Baseball Lessons
As it is in all areas of life, mastering the classic American game of the summer takes many baseball lessons. Where college students learn from professors, and workout hounds learn from trainers, ballplayers learn from coaches. In baseball, there are many specialist coaches to drill young players in particular aspects of the game. The learning may never end; even in the Major Leagues, players are constantly under the eye of coaches.
Baseball lessons generally start at a basic level with the most inexperienced players, gradually getting both more advanced and more specialized as players mature. While the focus of a little league coach may just be to train young players not to fear the ball, and to keep their eyes on the ball, in college ball a batter may receive instruction on how to keep his front shoulder closed, or a pitcher may receive advice on how to approach the batters he is to face.
In coaching players at all levels, coaches may employ a number of tools. The most basic is their own eyes, and at more advanced levels, teams may record data pitch-by-pitch for review. The ultimate aid, in baseball or any other athletic endeavor is the game tape, which can be watched by player and coach alike as much as they please. Furthermore, there exists a wide array of instructional tools for use in drills, such as the colored balls discussed in my article on baseball drills.
Baseball coaching has become a significant business in America, with countless schools offering baseball lessons. A search can reveal workshops on pitching which advertise boosts in a pitcher’s speed and command, and the number of batting cages open to the public is likely in the thousands. Serious players may spend an entire summer in a baseball camp.
For many, however, the lessons remembered the most fondly come from their father, at a young age. These “lessons” may be no more than a simple game of catch, or batting practice with a soft ball, a plastic bat, and soft tosses down the middle. Simple though they may be, these time-honored traditions may serve to introduce one to the simple pleasures of the game, like standing out in the grass on a warm summer day with a light breeze in your face and tossing a ball about with no worries on your mind.
Baseball lessons range from the most general tips to the finest minutiae, for players at all levels of skill and experience. The best lessons are tailored to the unique player being instructed and designed to meet his or her goals; as in all cases of instruction, it is the receptiveness, cooperation, and work ethic of the student that often is the most important factor. Wherever or whoever you are, there are coaches ready to give you baseball lessons, but the most important baseball lesson is one that one must learn for him- or herself: to love and honor the game of baseball.