Function Over Form

Opposition in the batters box isn't just a layer of complexity, an obstacle to overcome, it is the central feature that gives meaning to movement. My sense is that many in the baseball community view the live batter as a linear step to master after mastering other lower complexity pieces, instead of the central feature that we design our training environments around. Part of me understands why this is the case. Pitching is in a challenging place training wise because the behavior of pitches, movements, etc. change so much when you go low effort. In addition we have some limits on volume each day due to throwing being the single fastest movement in sports. Other sports can do unique warmups to work on interpersonal distance (football/basketball/soccer) and tagging games for more of a martial arts context. I simply can't have all 100 throws of a pitchers workload that day be to a live batter. And while I see value in pulling an athlete out of context at times to work on different things, ultimately, the entirety of my paradigm to train pitchers is how to do the real thing MORE, to keep them embedded in a representative environment, rather than treating it as the final step in a linear progression.

Noticing as a coach, truly taking time to look, perceive and interact with what is emerging, is one of the hardest shifts for most coaches to make. It is much easier to create a plan and let it roll, to chalk up confusion in practice to the athletes problem, rather than the practice design (and to see "perfect practice" and believe it is a result of coaching acumen). Without taking time to look/perceive, you won't know when to scale up or down complexity, what guiding questions to ask or where to add/take away a constraint. Attuned and adaptable coaching starts with noticing.