What do you do when you have a player that is lights out in the cage, but as soon as they step in the box they tank? Maybe it has to do with their mental approach at the plate, but what about those players who are mentally tough and they hit so well in the cage, but can’t perform when they are in a game? Coach Lisle gives two tips that crucial to a hitter taking their cage swing into a game!
I come across a lot of hitters that say they hit really well in the cages but struggle in the games, and are wondering why that’s happening.
The most common reasons for this is because a lot of times, hitters are really working on a new part of their swing, and then going straight to the game and trying to implement that.
As a hitter, when I’m working on building something new and I try to bring that into the game, there’s no way that that’s going to be successful. I’m going to go back to my old habits of trying to hit the ball. That’s going to be what my body’s going to do. So it’s going to take some time, that we’re working on in the cages, to take into the game.
The other thing that happens a lot is players who really work well in cages, they’re killing it on front toss, they’re killing it on the tee, they’ve got their swing grooved in, but they’re not really getting challenged in the cage. They’re not really facing game-like situations.
So if I’m a high school baseball player that’s seeing 85 mile-an-hour and 75 mile-an-hour curveballs, but I don’t practice that in the cages at all, I’m going to do great off front toss, but I’m going to really struggle in the games when I see these things.
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The two biggest things that can help you transition from success in the cages to success in the game is, one, be patient with yourself. Know that it’s going to take some time to put the work in on the new things you are working on. And two, challenge yourself in the cages. Try to create those game-like, pressure-filled situations.
As soon as you start really understanding those two concepts, when you get to the game, you’re going to see a lot more success.
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