike “The HitMan” Easler

Have 1 minute? Fill out my Hitting Survey

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Solid Contact

Calendar July 16, 2010 | Posted by Brandon

Hello Hitter’s!

I hope you’re all hitting ropes!

We have been going through my FIVE essentials to become a dangerous hitter.

Here is number 4. Contact

Solid Contact is what we all strive for as hitters. Nothing feels better than hitting a line drive struck right in the middle of the sweet spot. Nothing feels worse than getting jammed or hitting one off the end of the bat (especially if you are using aluminum bats).

My best advice or tip for solid contact is to try and hit every ball hard. All the great hitters I have ever played with tried to hit the ball hard every time they took BP or practiced off the batting tee. Trying to hit the ball hard every time will keep you in an aggressive mind set and over time, you will be making better contact. Also, when your contact is going bad, or you are in a “dry spell” try to hit every ball hard, up the middle. You will cut down your swing (while staying aggressive) and make contact on the sweet spot more often.

Solid contact is a result of squaring up and making aggressive swings with great balance. Practice swinging hard when hitting on the Tee and then again while taking live BP.

Stay Focused
Mike “The HitMan” Easler

PS For some fun please fill out this short survey.

Category Categories: hitting  |  Tag Tags: , , ,

The Third “C” of Hitting

Calendar July 6, 2010 | Posted by Brandon

Hello hitter’s,

I hope you’re hitting ropes and training hard!

If you have been reading this blog, you know that I have 5 essentials to hitting. So far I have covered the first two, Confidence  and Concentration.

My 3rd essential to becoming a dangerous hitter is Conditioning. Proper conditioning allows you to play and practice at your highest levels everyday. This is the fastest way to becoming a great player. Also, a good conditioning program will keep you on the field. After all, you can’t hit when you sit, and if your too tired or always injured, you’re going to sit!

With a good conditioning program YOU DO NOT need “extra help” like steroids or HGH. If you believe in yourself and are mentally and emotionally strong, your conditioning program will be enough. I consider great nutrition a part of your overall conditioning as well. I do not mind guys having protein shakes or pre/post workout drinks (as long as they are legal).

A player with a conditioned mind and conditioned body is a very, very dangerous player. The guy who comes to mind when I think about conditioning is Derek Jeter. To me, this guy is the perfect baseball player. Jeter seems to miss very few games because of injury (some times injury is unavoidable) and is emotionally and mentally one of the toughest players I have ever seen. To play in New York and to play at the level he does takes a special player.

I have never meet Derek Jeter, but if I get the chance, I would love to ask him about his routine and what he thinks about.

Conditioning can set you apart from the rest. Being faster and stronger is an advantage, as long as it’s done correctly.

As my strength and conditioning coach, Brandon Smith says “Move Better. Feel Better. Play Better”

I suggest to everyone, find yourself a great strength coach and improve your conditioning. It’s just another factor that will make you a great hitter and keep you on the field longer.

Stay Focused
Mike “The HitMan” Easler

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Hate to Lose more than you love to win

Calendar July 5, 2010 | Posted by Brandon

Hello hitter’s,

Hope you’re well and hitting ropes!

There is one aspect of baseball and hitting that I can’t teach, and that’s how to compete. You have to compete at your highest levels EVERY time you step on the field.

The best way to do that is HATE TO LOSE! You should hate to lose more than you love to win.

If you want playing time, and want to impress a scout or your coaching staff, play hard all the time.

“Conditioned to Hit” is about mental preparation as much as it is about hitting and physical prep. 

Compete hard everyday, and you will become a dangerous hitter!!

Stay Focused,
Mike “The HitMan” Easler

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Concentrate at the plate

Calendar June 24, 2010 | Posted by Brandon
Hello Hitter’s, 

Concentration is the 2nd of my 5 essentials to hitting. Without the ability to concentrate and focus, no athlete can compete on a daily basis.

 Baseball, at the Major League Level, takes maximum concentration. The pitching is good every night, which requires you to be sharp every night. Day-in and day-out, from Spring Training to the end of October you must be mentally focused. Your job and playing time depend on it.
The player who jumps to mind when I think of concentration is Andre The “Hawk” Dawson. Every season, every day and every at-bat, the Hawk was locked-in and focused. It seemed that nothing could get him off his game. Baseball was his job, and he took every single second of it seriously.
 Even when he struggled (which was rare) he was on top of his game. There is no doubt in my mind that Andre Dawson should be elected into the baseball Hall of fame! To be a successful hitter, you must be able to block out all distractions- all the time. You can’t take a bad at-bat with you into the field, and you can’t dwell on a poor game. Andre could do that better than anyone. He had a very short memory when he made a mistake or had a bad at-bat. He would re-focus and get his concentration back quickly.  Baseball is just as much a mental game as it is a physical game.
 When your concentration is off, your game is off. It’s that simple. Mark McGuire used to say “Focus on one thing when the pitcher is about to throw the pitch, and that focus should be on the ball.” Mark used to take a soft focus on the pitcher and hard focus on the ball and release point.
 A good way to make sure you are locked- in during every at-bat is to step out of the box if the pitcher holds the ball more than 5 seconds. Pitchers will hold the ball on you to get you thinking and distract you.  Ask for time-out and step out of the box. Re-focus, just like a golfer goes through their pre-shot routine.  As I always say, “Stay Focused”  learn to concentrate, and you will have more success at the plate. Good concentration is a huge part of being Conditioned to Hit!
Mike “The Hitman” Easler

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