The day I turned 15, I got a job at Grand Slam USA in Norwalk, CT; the home of Mo Vaughn and a city that loves baseball. The facility was less than two miles from my house, and I never turned down a shift.
I probably spent too many hours there - both working and just hanging out. My buddy "TK" (now a coach at George Washington University) would hit and throw daily, and we were lucky to see some great instructors in action, such as George Foster (Red) and Kevin Morton (Red Sox). It was a great decision by Grand Slam USA to hire me for the sole reason that nearly every dollar I made I spent it almost immediately at their pro shop. I was a gear guy. I have worked in or around baseball for over two decades, and I always knew I wanted to run my own programs so in 2019 I decided to launch programming year-round - and I needed a name. If you go to an amateur baseball or softball game you tend to see a lot of players attempting to succeed at a very difficult game, while not playing in the moment. A player is upset, frustrated or timid due to an error or strikeout in the first inning or they fear about what may happen if they lose or make another mistake in the last inning that they aren't playing "where their cleats are" and in the moment. The Next Pitch mentality encourage players to focus on the only pitch they have any control over... the next one. When a player focuses on what he or she can control confidence goes up and anxiety goes down. We can absolutely learn from the last pitch, but we can't change it as it is out of our control. When a player masters the concept of "controlling the controllables" he or she has the ability to win a lot of pitches and achieve on-field success.
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Chris FayFather of three, Baseball Coach, BP Thrower, Old Man Softball, Husband to Dancer, Can't Dance. Past Blogs |