Sprinkler Effect
Being 100% convicted on where you want to hit the baseball will put your swing in the mechanical position to execute that thought. The best I ever felt at the plate came with a right-center approach. A thought of getting a pitch out over the plate and driving the ball to right-center field. Almost always, whenever I was struggling at the plate, the right-center approach would bring me back. This is when I came up with the Sprinkler Effect.
It starts with me struggling and lost at the plate. I would be chasing breaking balls in the dirt, pulling foul balls into the stands, and rolling over ground balls to the shortstop on fastballs out over the plate. To get my rhythm, swing, and head in the right place, I needed to be committed to a right-center approach both in practice and in the game. This was no easy feat and took some time, but as soon as I was able to bring my work in practice to the games, I started seeing positive results. My confidence would grow, as I would start hitting lasers to right-center, getting locked in and on fire. The doubles to right-center would start to turn into doubles and home runs to left-center, and the confidence would continue to grow. As the confidence would grow, my ego would grow with it and I would start to try to do more and more. The doubles and home runs to left-center started moving to left, and in time, they crept to the left-field line. At this point, it seemed all I was doing was swinging for a home run. Now my swing started to be in a position where my front side would fly, my contact zone would be too far out in front, my head would move, and my backside would collapse. Back to struggling…..
And the process of thinking right-center field would start all over again. Like a sprinkler, slowly waters the lawn from left to right, then once its all the way to the left side, it goes immediately back to the right and starts over. That’s the sprinkler effect.
Just the approach of hitting the ball to right-center field will keep your front shoulder closed on the ball, allowing your barrel to travel longer through the zone. Having a commitment to hitting the ball to right-center field will force you to let the ball travel further, allowing you to see it longer, and give you more time to decipher the type of pitch and location. Also, by letting the ball travel deeper, it allows our swing to be in a position if you are fooled, to hit a fastball deep in the zone while being able to keep your barrel in the zone long enough to hit an off-speed pitch. The right center approach forces you to stay on your backside, maximizing my lower half. It forces your hands to make their first move close to your body rather than casting out. This gets them inside the baseball right away, allowing extension to be more in direction with the pitcher’s mound, rather than third base. With this approach, you start to drive from the backside, rather than pull with the front side. Just approach alone, makes numerous mechanical adjustments.
Keeping the ego in check and staying disciplined to the correct approach is a whole another battle. It is important to have a consistent practice and pre-game routine that emphasizes the correct approach. Visualization is another tool that helps players maintain the correct approach and feel that is needed for consistency. Whether it is in between pitches, in the on-deck circle, or in the dugout, each player is capable of closing his eyes and visualizing the pitch from the pitcher, the location he is looking for, the feel of the swing he needs to take, and hitting it where he wants to hit it.
As a coach, the next time you start to see one of your hitters feeling good at the plate, and he wants to do more, remember the sprinkler effect. Be a constant reminder for him to stay disciplined on the thought process that made him successful.
If you have a hitter that is constantly swinging and missing, pulling balls foul and rolling over a lot of ground balls, remember that an adjustment of the mental approach is this first thing that should be addressed. Without the proper mental approach, no correct physical adjustment will translate into the game, and with the proper mental adjustment, sometimes the physical part will take care of itself.