Adapting Training Focus Mid-Season: Part 1

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Adapting Training Focus Mid-Season: Part 1

As a player, I was never big on making a ton of changes during the season. If I was ever in the situation where I needed to make changes in season, I was in a bad spot. It certainly happened over the course of my career but I never wanted it to happen.

During the season you just need to focus on competing. Especially at the professional level when the margin for error is so thin. When the talent gap is virtually zero, you cannot spend any in game mental energy on things that are not simply execution based.

So how do you balance this? It really is one of the most important things in training. You must transfer the focus from an external point( meaning focused solely on the execution) and take it internal (focus on the mechanics/what you are physically doing as a player) without taking away any performance on the field.

When i say you must take the focus and make it internal, i do mean internal during your in season training and throwing programs, but separating the throwing programs in season from competing in game is something that every professional has learned to balance. I do not mean for you to be thinking about your mechanics while you pitch against a lineup of professional hitters, but I do mean that you need to be thinking heavily on your mechanics when you are playing catch pregame, doing your plyos, or throwing your bullpens.

Flipping the Switch

The term “flipping the switch” is a phrase that gets overused in sports, but it truly is applicable to this situation. In season, mechanical focuses generally go out the window. For good reason, but if you are struggling and at the end of your leash with an organization it might be time to switch things up.

For special cases, with younger prospects it could be something to think about in season. The 19 year old in Low-A and the 27 year old in AAA should have totally different mentalities most of the time.

To simplify, if your current performance matters less than your future potential then it might be a good idea for you to focus on making mechanical changes. Doing so can reap major benefits, but also has significant drawbacks if done incorrectly. In order to do these things correctly, you need to focus on a few things.

The most important factor is “flipping the switch”. Pitchers who recognize what really matters in every scenario are the ones that are often able to make changes the fastest.

When you are on the mound in the game: compete with what you have. When you are practicing and training before the game: work on what you need to work on and get better. Separating the two is immensely important and is the key piece to being able to still compete when your job is on the line.

Workload Management

When you focus on getting better, it is human nature to try and maximize your improvement by maximizing the amount of repetitions you can do with your new drill, mechanical change or pitch. However, if you crush your body with workload the performance will fall regardless. You will see a dip in velocity, command and overall competency. This can be a major issue as it can lead you to think you are going down the wrong path from a player development standpoint. Getting buy-in from players is much easier when they see success relatively quickly. Unfortunately that's not really how it works, finding improvement almost always takes more time than you think. In this specific case, it's more important to not trash performance and lose buy in.

This issue becomes much easier for a starter to handle. Relievers have a much more complex situation in regards to workload management, but starters have a completely set schedule that allows them to do more or less whatever they want. Obviously they have to pay attention to workload, but they get built in days of rest and know exactly how much and when they are going to need to throw, where relievers get thrown in the fire at a moments notice.

Conclusion

These two topics are incredibly important for improving in season. It is a touchy subject, and one that truly most people should avoid. There is much more to this complex topic, which we will look into in tomorrow's edition of the daily newsletter.

John