What The Top 1% Of High School Baseball Players Do Differently

After working with hundreds of high school baseball players I can spot the difference within the first five minutes.

And it has nothing to do with velocity, exit velocity, or a 60 time.

It’s not about the radar gun.

Everyone loves throwing 90. Everyone loves a high exit velocity. And yes those things matter.

But there comes a point where the metrics stop being the deciding factor.

What separates the top 1% is the decision-making process.

Pitch recognition. Your son doesn’t need to be in the batter’s box to train this. Next time he’s watching a game have him predict what pitch is coming based on the count. That kind of recognition is what separates a reactive hitter from one who controls at-bats.

Situational awareness. The Cardinals and Padres trained game situations every single day so nothing was a surprise. Your son should never be caught off guard by a baseball situation.

Game speed. If he’s taking ground balls without simulating a runner coming down the line he’s training the wrong habit. Slow practice creates slow games.

The sign someone is not in the top 1%.

When I ask a player what he needs to work on and he says “I’m pretty good at everything” that tells me everything.

The top 1% know their weaknesses in detail. They train like college players. They think like the professional they’re trying to become.

Good players have problems to fix.

Great players know exactly what those problems are.